Smart-Fab!

(As seen on Roots and Wings Co blog)

Something fun about blogging is getting to learn about things that I may otherwise not have known about. The kind people from Smart-Fab contacted us and asked if we would like to try their product. Uhm…you had to ask? Of course!



I looked at the Smart-Fab website to see just what it was they were going to let me play with. It looked like a perfect product for schools, PTA and churches. You could make the most amazing 3 dimensional bulletin boards with this stuff. It isn’t fabric and it isn’t paper. It is a combination of the two. Once I got my hands on it, I have to say that although it is PERFECT for schools, PTA and churches, it is also an awesome crafting and creating medium.

If you know me, you know I dream in fabric. Yes I do. So when I saw that you could sew with it, I was ready to create. I received lovely fall colors just in time to decorate my house for fall. And now that I live in Maryland, I actually do get to enjoy and experience Fall!



For starters, Smart-Fab cuts like buttah! It isn’t as hard on my scissors like paper is (although I didn’t use my good sewing scissors). It is stretchy and doesn’t seem to want to rip or tear. It has a texture almost like a fabric paper towel. Sounds strange, I know, but it is a lovely cross between paper and fabric. It stitched up nicely and was so much like working with fabric. Ooh I love it!



We have only painted one room in the house (and it isn’t even quite finished yet.) My half bath is really drab and needed some seasonal color. It is small and strange to take pictures in there so stick with me here. I stitched up some fall leaves freehand and I love it! My bathroom is happier now too.
  


I would never have found Smart-Fab had they not sent me some samples. But I am happy to be able to suggest to you the use of Smart-Fab. You can purchase it online through their website. It comes in long rolls like you would see in schools. There are a lot of different colors to choose from. The colors aren’t supposed to fade. It is supposed to be water resistant so you can use it in a lot more ways than just paper. You are supposed to be able to paint on it and that is my next challenge.

The two bummers I see about it are:
#1 it isn’t available in craft stores or local teacher supply stores. But I find I order a fair amount of my supplies online now days.

#2 I am not sure how well it would work with glue. I am guessing white glue wouldn’t really work. (I did not try to use glue with it at all.) I don’t actually own a glue gun anymore and I’m not a fan of glue anyway. I think it would work with some real crafting glue like E-6000. But that is just a guess. Since I’m not a fan of glue anyway, this isn’t a downer for me.

Thanks so much Smart-Fab for turning me onto a great product. I’ve only just begun to figure out what it can do.

~Anjeanette

Scary Halloween Garland-So cute!

Garlands are such a great holiday decoration.  This Halloween one is so cute, and easy to sew up.
Anjeanette came up with this garland, using Paper Crave’s Halloween template.

Anjeanette whipped these up from felt, using the technique she used with her Pumpkin Pencil Toppers, shown below. 

Click here for that technique.
Happy Haunted Sewing!
Rebecca

We are partying with the following: Sew Much Ado,

Pysanky or Grown up Easter Egg decorating

Have you heard of Pysanky before?
 
I’m talking about Ukranian Egg decorating/Polish Egg decorating. Learn Pysanky has a lovely site where you can learn more.

This goes back to my paternal Grandma. She can do and make anything. She has tried every kind of craft and art form there is. About 20 years ago, with a group of her friends, she tried her hand at Pysanky. She has about 8 or 10 eggs that she displays year round at her house. Growing up, I would carefully look at the delicately decorated eggs. I thought to myself, if I ever made them, I wouldn’t have visible pencil lines. And how wonderful I would be at making them. Afterall, I take after her in creativity. How hard could it be, right?
I’ve thought of Grandma’s eggs every year during the spring.


Last year, in my attempt to do a more grown up egg that I could show every year, I painted on paper eggs. I was quite happy with how this one came out. They were simple and I enjoyed making them.

This year I purchased this kit to see if I could try my hand at real Pysanky. I rallied the troops (called up my sisters and Mom) and invited them over for a night of decorating. Do you have sisters? How about 3 sisters? There is nothing better for a girl, than sisters and a Mom…well maybe a brother too and an amazing Grandmother. But the sisters and the Mom were able to come. (Sorry Katrina…see why you need to move closer? I’m just saying.) We swapped clothes to make sure we were all wearing clothes that could get dripped on. Isn’t that what sisters are for…swapping clothes? Except for the part where somehow I became the largest sister, but we won’t go into that today. Ooh, let’s back up again. We are all busy and have a gaggle of children between us. I was checking my set up the day of our great crafty night. The phone calls were flying between sisters and Mom to gather all the supplies. Somehow I forgot to get the Mason jars (note, get large mouth jars) for the dye baths.

