Best Christmas Ever

A few days after Christmas we saw a little kid on tv declare "this is the best Christmas ever!" to which Mr. Golden Curls responded with disappointment "I wish I had thought to say that." I must agree, it was the best Christmas ever! We didn't kill ourselves driving all over creation in the matter of a few days. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at our own house, and the boys are old enough to be fully engrossed in all the Christmas trappings. It was a blast! Santa even brought the boys the coolest Christmas train ever with track that attaches to the middle of the tree!

We were also sucked into the abyss of commercialism, though still modestly, with the purchase of Bendaroos for Golden Curls and a Pillow Pet for Lil' Spitfire. Totally worth it, they loved them!


We all love these little handmade plush robots from Ekioart. They've been the boys' constant companions since Christmas.

Even Mr. Cash got a Christmas gift this year, well sort of. Auntie Kristin sent me some Puggy Christmas tissues. Mr. Cash, being a good reader, obliged.

Boys, Get In Front Of The Christmas Tree!

It looks as though I must have said this to the boys a lot this holiday season!

Holiday Postcard From Mr. Cash

Mr. Cash is dreaming of a white Christmas, hitting the slopes and cuddling up by a fire in the ski lodge. But first he wanted to send out his holiday wishes for a fantastic Christmas and wonderful things to come in the New Year. May your days be merry and bright!

Christmas Tastes So Good!

I'm having so much fun with the boys this Christmas! Monday it was paper robots and yesterday was chocolate chip cookies from scratch. They had so much fun making them, I got to use the gorgeous KitchenAid mixer that gets neglected most of the year, and we had some delicious treats. Strike that last part, most of us had delicious treats, Mr. Golden Curls did not agree. I know, there must be something wrong with that kid but, I felt his forehead and he's as well as can be! Even though they loved the experiece it apparently did not fill their true desire, using cookie cutters, so we're making new cookies today. Ugh...I know what my resolution's going to be!

I Am A Robot...Craft Project

Introducing Skippy Bowlingball (made by Lil' Spitfire), Stella (made by me) and the robot who never ended up with a name because Mr. Golden Curls couldn't decide on the perfect one. He was, however, positive that this was "a talking baby robot."

Robot voices abounded yesterday as the boys and I made one of our coolest kid projects to date, paper robots! This idea was even sweeter because it was 100% my 5 year old's idea. He had seen my Skull and Crossbones garland on the tree, asked what held them together and you could see his wheels turning. On the way to school he told Pappa all about the robot he was going to make using brads for joints. He's home all week for Christmas break so every day we're going to do something extra fun. Yesterday was robot making day!

Silly pictures using the timer on the camera have become a tradition in our family, so here you have it, Robot style silly.

I was totally impressed with the boys. Mr. Golden Curls made his completely by himself, punching holes and all. Lil' Spitfire required very little assistance, he's almost four, I had to punch the holes for him and bend the brads but everything else was all him. He even came up with the idea of hole punching the mouth. And how could I miss out on the action? I couldn't! So I made my own robot who currently resides on the Christmas tree.

Happy "Surprise" Birthday Pappa!

A few weeks ago Lil' Spitfire and I were at the grocery store and he asked if we could bake a cake for Pappa's birthday. He has become quite vigilant over Pappa's birthday ever since we had a conversation about when his own birthday was going to happen. To get him to stop talking about what he wanted for his birthday I told him he had to be patient, we still had Pappa's birthday and Christmas and then it would be his birthday. In response to his cake query I told him "Sure, and we can pick out a cake now if you can keep it a secret." He assured me that he could and I decided if he spilled the beans it wouldn't be the end of the world, so we skipped on to the next aisle where he picked out lemon cake with cream cheese frosting. Now, Spitfire is becoming quite the little chef. If someone's cooking he's right by their side wanting to smell, touch and stir. However he has yet to grasp the details involved in keeping surprises secret and when Pappa came home he promptly asked Pappa "You know why I can't tell you about your cake? Because it's a surprise!"

Since Bill's birthday was on a Wednesday, not a great night for a party when you're an employee of the church, I decided we could celebrate Tuesday night and maybe it would even be a bit of a surprise still. That afternoon Spitfire and I got to work in the kitchen baking that cake. No sooner had we plopped it in the oven then the birthday boy arrived home...in the middle of the day...unheard of! Spitfire gasped "NO!" and we rushed around hiding our mess. When Pappa opened the door the tiny baker was there to greet him with an oh-so sly "You can not go into the kitchen!" The whole time Pappa was gathering his stuff Spitfire watched him closely and when he left and the door shut behind him Spitfire's little shoulders relaxed and he sighed "Whew, that was close!" Needless to say the surprise that evening wasn't really a surprise but it was so much fun because they boys loved it. When we heard Pappa pull up we turned off the lights, rushed into the kitchen to hide, and jumped out when he walked in. I wish I could sustain the excitement the boys have in making even small moments events and remember the details are so unimportant, it's the experience that's the good stuff.

A Christmas Revelation

Lil' Spitfire and I were walking hand in hand toward brother's school the other day when I learned a very interesting fact about Christmas.

Lil' Spitfire (rather matter of factly): "Santa stands next to your bed at night time and watches you sleep."

Me (A little creeped out and taken aback): "He does? Why does he do that?"

Lil' Spitfire: "So he can see you when you're sleeping."

Me: "Ah, well, naturally."

What a creepy interpretation of some common Christmas lyrics! But, in true Spitfire style, he seemed totally unfazed by the idea that there was a giant, fat, bearded and costumed man making a nightly pilgrimage to his bedside to stare at him while he slept. I'm glad he has yet to share this revelation with his brother who last year expressed some serious concerns about the fact that said bearded man was going to sneak into our house at night to deliver gifts.

Craft Show Notes

The Bizarre Bazaar has come and gone making me a little wiser (that wisdom has not extended to my ability to correctly spell 'bazaar' consistently), the owner of some lovely items that I received in trade but, unfortunately, none the richer. None poorer either so that's a good thing! Note to self: don't do a small craft show unless you have a free babysitter. All that said, if I can break even and have a day with my husband hanging out with a bunch of fantastic artists it's not a loss! The Low Key Arts Building is a super cool space run by super cool people.

My sis-in-law is awesome! She made me this craft show apron from jeans and a really cute pink skulls fabric! It was a nasty, cold, misty day outside and a little chilly inside so I was all bundled up most of the day.

My husband manning The Beehive booth. We were lucky enough to have Doc Ray, the fabulous tie-dye artist, next to us again! We left with shirts for the whole family in exchange for his wife picking out some goodies, what an awesome couple. We definitely got the best end of that deal.

My most favorite thing of all is finally getting a Heather Montgomery pendant! Woo-hoo! These are not just any 'ole slapped together pendants. She crafts her pendants using vintage postage stamps, vintage poker chips and some quality craftsmanship. I had spied this pendant at the Handmade for the Holidays show and was excited to see it hadn't found a home yet. The stamp has an image of a foot painting a rainbow. Another awesome trade!

The Beehive on Etsy is back to stocked with plenty more goodies to be added daily. Until next time, Happy Handmade Holidays!