Patchwork Quilt Inspiration (Yes, someday you will have time for projects like this!)

My mom and I managed to make these a few years back after my holding on to the fabric squares for several years and doing nothing with them... I know you know what I mean!

Dearest mommies of littles, some day you will have time for projects like this, don't despair!

Meanwhile you can dream of time spent at the sewing machine or scrapbook table or with your knitting needles, whiling away the hours happily creating. (Oh and it helps a lot to have a mom, as I mentioned, who is supremely capable and willing to help you finish uncompleted projects!)

[The following is a slightly revised re-post from my old blog.] 



A long time ago I joined a quilt-square swap with other moms from the Five-in-a-Row message boards online. The squares were chosen to each represent a book used in the unit studies. Recently my mom and I finished putting the Before Five-in-a-Row (unit studies for age 2-4) squares together. We did the designing together and she did the sewing on these two.  We decided to group the squares by color theme rather than by another method (say, putting all the books from one volume together).



These three below include squares that represent books from Five-in-a-Row (unit studies for age 4-8). I put the green one together and my mom finished it off for me by adding the backing (which is a nice green fleece -- very warm and cozy!  And no fussing with adding a layer of batting.)



My mom made this blue and red one.



I made this yellow one all my myself! :-)



You may notice we decided to tie these quilts -- I think it is not only is more consistent with the patchwork but it also adds a nice homey quality to them, I think.  Plus it's easy and doesn't take much time at all!

I hope this inspires you, hang in there, some day you will craft again!

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Scrapbook your Christmas Cards & Photos

2005. I was pretty new to the whole idea.

Other side of 2005 version.  Like I said.

Here's an idea of what to do with your Christmas cards and all those family & friends photos that come in the mail around the holidays every year. (Well, less and less of them maybe than before the digital age, but I still get a pretty big pile and I expect you do to -- and I really don't have the heart or interest in throwing them out.)  You could just keep them all in a box somewhere, that's fine, but if you are a scrapbooker you may want to try this approach.

It's pretty easy -- divide your collection into two piles, cards and photos.  Then, if you have a square punch (anywhere from 1 1/4" to 2" works) just start punching the cards up; you can pick out portions of the cards that you like best or just be random.  (If you don't have a punch just cut the cards up into equally sized squares.)  Then crop the photos into a manageable size -- some years I've made them all the same size but most of the time I leave them different sizes.

2006... not so sure about the red background.

Here's the 2007 version.  The little reindeer came from a card.

Take one or two pieces of 12x12 cardstock and start arranging the cropped photos into a pleasing pattern.  Some years these arrangements have been pretty straightforward, some years it's gotten kinda chaotic!  This will be a BUSY page but no worries, you will love it anyway!

Once you have the photos arranged the way you like them (you can of course solicit the input of your children if you like!) go ahead and arrange the punched pieces around the photos.  You can add an embellishment if you like -- often there will be one Christmas card that has something dimensional on it that you can carefully remove and use on your page!

Add the year (stickers work well for this but you could handwrite or stamp it) and then make sure you journal around each photo with the names of those in the pictures!

In 2008 I divided up the cards & photos and made separate pages.

If you like you can add a border strip or some other decoration but most likely your page will be fine without anything else!

Another idea -- if you have an extra of the card that you sent out this year, you can include it on your page.  (I did this in 2006 -- that paper pieced tree in the bottom left corner is what went on my Christmas cards that year.)

Left-side of 2010 version.

Right-side, 2010.

Put your pages in your scrapbook album and pat yourself on the back for a job well done!

Celebrating Jesus' Birth with Our Kids

A friend recently shared an idea on Facebook of Family Devotions for Advent. I really like it! So we talked about it and decided to do these activities with our children this month. Unfortunately we are a little behind, but it's okay... we can catch up! :-) My husband picked up these candles today at the store and we hope to start tonight.

Here are the first two activities we are going to try, thanks to Toddler Bites!

Devotion #1



Theme: Jesus had a family…we do too

Scripture: Read Luke 1:26-38.

Family Memory Verse: For nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1:37

Discussion Starter: Place a bowl filled with Hershey’s Kisses in front of your children.

Tell them that they may eat as many and they want as long as they don’t use their hands to unwrap them. Allow time to try.

Discussion:

It was nearly impossible to get the paper off of the Hershey’s Kisses without using your hands.