In an effort to clean up for the night, my sweet husband had taken out all the recycled items including the stash of newspaper I was saving. Each sister ended up bringing something to have all the supplies for the night.It is great having so many sisters closeby because they are great resources for just such nights like that one. This makes a big mess and needs lots of room and plastic covering the table.

Let me just tell you this;

IT IS HARD TO DO PYSANKY.

There, I said it. I had been reading up on all the sites that contain anything about it for months. Erika checked out every book from the library on the subject. And I am my Grandma’s granddaughter, so I was going to be great. But no. I’m not. We had a ton of fun laughing at the dropped eggs, the painted fingers and the difficulty in getting the kitsky (tools for drawing wax onto the eggs) to flow easily.

Erika quickly became the master. It is funny because I was talking my game up. Erika, of all of us, said that she was going for simplicity. She was not going to get fancy. She thrilled us with this stunner.

Our older sister became the expert at getting the eggs out of the dye baths the best. I was scared of even attempting to get the eggs out of the jars. It is kind of the way life happens…we each discovered we were good at something different from the next sister.

Rebecca was getting good with the eggs too.
Here is one of hers outlined in white.

Now it was dipped into pink and more wax was added.
And her final reveal. Isn’t it lovely? I think hers ended up looking the most like traditional Pysanky.
Here is the side view of hers.

And a simple black and pink one she did.


My eggs were the ugliest of all.

When Erika’s egg came out so nicely, I was determined to make something pretty too. After my family left, I played and played. I gave up on the idea of making the pretty geometric shapes. I went with good old freehand. Forget the pencil marks too, I made uglier (is that a word?) eggs when I drew anything with a pencil. It is a long process, but in the end, I loved every second of it.

A basic run down of making them is:

You apply wax onto your egg by heating a kitska tool over a flame. This picture someone was attacking the flame, but you get the idea.
 
You dip the tool in wax and then draw on your egg.
It is the same principal as coloring on eggs with crayons. It becomes a resist. There is a special order to dip the eggs in color. You go lightest to darkest. Between each color, you draw more wax on the egg.
After you are done, you melt the wax and reveal your masterpiece.
  We tried this first by putting the egg next to the flame.
We also used a heating tool that we use in scrapbooking for embossing. This was fine too. Either way, you need to quickly wipe off the wax and go back to the heat every few seconds.
Then you varnish it and Voila! You have pretty eggs. Now go toss some to your children and see if they can catch them;) No, really don’t unless you want scrambled eggs. Speaking of which, the jury is still out on the best way to treat the insides of the eggs. We have read that you can leave the insides intact and that over time they mostly absorb leaving you with some kind of a Weeble guy with just the yolk inside. There is debate about when to hollow them out if you choose to do so. Find what works best for you.

I was determined to make good on the purchase of the kit. I realized that I am not geometric, or traditional. I am a fly by the seat of my pants person. So I worked on a few more eggs. You will not see my attempts at traditional Pysanky eggs. Nope, not gonna share those. I will share these with you though…
Here was my first freehand egg it is a chick, can you tell? This is how it looked with the wax only on the egg. Then I dipped it in blue for a silhouette kind of effect.  
This is the egg after I removed the wax, I was excited to try more eggs.
  
I have been obsessed with Rosemaling lately, so I tried it on an egg.  I wish this picture didn’t come out too washed out, because the colors were pretty.
 
I decided to try a little more fancy design. Here is the egg with just wax on it.

Then I dipped it in pink and added some more wax. I just did a little bit of highlighting with the pink. Then she went into the red egg bath.

And here it is with the wax removed. Pretty, isn’t she? 
Then I went all fancy schmancy with this one. I wanted to make it look like roses. I hand painted the colors from the dyes onto the places I wanted them on the egg. I would cover over then with wax just where I wanted them. Then in an orange bath (to take off the leftover unwaxed paint. For some amazing reason, the  orange is made without vinegar. The magic of the orange is it covers up the other colors nicely. If you get into this, you will know what I’m talking about. So I did some small details after the red.

And here it is with the wax removed.  In natural light.
With the room lights on because it is dark and rainy here (yay!)
Go forth and gather your troops. Make a big mess and have lots of laughs making your own Pysanky Eggs. Order your kit right away so you get it in time. Don’t forget to share your pictures with us. When I become rich someday, I’ll order the electric kitskas ‘cause they look like they would rock!

This experience with the tools and instructions for Pysanky eggs reminded me that I am not my Grandmother. Her eggs are now even more lovely than I ever thought before because I fully understand the craftsmanship that went into making not just one, but 8 or 10 gorgeous traditional Pysanky eggs. Even the pencil marks on them now are just amazing to me.

