Costumes- Then & Now

First Halloween together- Pooh and Piglet

Rainbow and Leprechaun

Cowboy (with stick horse) and Princess

Day clothes that same year

Tinkerbell and Captain Hook

Doctor and Surgeon

Pigpen and Charlie Brown

Butterfly and Vet

Pa Ingalls and Laura Ingalls Wilder

Skeleton, Stick Figure, and Rick (Daddy)

This past Sunday, we made a trip to the thrift store, a trip to the fabric store, then we hunkered down in the craft room and spent just shy of 6 hours executing Halloween costumes for this year.

It's been kinda fun watching the evolution of our costumes- from whatever seemed like it matched that Mama could grab at the store, to whatever we could make from what we had around the house, to what we could put together from the dress-up stash, and then on to what the kids themselves could think up and pull off... it's been fun (and always kinda last-minute if I'm being honest).

This year both Audrey and Henry had a very strong concept of what they want to be for Halloween.

Henry watched Spirited Away with me a little while back and immediately decided he wanted to be No Face. I found the mask on Amazon but the rest of it we put together with pieces here and there from the thrift store.

(Neither Audrey nor Henry wanted a pic taken of them in their complete setup until Halloween evening when everything- including makeup- is complete, so check back here this coming weekend!)

Audrey has been obsessed with the Redwall series and decided she wants to be Major Perigord this year, a warrior hare with a very specific and detailed outfit (the front and center hare in blue).

The ears came from Amazon, the base shirt came from the thrift store, and the faux fur came from some voodoo coupon magic at the fabric store. Everything else we had around the house.

I am now officially all crafted out, but I can't help loving how super excited they both are about debuting their looks. I am really enjoying watching their wheels turn and getting to participate in pulling off their meaningful costume choices. It was totally worth the majority of our Sunday.

I may be as excited as they are for Halloween to come now!

Office Art

In my new office I have three gray walls, a wall with a window and door, a desk, a chair, and an empty shelf. That is all.

When I first started, my office was kind of the catch-all for the things no one else wanted in their offices. I had the worst chair in the entire building. I had a lot of chevron-striped nick-knacks, and I had one of the ugliest mass-produced printed-canvas "paintings" ever.

The metal circles were not part of the canvas, that was a different decor thing... 

When I let it be known that I too did not want the pixelated circle "art," I was told it would be sent to the second-hand shop... so I asked if instead of tossing it, could I maybe take it home and repaint it? I mean, if it was going to be thrown out anyway, I couldn't really do much harm trying my hand at recycling it, right?

So I took it home, I primed it with Kilz, and I got to recyclin'...

...and now I have something to look at that's upgraded a bit from gray and shelves and gray (and I got a new chair, too).

A Week of Elving, Day 5

Oh my goodness, it's getting hard to share what we busy elves are making over here without spoiling the surprises! However, since my kiddos don't visit this space, I can share what they're making for each other!

I just adore the things they come up with when they get their one-on-one with Mama to brainstorm for their sib. It's one of my favorite things about the holidays. They've painted each other pictures, they've made beaded necklaces and paper mache dinosaurs, and they each did a custom hoodie for the other last year.

This year, they've been very thoughtful about what they're making for each other; Audrey observed that Henry doesn't have a cap that fits him anymore (more or less), so she's been designing a new baseball cap for him:

Hen has observed that Sissy's taped-up art needs a better means of being displayed in her room, so he's designing some cork tiles for her walls:

They are both bursting with their secrets, and can't wait until it's gift-giving time. Quite frankly, it's contagious. I can't wait, either!

A Week of Elving, Day 4

Last year, I made my first attempt at homemade body care products (we did lip balm, beard balm, and a leather polish/conditioner while we were at it... not really body care but many similar ingredients!).

This year, after finally finally resupplying my stash of 'chapstick'-style containers (they are surprisingly hard to find in bulk at an affordable price and with reasonable shipping times), I was able to make a second round of lip balm. Even though my bees weren't able to share any honey with us this year, we were able to save up a nice little stash of wax, so this years' balm features our beeswax with peppermint and citrus...

...and learning from my first attempt, this years' batch is also smoother and super glossy! This was a fun little project, and I can't wait to share 'em!

A Week of Elving, Day 3

Another important part of our regular Elving activities is making sure we have something to share with all the teachers that do so much. It's hard to know what the right choice for a gift from a kiddo is, though: something edible (but something they'll actually eat)? Something sentimental (but something that could actually be used and not something that just adds to clutter)? Something trendy or fashionable (but something that doesn't break our budget)?

This year we doubled down- something edible and something useful (hopefully). First, the kiddos designed little heart-shaped wooden charms for their main teachers...

...and once the paint was dry, we drilled holes and added the hardware...

...and voila! We had ourselves some key chains that will hopefully be meaningful and useful to those lovely teachers that have won the hearts of my Littles.

To accompany them, we also made a batch of our favorite orange and pretzel bark (though we used fresh orange zest this time instead of candied orange peel)...

...and Audrey did all the zesting herself (and a most impressive job she did, too). Once everything was set, we broke up the bark, filled up the bags, and attached the key chains. The best part of this project? Seeing how excited my little students are to give these gifts to their teachers.

Truly, the best part.

A Week of Elving, Day 2

Another activity that always claims a big ol' slice of our holiday time is deckin' the halls, and my personal favorite kind of decor is the homemade kind (especially the kind homemade by little hands).

My thoughtful, creative decorator elves never fail to rise to the occasion when it's finally time to decorate. Sister pulled out all the stops for the first day of fall, and now that her trees and signs have come down she's back at it, faithful assistant by her side, making our dining room windows (and every other window she can reach) look like a winter wonderland.

We've even spent some elving effort on little Christmas kangaroos to share (a nod to our family dinner theme this year- Australian Christmas)!

Who knew tissue paper, cotton balls, felt scraps and a little embroidery floss could be so much fun? Decorations are one of our most favorite elving activities!

A Week of Elving, Day 1

I think it just wouldn't feel like the holidays were drawing near if there wasn't something being made around these parts. Happily, this seems to be a mutual feeling for more than one person in my family, and that usually means I can easily find willing little elves to lend a hand when the project calls for it. This week I'll be sharing a few of the things we're currently making, which when in progress we call 'Elving.'

A few of the things you can regularly find us making this time of year could probably be called 'family classics' at this point. One of my favs has got to be the pjs I make/assemble for gifting in the kids' Solstice bag (remember it's first appearance?). Kinda a surprise, kinda not, it's really just about taking full advantage of the few years I have left wherein my kiddos don't mind matching! (My go-to pj pant how-to is from The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule)

Another classic has become at least one batch of over-frosted, over-sprinkled, brightly colored sugar cookies we always make together to share with our neighbors...

...and of course we'll have to make time for hot chocolate to go with 'em! The perfect way to kick off a week of festive- and sometimes frantic- Elving!

So... what are your go-to, must-have, classic homemades this time of year?