Ask: what are things that are impossible for us to do that God can do? Is there anything that is impossible for God to do? Why or Why not?

In our scripture reading, we learned that an angel told Mary she would have a baby-God’s son. She thought this was impossible because she wasn’t married. But with God, nothing is impossible.

Mary’s cousin Elizabeth, who was a much older woman – maybe the age of your grandmother – was also going to have a baby. This seemed impossible, but not for God.

Read Luke 1:13-19.

Ask: what is something that you are facing that seems impossible? What do you think Jesus would have you do about that “impossible” thing?

Prayer: Ask God to help you remember that nothing is impossible for Him.

Devotion #2

Theme: Angels and Shepherds

Scripture: Read Luke 2:8-20.

Family Memory Verse: Luke 2:13-14 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Discussion Starter: Provide a flashlight for everyone in the family. Cut out the shape of an angel (5 inches high) from dark construction paper. Cut one for each family member. Turn off the lights and explain that the story we will hear happened at night.

Discussion: Read Luke 2:8-14, by flashlight. When you get to verse 9, shine the flashlight beam across your angel to create a large shadow on the wall. When you read verse 13, have everyone project their angels on the wall. Read Luke 2:15-20. Why do you think the shepherds “came with haste?” (vs. 16)

What did the shepherds do after they had visited with baby Jesus? (Re-read vs. 17, 18, & 20…they told everyone about what they had seen and heard; they praised glorified and praised God)

Ask: are we excited to share the news about Jesus birth with others? Have we stopped to praise and glorify Him this season?

Prayer: Pray a prayer of praise to God. Ask Him to help you share the news of Jesus’ birth and the reason for His coming with others.

Advent Activity: Light the Candles during dinner each day this week according to what week of advent we are in. This week we will be lighting the two outer Purple candles until Sunday, then we will also light the Pink.

Week 1 (Nov. 27) -- Purple (Hope)

Week 2 (Dec. 4) -- Purple (Preparation)

Week 3 (Dec. 11) -- Rose (Joy)

Week 4 (Dec. 18) -- Purple (Love)

Week 5 (Christmas Day!!!) -- White (Christ)



Take a Picture-of-the-Day!

Preserving your family's photos and the memories that go along with them can be accomplished in so many ways.  There are numerous variations on the theme...  you can scrapbook traditionally with patterned paper, cardstock, stickers, and embellishments, or you can create entirely digital pages.  You can organize and store your photos in boxes or photo albums, with very little decoration.  You can regularly and carefully scrap every picture you take, building a careful record of your family's life together, or you can choose a favorite picture when the mood strikes you, and make a fabulous one-photo artistic creation, celebrating a particular moment or person.

About five years ago I took up traditional scrapbooking and have greatly enjoyed it as a creative endeavor as well as a way to keep my family's memories.  It feeds my spirit to blend papers and photos and other fun things into something beautiful to look at.  I definitely enjoy the process, all by itself, as well as the end result.

Something I've done this year that's a bit different, in addition to creating traditional scrapbook pages of family events, milestones, etc. is to try to take a picture-of-the-day.  This idea of a-photo-a-day has been around online for a while.  I am using a particular product made just for this approach (found here) but you don't have to.  (I'm sharing the idea of picture-a-day, not the particular way you might organize the photos you take.)

The concept of a-photo-a-day encourages you to focus less on special occasions and events and more on the everyday, the stuff that happens Sunday to Monday, all year long.  I've really enjoyed how "needing" to take that daily picture has helped me record things that I might have otherwise missed.  For example, a shot of the exterior of the dance studio we went to several times a week for years, but I had never taken a picture of... family members doing a puzzle... the mess I make when I am working on a project at my desk... the pile of cold medicines on the counter when we are all sick... the entrance to my neighborhood, visible from the driver's seat of my car...  the crazy-hot temperature outside on a North Carolina summer day.  Years from now you'll appreciate having pictures of these everyday things, in addition to shots of birthdays, vacation trips, and opening presents on Christmas Day.

Now, of course you don't want the photo-a-day thing to become just another burden or something that you can "get behind" with.  Please.  We don't want or need that.  So if you get distracted and forget to take a picture for a few days, hey, no biggie. 

You could even give the camera to the kids or grandkids one or two days a week and let them take the picture-of-the-day.  I bet they'd have great ideas.

Go ahead -- take a picture-of-the-day today!