Anjeanette       

Rebecca here:  I LOVED doing this!  Really it was so much fun.  Yes, it was tedious work, but we had Mama Mia playing for background noise for us, and the women in my family, so it was just enjoyable!  If I didn't need to get home and put Grandma and my Babies to sleep, I could have stayed up all night (because going home at midnight does not count as all night).  I can't wait to make some more.  For all my hard work I only came home with 4!  Yup, only 4!  And they were worth every bit.  Though my children did not understand why they weren't "decorating Easter eggs" with us too!  Anjeanette, yours turned out lovely!  So beautiful!  I can't wait to do one with more of the colors.  Thanks for getting the tools and inviting us over, Anjeanette!  I also have always wanted to do this because of seeing Grandma's eggs.  Though I never thought I could make mine as pretty as hers.  She is a true artist, and I am more of a crafter.  My hands shake and so I can not even draw a simple straight line.  Which is fine by me.  I just have to get more creative to hide this fact! ;)

**Anjeanette again...In all reality, I did not think I could make eggs as pretty as Grandma's...but I also didn't think I would royally suck at this. Our Grandma is amazingly talented and I can only pretend to copy her artistry. But I will always have fun trying;) She has done so many things well, that I have a lifetime of copying in store for me.
~~~
Oh My!  Girls they are lovely.  I am sorry that I missed it.  However, I cannot draw to save my life so lets just say it is a good thing I didn't waste any of your supplies.  I will forever admire yours though. ;)
Love,
Katrina

We are always wanting in on the fun, so we are linking up to the following parties:
Today's Creative Blog, Blue Cricket Design, My Backyard Eden, The Trendy Treehouse, Making The World Cuter,  The Girl Creative, Twice Remembered, Skip To My Lou, Keeping It Simple, A Soft Place To Land,  , My Frugal Family, Sumo's Sweet Stuff,

Check Me Out On Sew Mama Sew!!

I dream in fabric.  When Sew Mama Sew asked me to come up with something for their wedding theme I first was worried about coming up with something girlie, as I only have boys!  Then, I remembered…IT’s Sew Mama Sew!  You have no idea how exciting this is for me because I LOVE Sew Mama Sew!  My tutorial for the flower girl basket that I came up with, is now on Sew Mama Sew!  Seriously, somebody pinch me!  OK Stop pinching me now!  But go over and check it out, and then come back and tell me how much you love it.  Make sure to mention how much I need a little girl!  Then, say a prayer for my paperwork for a little girl, to go through the courts faster! ;)
Anjeanette



Rebecca butting in here:
I am so excited for Anjeanette!  There are many things that I go to her for help on...you can see why sewing is one of them!  Congratulations, Anjeanette, on everything this post is about!!

Have you brought joy to others? Let’s talk about service projects worth doing.

A couple of years ago, my hubby and I saw The Bucket List in the theatres. I loved it of course. I was so moved by it, that I printed out a paper where I had written “Have you found joy? Have you brought joy to others?”



Nothing fancy, but I still have it on my bathroom mirror. I look at it every day. I think about ways I can bring joy to others. It is something we work on with our kids too.

Let me tell you about bringing joy to others for a minute.

You may have noticed that I’ve been absent from this blog for a little bit. I have been crazy busy getting ready for a trip to CO for my 4 year old to see some specialists. We just got back from a week of poking and prodding and tests and stuff with some amazing medical people. Seriously, a week long of this. We were delighted that we got to stay at a Ronald McDonald House while we were in Colorado.

(Ronald covered in snow…we were delighted to get to experience snow while we were away from home! Our son thought this was particularly funny to see snow on Ronald’s face. Kids are so cute like that.)

We were one of the families that was lucky enough to have our son with us and not staying in the hospital during our stay. We met some amazing people and got to learn about why they were staying in the house. I was so touched with their stories. Several evenings, people volunteered to bring in dinner for the house.

Let me tell you about one day in particular. First, remember we are from Arizona. We were far from our friends and families, our kitchen and the comforts of our home. We flew in to see specialists about our son with EE in hopes of finding a new path for him. He had an endoscopy with biopsies one day. The procedure went well as it always does for him, thankfully. The procedure pretty much took much of the day and much of our energy too. Even though it went well, it is still emotionally exhausting. It is tough to see your child put under and know that he is in pain when he wakes up. He is our little trooper because he takes it all in stride. He was a little cranky waking up and then about an hour later, went into meltdown mode from the pain, the medicine and the whole day. We went back to the Ronald McDonald House. There was a group of people that had brought in dinner. It was wonderful! The house does offer a nice big kitchen and dining area. There is a play area tucked in next to the kitchen so that you can prepare food and know your little one is close by. My husband and I were both exhausted from the events of the day. We were so thankful to have a meal already prepared for us.  I sat at my dinner and cried. I was overcome with gratitude for the dinner and the people taking time out of their lives to give to me, my son and my family as well as the other families staying there. Actually the three nights that dinner was brought in, I cried at my meal. Not only did the meals fill my belly, it filled my heart in a way that is so hard for me to write. It was a very humbling experience to have needs so great and to have them met by the generosity of others.

The Ronald McDonald House is such a great idea! We were able to go to testing, procedures and Doctor appointments during the day. Then we came home to a place where our son could play if he felt up to it. There was a real kitchen, two actually. There were games and movies and TV rooms where you could unwind. Being able to go home to that, instead of going back to a stark hotel room, without access to anything but a shower and TV was incredible for us. It isn’t just about the amenities, but also what the house offers to fill the souls and hearts of the families staying there. It is a feeling of overwhelming gratitude that it gave me.

I have a feeling, that many people that get the opportunity to stay at a Ronald McDonald House will volunteer for one themselves. I know we will. We were so touched by this wonderful experience. Our first meal that was brought, the family had been touched by their experience at a Ronald McDonald House in PA just weeks earlier.

I’m wondering if you have found joy? Have you brought joy to others?

This is totally a service project worth doing with your friends and families. Bringing a meal to families whose children are undergoing medical treatment, at least 50 miles from their home. It is a way to touch families lives. This is an experience that will stay with us forever. It filled our hearts with more than just joy. It is something you too can do. I am suggesting you think about giving to the Ronald McDonald house. There are many ways you can volunteer. We were thrilled to have an assortment of toys for our son to play with. We were happy that we had a kitchen, fridge and place to make our meals. We were beyond touched when people brought in food for the house. Think about it. Maybe you have a church group, a Bunco group, some tight neighbors or even your family that this would make a great service project for.

On a side note, we have a new path for our son. We are extremely hopeful and so thankful for the opportunity to see the specialists we did. This year (yesterday) there WAS a birthday cake for him! We just had an epi-pen close by;)

Anjeanette

Adorable Danish woven hearts

Yes! They are fabric. What can I say, I think in fabric. I figure if I am going to spend my time making something, I want to be able to use it over and over. When you make these with just paper, they don’t last as long.

No, you don’t have to sew. Why anyone wouldn’t know how to sew, is beyond me. I can’t even begin to imagine someone not needing to know how to sew. And the idea that everyone doesn’t dream in fabric, again, is something I just can’t understand. Life is so much better in fabric. You almost expected me to say “Sew” instead of ”so”, didn’t you?

And just tell me that it isn’t adorable, I dare you... Ok, don’t. I was just kidding. Tell me that you love them and are going out right now to gather the supplies to make your own. Tell me how much you adore me. Tell me I am thin and beautiful. Maybe I’m letting the fact that my family has been sick all week get the better of this post.

Here is a peak-see of the inside of them. I know, cute! Once you have woven the two halves together, they are like little hanging baskets.

I found a pattern online and printed it out. You need your fabric and some iron on adhesive. Really this is self explanatory. Stick your two fabrics together with the fusible webbing. (Iron them with the webbing between them following the instructions.) Again I used red and white lined fabric for the inside of the hearts and red and white felt for the outside.

I thought it was much easier to weave the two halves together because they were made of fabric. When I make them out of paper, I either have to make them really big, or I cut the fold and weave them, then tape them together. Yah, I’m good like that.

I hung them with some ribbon because I thought it let the role of the hearts shine and ‘cause I have a boatload of ribbon laying around. Really, why does a Mom of two boys have so much ribbon laying around?

Decorate them differently for each child. I had some extra red buttons laying around making friends with all the ribbon I have laying around.

The best part of these hearts is that you could use them for so many things. To quote a favorite line from Holiday Inn…”Why they're great on... on... [pause] ... or even plain!”

Enjoy this super simple and adorable project.

Anjeanette

Linking up to Its So Very Cheri party and A Soft Place To Land's DIY Day and even a Silly Little Sparrow . We also linked up to Blue Cricket Design, and Fireflies and Jellybeans.

What are you doing for New Years? New Years food traditions

I'm always thinking about food. Who isn't? You can tell by my extra chins that I like to eat. So on the menu for New Year's is Rice Pudding, Aebleskiver and Hoppin John. Crazy to mix a southern food with two Danish foods, I know. But that is what makes it our tradition. We have been doing this same menu for several years now and it just isn't right without it.

Hoppin John is a traditional southern food that is eaten on New Year’s Day for good luck and a prosperous year. When I eat Hoppin John, I have to eat cornbread. It just isn’t right to eat beans or peas without cornbread, right? My favorite cornbread ever is from the blue Jiffy box. I've tried a hundred different recipes and that is always the favorite! This year I will have to try a gluten free/dairy free recipe. I picked up some Pamela's cornbread that we will try out. I always like to add in some chopped green chilis to the cornbread. It just puts in a little kick.

I use this recipe for the Hoppin John, with a couple exceptions, I hate ham hocks so I use a ham steak. It is much less salty. I also use a few splashes of Poblano Sauce that Katrina turned us onto as well as a small can of diced green chilis.
Here is Emeri'ls Hoppin John recipe from the Food Network site:

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large ham hock
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 pound black-eyed peas, soaked overnight and rinsed
1 quart chicken stock
Bay leaf
1 teaspoon dry thyme leaves
Salt, black pepper, and cayenne
3 tablespoons finely chopped green onion
3 cups steamed white rice

Directions
Heat oil in a large soup pot, add the ham hock and sear on all sides for 4 minutes. Add the onion, celery, green pepper, and garlic, cook for 4 minutes. Add the black-eyed peas, stock, bay leaves, thyme, and seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes, or until the peas are creamy and tender, stir occasionally. If the liquid evaporates, add more water or stock. Adjust seasonings, and garnish with green onions. Serve over rice.

(Edited to add: I tried the Pamela's cornbread. I used the sweet cornbread recipe and I subbed 1/3 cup oil for the butter and added some green chilis. Oh my! Move over Jiffy, Pamela has now taken your place. It was nice and crumbly. We broke it up and put it in the bottom of our bowls and spooned over the Hoppin' John. So good.)

~~~
Now let's talk about rice pudding or risengrød . It is a traditional Danish thing. I like to stick to my roots;) I found this recipe while blog hopping last year. And it doesn't require me to stand over my stove stirring for an hour. I like it;)

Recipe for Creamy Oven-Baked Rice Pudding
from Today's Parent

⅓ cup rice
3 cups hot milk
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
¼ cup raisins
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 250°F. Butter a casserole dish. Stir in rice, hot milk, sugar, and butter. Pour into greased casserole dish. Bake uncovered for 2½ hours, stirring every half-hour. Add raisins in the last half-hour. Remove pudding from oven. Stir in vanilla and cinnamon.

The Danish tradition is to have almond slivers in the pudding and one whole almond. At Christmas time, the person that gets the whole almond gets a candy pig. We won’t add almonds though.

~~
And lastly, we always make Aebleskiver.

The cookbook we use is old. The pages turn right to the recipe. You can tell it is a favorite recipe too, because the page is nicely splattered. Dad has handwritten the conversion to make it a quadruple batch, that is just how we roll! Aebleskiver are round Danish sort of pancakes. You have to have a special pan to make them in.

My parent's pan is very old and well seasoned. Mine is only a few years old and not as seasoned. I'm working on it;) You fry them up and carefully turn them over. I bought some Lingonberry jelly at a specialty store to stuff the aebleskiver with. Elderberry jelly is another good one. But really our favorite is good old grape jelly.

You stuff the inside of the Aebleskiver with jelly, top them with a little handmade powdered sugar (did you know store bought powdered sugar usually has cornstarch in it? I blend up my own from just sugar.) and enjoy!

I am wheat and dairy free (boo) so this year I used Bob’s Red Mill flour mix, and rice milk as well as a different butter in place of regular flour, milk and butter. If you have jelly in them, you really can’t tell the difference. But, I warn you not to eat too many, if you aren’t used to that specific mix because it is made from garbanzo and fava beans…you will know later. We made one batch from the regular recipe, and one batch with my replacements and they both were eaten like wildfires…or something that is eaten quickly…cake…sugar…whatever your poison is.

Do you have any specific New Years Traditions? Do you have any recipes to share?

Merry Christmas from the gals of Roots & Wings Co!

I just wanted to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. We have had a lot of fun this last year sharing our ideas with you. We were totally surprised to get readers, let alone so many of you! It thrills us to no end to know that what we are sharing is interesting to others. It makes our day to read your sweet comments and helps us know what you like.

I have a pot of potatoes boiling, a pie crust ready to go into the oven, Christmas music playing and two sweet boys needing to show me how they are doing on their video game. My boys are anxiously waiting for the morning when they get to see what Santa brought them. They carefully wrapped their gifts to each other and have yet to spill the beans;) (I am posting this on Christmas Eve) I hope your Christmas is just as lovely!

Anjeanette

Heartfelt and Handmade Holidays - Wish list

It has been fun sharing our Heartfelt and Handmade Holidays ideas with you. For kicks and giggles, I thought it would be fun to end this by sharing our wish lists this year.

We took our family Christmas card pictures and sent them off to the printers (Sam's Club baby!). The very next day, my 7 year old finally lost his second top tooth. Yes, the one that has been loose since summer. We had been saying for months that he was sure to loose it in time to say "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth." Murphy's Law that he would loose it the day AFTER we took and finalized our pictures.

I have a long wish list on Amazon. Most of the things on my list are baking and cooking books. I have a lot of books on my list that are for Vegan and gluten free since my food allergies are mostly wheat and dairy. The other big collection on my wish list are about raising amazing children. I am always thinking about my parenting issues.

It's a pet...it's a pillow...it's a pillow pet! My kids are crazy over Pillow Pets. They have been asking for them for months now thanks to the commercials;) Legos are always a popular item on their lists. I love that they will spend hours building and creating with them. (And they are Danish!) Nerf guns. Our older sister's boys have every kind of Nerf gun and my boys are really interested in them now. (Thanks Melissa!)

What I am the most excited about is a simple Christmas. The last few years we have scaled back.We pretty much stick to the three gift thing for each of our kids. This year in particular, we really scaled back. I only put up the trees (OK we have two trees up this year), and have a couple of other decorations around the house as well as lights on the house. No trinkets or great table scapes. This is the first year in a long time that I'm not hosting either Thanksgiving or Christmas. Seems strange not to be in charge of one of those celebrations. But it is also nice. I am looking forward to spending the time with my little family of four. I am excited about the time leading up to the new year too. I spend this time planning for the next year!

Anjeanette
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Katrina here:

I have to say that I already got the biggest thing on my list. Last September I took my dog into the vet only to learn she has a serious heart condition. She was literally on her death bed. We have had her for 13 years, almost 14 and I was not ready for her to go. The only thing they could do was put her on heart medications and hope they worked. The outlook was not good and they couldn't even tell me how long she would last. It all depended on how well she responded to the medications. It has been 3 wonderful months with my baby girl. She has responded well and at times has even been able to go out on walks and been a little frisky. All I had wanted back in September was more time with her. What ever I could get. We will have one more Christmas with our girl. I am thankful every day for the gift of time. She has also been spoiled rotten (even more than before) ever since. ;)

I still have other wants on my list like a new cell phone. I would dearly love to get a Mac book pro. Other things I have on my list are things that will encourage me to work out more. We have a Wii and I have been wondering about the "work out" games. The Fit was great for a while but I wouldn't say I was getting a great work out. Oh Yeah....a gift card to a craft store! Nothing like guilt free craft shopping. ;)

As for my family, Legos are on all 3 of my boy's wish list. Even the biggest one , my husband, has pointed out some Lego sets he would like. This year it has been hard to get my boys to tell us what they would like for Christmas. They only had two things on their lists. One wanted the command base from Lego Power Miners and a remote control helicopter. The other wanted the Mine Cart set from Lego Indiana Jones. Though he didn't say it out right, he also would like a remote control helicopter. He wants what his older brother wants. LOL Their answer has never changed. My husband wants a Nerf gun that will shoot a lot of bullets quickly.

Our holiday plans have been altered due to our dog's health. We were suppose to spend two weeks in California. We were going to drive through San Diego and go to Lego Land on the way up to San Jose to spend Christmas with my family. On the way back we were going to stop and go to Sea World or the zoo. This is the first year that we won't be with either family for Christmas. We will be spending it at home and with close friends. Oh and my husband has the next two weeks off with us. YAY! We will have a Staycation! However, you spend your holidays, I hope it is wonderful and full of great memories. I got my miracle and I hope you get yours.

Katrina

***

Rebecca here, adding my list a bit late ;)

I feel like Katrina, that I have already gotten what I wanted. I know that it sounds so corny, but if you knew me and my life you would know how much I mean it. I am just thankful for all the time with my children! I have done whatever I had to to be able to stay home with them and I am thankful for every minute I have achieved this goal! Even having this blog has been a fun gift to myself. Who doesn't need a reason to craft more, or at least find some time!? And even better was the extra time it gave me with my sisters (which includes Katrina, because if you saw our whole family you would know she has been one of us from the beginning!). I also have awesome friends that I have been so fortunate to experience some really spectacular time with. This friend gave myself and my children our Christmas gifts early, and we are enjoying it every night!!

For my children there are, of course, many requests. Legos are a big thing in our home (especially since they are something that I LOVE as well!). As are My Twinn doll accessories (they got the dolls last year for Christmas). Webkinz, Build-A-Bears, and Bobbleheads are a non-stop want in this house. They have quite the collection and play with them together every day! So sweet!

I can't wait to spend the next 2 weeks with my children, while they have a break from school! I guess I could add that to my list of things that I want! I hope that everyone else has a great Holiday and enjoys themselves fully!

Rebecca

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The Roots And Wings Co girls are taking a week off from the blog to enjoy our families. We hope you have a lovely Christmas too!

Heartfelt and Handmade Holidays - Remember to capture it in pictures

Today I wanted to remind you to take pictures.

If you are anything like me, you don't like having your picture taken when you aren't looking your best. I can't stand pictures in my house when it isn't tidy and forget about pictures of me without my hair fixed (at least). I did this for a few years and noticed that I was missing from the whole time between Thanksgiving until after the New Year! Missing from every picture or video.

One day, I was sitting with my son, going through pictures. He asked me why I wasn't in any of the pictures. Hmmm. Because I didn't think I looked good. In retrospect, I was 30 pounds lighter and had fewer wrinkles. I allowed myself to be removed from those celebrations.

Since then, I have allowed other people to take pictures of me even if I didn't look perfect. I allowed pictures of my arms in tank tops (I know!) and I allowed myself to remain in our memories of the celebrations for years to come.

At some time during this hustle and bustle, please let someone take your picture. Heck, ask someone to take your picture. Take pictures of your kids doing fun things even if your house isn't perfect. Take pictures. Take lots of pictures. Take a video of your family talking about whatever is important to you right now.

This is a great time to set aside time to make sure to get a family picture. This year, we had great intentions to take pictures at a nice park outside. Every time we planned to go, it was raining. So instead, we sat in front of our tree and took a picture. We used a tripod and the self timer button.

Don't let another year go by without capturing you and your family.

Anjeanette

Rebecca here adding to the thought of pictures being important. I think all of us has fallen into the habit of not wanting pictures taken of us, at one time or another. I could not agree more with Anjeanette that this might not be the best way to act.

I found that even after I got over that problem, I still wasn't showing up in pictures. This is because I am the photographer for my little family. I have had one of those same moments with my child. The one where they asked me where I was during all those fun events. My problem was not that I was missing from the pictures because I chose to be. I was just always the photographer. I used to find it uncomfortable to ask someone else to take a picture with me in it. Many times I just did not even think about it. It is so easy to hand your camera off to someone else to take pictures. In this day of digital cameras and cameras that take such beautiful pictures for you, you don't even have to worry about what kind of a photographer the person is. Just have them take a slew of pictures, one is sure to turn out!

I also found that many moments were not being captured that I wanted. Either my batteries died out on me, or my memory card was full! How disappointing. I now have a battery charged up all the time, and clear my memory card every time I use my camera. This way, my camera is always ready to go. There are so many spontaneous moments that are missed because of those things, for me. Many times I had my camera and it was all ready to go, and I failed to take pictures anyways.

I sometimes felt that because no one else was taking pictures, that I couldn't either. Not any more. In fact, at the last Christmas concert for my oldest daughter, my youngest daughter video taped the whole thing. She walked right to the front of the auditorium to get a better shot of her sister. I saw her do it, and I did not stop her. The way the auditorium is set up, she could not be in anyone's way. I am so pleased to have a video where we can actually see which dot is my child! I also walked up to the teacher and asked to take a picture of my daughter with the teacher, even though no other parents were even approaching the teacher to talk, let alone take pictures. I have found people to be quite gracious about this request and have never found it to be a problem. What was I worried about before?

Think about what shots you want taken. Think about what parts of something that you want to be remembered. I can assure you that I want my children to have pictures of me, in all my glory (no shower, no makeup and all) documenting that I was there too. But even more then just holding my place in the moment, it is also an accurate picture for my children of what their Mother really looked like, when they were 5 years old. Years later, they can laugh with their children about my highlighted hair (that is so 2009!), or what other styles that will become so funny to them. One of my favorite pictures of my siblings is of them on a horse. It is not even about the moment of that memory. It is about how 70's that picture was! They were all rocking the brown leather sandals (with socks) and 70's clothes and hair!

Here are a few examples of preserving the "time" as well as the moment!

This is our lovely Mother. Notice the poodle hair-do? (Sorry, Mom, but it is!) Yeah...well, all of us girls were Rocking that hairstyle right then! It is so much fun for me to look back at pictures of my Mom and to see how much she kept up with the times. While I was looking for these pictures I found ones of my Mom in the 70's, totally rocking the Farrah Fawcett-do! Priceless! Other noteables about this picture are that my Mom is making Pizzels. Yes, the same ones that Anjeanette just posted about! How cool is it to not just know you have traditions, but to see them in pictures from way back when! She even still has that same pizzel maker. Cool, hu!?

So sorry to do this to you, girls. However it had to be done. The above picture is another moment where not just the moment, but the "time" was captured. Yes, getting pictures of us making awesome candy cane cookies (see we keep telling you that we have just grown up with crafting, baking, and doing it all together with traditions!) is totally cool. However, having us in our awesome attire is just icing on the cake, don't ya think!? Fluffy bangs, and a tied-at-the waist-hanging-off-the-shoulder shirt could not have told the "time" any better! Love it!

Hope you guys get a kick out of these oldie pictures. I'm not sure my Sisters will love me showing them off! ;) I know they'll get over it, and they just showed my point better then I can just write it.

Katrina Here:

The girls have got this one covered but I thought I would add something. For years every time I took the camera to my son's pre-school to capture and event, either my batteries would die or my card would be full. I fixed that problem by getting a 4 gb memory card and I always carry an extra set of batteries in my purse. I never take them out and have them with me all the time. This way I don't have to try to remember to bring batteries. This year it paid off for another parent. His batteries died just before the Halloween parade for our Kindergarteners. I happily volunteered two of my batteries to him so he could capture his child in action. Just saying it is always the memory card or the batteries that go when you don't have extras on hand. Most of the time I don't need those batteries anymore. LOL They stopped dieing during those kinds of events. Go figure!

Happy Holidays and remember to jump into a picture. I did that with a family vacation picture. I heard my husband getting the boys to pose for the picture so I stopped what I was doing in the cabin (making dinner) and jumped into the picture.

One Seam Flying Geese Christmas Card Holder

I have been thinking about this one for years. I get lovely Christmas cards every year. I never have a nice way to display them.

Are you familiar with the one seam flying geese technique? I saw it a year or so ago on Quilt in a day and have been thinking about this project ever since. There are so many great tutorials out there about it. The Quilt show has a video that is super easy to understand. You basically start with two squares and a rectangle. The rectangle is folded and sandwiched between the right sides of the squares and you sew a seam down the side.

You open it up and Voila! You have a single seam goose. Ha! I made up some with green and red to be like a Christmas tree.

I did a block with red squares and a narrow brown rectangle and sewed just the side of the square to make the trunk in a similar way to the geese.

Although it isn’t a goose, it is a trunk.

I pulled out some cards and decided how big I wanted my geese and went with that. I made three trees out of them, threw on some polka dot sashing and a binding and called it a day. Really I was a slacker and this took me three days playing with it. I could have finished it in a jiffy if I was serious about it.

Each triangle is a pocket where you can put your cards. I just love it! I always say that, don’t I? I can’t help it, I really do. I am on a huge red and white kick and I just love Michael Miller. I have been keeping this fabric for a long time dreaming up the stuff I wanted to make with it. I think a huge part of a project is the materials you choose. I am slowly learning that if you use inexpensive (cheap) materials to make your projects, they just don’t last. I really want my time spent on each project to be worth my time and money. I am always happy when I choose quality over price when I purchase anything going into my projects. I don’t mean just fabric, but any kind of item I use to make something…I like it to be a good quality item. Just my two cents.

I threw a few cards in it to show you just how cute it is all done up! Did I say I love it yet? I do. It is almost too cute to put cards in it.

I am so excited to finally have a way to show off all the Christmas cards I get. Now I just need to work on taking a family picture and sending my own Christmas cards out. Yikes! If this inspires you to make a single seam flying geese Christmas card holder, please share a picture with us on our flickr group. We have a lot of readers and not a lot of comments. Sometimes I’m not sure if you are reading this because I have a booger hanging out of my nose and you think it is funny to watch, or if you really like what you see. It is nice to know you are getting something useful out of what we are sharing…. Particularly when what we share is as cute as this;)

Anjeanette

Technorati Tags: christmas,card holder,one seam flying goose,michael miller,fabric,sewing,wall hanging

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Katrina here,

Oh Anjeanette!!!!!! It turned out great! I LOVE IT! I have been waiting a month to see how this turned out. She taunted me with the fabrics and the design idea about a month ago and I have been dying to see it. Some days I have to wait till she posts to see the final project (because we live 2.5 hours away).

To join in some fun we are linking this to other parties here. and here and here: