Progressive Pioneer

Post Holiday Vegitating

It's been rather quiet around here.  We spent a wonderful week at the cabin, away from everything, but family and good food.  We bundled the kids to within an inch of their lives (we've got this great baby sleeping bag thing that we put Viv in and Sam was layer upon layer on felted wool and Gortex).  Then we all piled onto the snow machines and loaded our gear into sleds and headed up to the cabin.  The road to the cabin isn't plowed, so the last mile of the trip is either made by snowmobile or ski.  I often think of pioneers and remember the descriptions in Little House on the Prairie of them bundling up in the sleigh.  Although I love the novelty of having to carry everything in for that last mile, I'm certainly grateful for the warm car that drove us the other five hours of the trip!

The last couple weeks I've been thinking about time, energy, emotion, creativity, and how best to allocate those precious resources.  My feeling is that I'm in a season where I want to devote a bit more of those things to my family and home, so you'll likely find me in this space a bit less often.  Though I'll certainly be dropping in now and again.

I love the slow post-holiday pace of life.  After the whirlwind of the Christmas season (no matter how simple we aim for, there's just no getting around the fact that there are so many loved ones to see, songs to sing, surprises to make and cookies to eat, yes?), it feels so good to simply hang around the house and just be.  Be silly with my little ones, be creative in the kitchen (or maybe just stick to my old standbys!), be indulgent in a bubble bath with a good book...

Sam made Vivian a makeshift entertainment center by tying some of his toys to the underside of the table.  And a mirror that I've been meaning to donate, but has been languishing by the front door, has turned into an impromtu easle.  It's a good thing we didn't spend a lot on toys this year:)

Hope you're enjoying the slower pace of these short and cozy winter days too.

Green Art Supplies

Hey guys!  Sorry I've been MIA.  Christmas is appraoching with alarming rapidity, and with impeccable timing I've earned myself a major stiff neck (as in, say a little prayer when changing lanes because I can't even turn my head!!), which has meant trips to the chiropractor (plus an unrelated trip to the dentist- whose idea was it to schedule that so close to Christmas...?).  So, needless to say, I've been much like the proverbial chicken without a head.  But, I've got a little something up over at Simple Organic about green art supplies today to tide you over.  Hope you're all having a wonderful week and are looking forward to a lovely Christmas!

Eating Together

The new edibleWasatch is out!  You locals can grab your copy at the library, Harmon's, Whole Foods and quite a few locally owned shops.  For the rest of you, here's a link to a whole bunch of foodie goodness!

(My article and our family's eggs Benedict recipe (and Clay's illustration) starts on page 28.)

Secret Santa Saturday: Last Minute Gifts!

Here are a few great gifts you could whip up at the last minute.  Check through the other Secret Santa Saturday posts as well, because some of those weren't too time-consuming.

Reusable Saran Wrap.  A thoughtful and green gift that the recipient can enjoy all year long.  Bonus: it's a quick project and you can make enough to gift to several people in a short time!  (And if you're really in a pinch, you can buy them here.) Double Dutch jump ropes. 
Lavendar bath bombs.
Felted soap.
Hooded bath towels.  A neighbor gave us one of these for Viv and we love it.  Sam has adopted it as his own too and always requests it:)
Farkle game sets.

Secret Santa Saturday: Edible Gifts

Homemade caramel sauce. 

Fancy mustard.

Homemade hot chocolate mix Granola Toffee (My mom makes this every year.  Yummm!) Maya's Spicy Chocolate Bark Homemade marshamallows

Homemade Bread

Truffles
Candied Citrus Peels

The Friday Make and Do

I took a marionette making class once and it was a blast.  This kid-friendly method definitely has the instant gratification factor though.
String art seems like a great activity for slightly older kids, or a simplifed version might be a great good activity for littler ones.  We have a rad string art owl in our kitchen that Clay rescued from a friend who was going to throw it out.  He'd made it in seventh grade or something. (That's not ours below, but it's similar.)

How great are these mobiles?!  I'm picturing them in front of very tall windows, or hanging over a low toddler's bed...  So simple to make too, just the way I like my projects:)

Clayton has recently informed me that New Year's Resolutions that are started at the first of the year are doomed to fail; you must ease into them slowly at the tail end of this year, rather than living it up until the very end and then cracking down.  I can see the logic (though I do so love the living it up part...).  Anyway, I think I may start easing into some of my goals a little ahead of time and see if I can't stick with them longer that way.  Here are 25 great ideas for New Year's resolutions to get you started!
Happy weekend!

What to Wear in the Snuggling Season

Something in the air has had me at my sewing machine knocking out quick and cozy attire for my little ones.  Well, the flannel-lined pants cannot technically be defined as quick...  They should have been.  But, because I don't actually know anything about sewing (really, for someone who sews as much as I do, it's shocking how little I know about the actual ins and outs of it), it took much, much longer.  But, on the upside, I learned a ton, and my next pair of flannel-lined whatevers is going to be a breeze.  And they still look cute (as long as you don't look too closely).

The owl print flannel is from Modern Organic Fabrics.  I've got some pink bunny flannel from the same line that's destined to become something for Viv; I'm thinking a reversible dress.

Of course, I can never stay away from the felted wool when in a quick and cozy mood.  The sweater pants I made for Sam a year or two ago have gotten much use and are now about three inches too short for him.  But, no problem, sweater pants are about as easy as a project can get.  I don't worry too much about how they look, as their main purpose is to serve as long johns under his waterproof pants (so much less bulky than normal kids' snowsuits and just as warm with wool longies underneath). 

Take two felted sweater sleeves and use a pants pattern to eyeball about how you should cut it (fold the pattern in half because, of course, the side seams are already done for you).  Or use a pair of pants as the pattern.  You can leave the waist extra long and if you make it narrow enough the natural stretch of the sweater and extra length will mean that you can skip the waistband altogether.  Just sew those two pieces together along the inseam (right sides together so the seam ends up on the inside) and there you have it: super warm, snuggly, 100% wool long johns.  These really only take a matter of minutes to make and they are so worth having on hand. 

Even Vivian got a few snuggly additions to her wardrobe.  I had a pair of SmartWool socks that wore out in the heels (much too fast, I might add; is it my imagination or are they not what they used to be?).  I followed this tutorial to make them into legwarmers.  They're even kind of Christmasy:)  And now that I've satisfied my maternal urges to bundle those babes, it's back to making Christmas presents!

Cozy

Last night felt like a Maine sort of evening.  Sam and I made a fire.  Thank goodness Clay keeps up a steady supply of wood scraps; we missed the deadline for cutting your own firewood this year. 

We curled up in the big, cushy chair with a stack of books and a plate of cookies.  I let him eat cookies for dinner(!), can you believe it?  But some days are just like that.  He's such a great kid, sometimes he just deserves cookies for dinner and books by the fire (and so do I).

Hope you're finding time for cozying, books and cookies during this sometimes crazy time of year too (I won't even tell if you eat them for dinner!).

Green and Simple

Here's a little article I wrote for Babble about keeping the holidays a bit more green, clean and simple.  If we could stick to these ten things this season we'd probably earn some wings- you know what they say about cleanliness:)

 

Bucket Bread

Whoever came up with the bucket bread method is some sort of genius.  I suppose it's one of those things that has more or less always been around, but just gets rediscovered from time to time.  There's that book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day that everyone was so nuts about awhile back.  I loved the idea, but was less enthusiastic about the lack of whole grain recipes.  Their second book is better, but this 100% whole wheat sourdough recipe is the best I've come across so far!

I've found that this dough is perfect for making a small boule to go with dinner (and to have with cheese the next day!).  It's too dense for sandwich bread; I tried that and it was okay, but I still like my mother-in-law's recipe best.  Although I'm still trying to adapt her recipe to using a sourdough starter instead of commercial yeast.  No luck yet, but you'll be the first to know when I figure it out!

(That's the pizza peel Clayton's brother made me for last year's sibling handmade gift exchange.)

Mmm, but these crusty, chewy sourdough loaves are so delicious!  They're perfect with soup and salad.  And it's the easiest thing in the world to just turn on the oven, tear off a hunk of dough and toss it in the oven.  I let it rest on the counter a bit to soften up so it can rise a bit more, but really, that's about all there is to it.  And I love how forgiving this stuff is.  I mean, it just hangs out there in your fridge for a week, none the worse for neglect or time.  In fact, it gets better with age (up to a point, of course); the sourdough flavor isn't very pronounced the first day, but by the end of the week the loaves definitely have that signature tang.  I prefer mine slathered liberally with butter!

Secret Santa Saturday: Gifts for Guys and Gals

Sometimes getting presents for the opposite gender can be such a challenge.  I always secretly hope I don't draw a brother-in-law's name for the sibling gift exchange; I have so many good ideas for girls, but I break out in hives trying to think of something cool to make for a guy!  Here are a few ideas that will hopefully help us all out!  (I got a ton from the same site; she has a million amazing projects, check it out!)

 A rad chess set.
Personalized stationary.
Customized tennis balls for a tennis player or dog lover.

A handmade tie!

Personalized luggage tags. Rad paper dolls.
Rice bags for heating in the microwave and taking to bed on chilly nights or using on sore muscles.

Easy, scrunched scarf.
A knitting needle roll up.

And maybe some rad handmade needles to go in it! (More inspiration here.)
Good luck!

Secret Santa Saturday: Gifts Kids Can Make

These aren't exactly projects you could set your kids loose with, but rather projects that lend themselves well to kids' contributions and are easier to do with a little one at your side than, say, knitting a sweater or something.

Silk Screened T-Shirts featuring your kids' own drawings.

Surprise balls

image from My Paper Crane

Recycled crayons.
Woodland fairy box (and some fairies to go in it!).
A superhero cape.  Depending on the age you could do the cutting and let them embellish with fabric glue and scraps, or they could do the whole thing.  This tutorial looks pretty easy.
A bead stringing set for a younger sibling.

The Friday Make and Do

If you're local, join Sam and I at the Salt Lake Acting Company for a performance of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie!  We're so excited; this will be our second Mama/Son date to the theater.  The SLAC is offering a discount on tickets for Progressive Pioneer readers .   (Download Invitation) And of course, if you go to the play you ought to make some cookies!  Or even if you don't go, you should probably make some anyway:)  This recipe (and a lot of others on the site) look verrrry delicious.
Make a soft nativity set.  And if you do, tell me all about it because it's been on my list for three years and I still don't know how I'm going to fit the project in before Christmas!  Maybe it should be a summer project...  Or maybe I should just buy this absolutely perfect one.  Isn't it beautiful? (Also loving this one.)
Get all your Christmas wrapping stuff in order; it's one of those stress-inducing things if it's done last-minute (at least for me).  Last year I sewed some cloth bags that we can reuse.  They were really simple and I'll probably whip up a few more this year (if I have time!).  Here are a few more ideas:

• Old maps (surely you have out-of-date gazetteer; I'm positive we do.)
• Wearable wrapping like scarves; it's two gifts in one, what's in the gift and what it's wrapped in!
• Recycled, biodegradable wrapping paper that can be planted!
• The Sunday funnies; this is so old school, it's classy!
• Your kids' art (we often use Sam's paintings and drawings from a big pad of newsprint for wrapping paper and thank you cards).
• Recycled plastic bag bows.
  

Have a wonderful weekend!

PS There will be two more Secret Santa Saturday posts up tomorrow!

Forget Perfection

Yesterday's advent activity was to hang some mistletoe and there was none to be found (at least not in our house and I wasn't about to bundle up both kids for a trip to the store for mistletoe).  So, carried on the wave of Sam's enthusiasm, I dug into my felt scraps and we made our own!  It may not be mistaken for the real thing, or even an actual plant of any sort, but we had such a fun time making it and it felt good to just decide that good enough was just fine.  Sometimes I get caught up in having everything just so; even though I'm not out buying lots of fancy stuff I can still obsess about making everything by hand and having everything all perfect like it is in my head.  At these times I try to give myself a little reality check and remember that all the traditions and activities around Christmas aren't about perfection, but they are about spending time with my kiddos and just relaxing and enjoying this cozy time of year.  And yesterday it was about doing something fun with Sam, enjoying a little morning creativity and a reminder for extra smooches.  Wonky homemade mistletoe works just as well as the fancy stuff for eliciting extra smooching!
A little wreath wire, some wool felt and some pearls (so swanky, I know!  They were the most mistletoe-like beads in my stash) and we had ourselves a rather close approximation of the plant, if a somewhat loose interpretation.  The beads were stuck on the ends of the wire, which I gathered in a bunch, twisting the felt leaves in between to hold them in place.  It didn't take very long at all and Sam loves it.  He's completely into the whole idea of smooching under the mistletoe and catches me every time!  We've permanently parked Vivian's bouncy seat under it and she is subject to multitudinous kisses from her brother.

A More Meaningful Advent Calendar

I finally finished the list of daily activities for our advent calendar (only a week into December!).  It had been on my list of things to do for quite some time, but December snuck up so quickly and has been such a whirlwind!  This year's updated calendar is my attempt to turn our attention back to the Savior throughout the season.  Each day has a scripture and follows the Christmas story, one small detail at a time.  I purposefully made each detail quite small and simple such that I could elaborate or not, depending on the mood.  If Sam is receptive and interested, we can talk more about it, if not we move straight on to the activity!  So, each day also has an activity, something Christmas-y but simple, something we can do together, but that won't throw my day off if I haven't planned for it:)  Though I am keeping a master list printed out for myself so I can glance a day or two ahead.  I don't want that Israeli dinner one sneaking up on me!

Since I'm not tech-saavy enough to know how to attach a file or make it available online, I'm just going to paste our 25 days in the comments section and if you're interested you can see it there.  Our family is LDS so the scriptures and thoughts are from that perspective, but I think the activities would be fun for anyone celebrating Christmas.  Regardless of how you're spending these chilly winter days I hope you're finding time for a little quiet, a little cozy, and a little peaceful contemplation.

Easy-Peasy Diaper Inserts

So, a rather disheartening thing happened; a big envelope full of letters to Kjirsten got lost in the mail!  Maybe it was a sign...  Anyhoo, I'll be writing normal posts for a bit.  And maybe I'll just do one letter a week or something, rather than all the posts handwritten; it's a little too scary to think about losing a whole week's worth again!  So, expect to see a handwritten post here and there when the mood strikes me, but normal posts otherwise:)  Here's this week's handwritten one:

PS Awhile ago I wrote a post about how we do cloth.  I had been using cotton prefolds and our old BumGenius inserts in our Bummis wraps.  Someone left a comment about how the microfiber isn't good for babies' skin (thanks!); it turned out that the comment was the solution to my sister-in-law's baby's rash (thanks again!).  As soon as she stopped using microfiber against his skin, it went away.  You guys are the best:)

Secret Santa Saturday: Fabric and Yarn Gifts

This is the first of six posts that will hopefully get your creative juices flowing!  We're going full speed ahead for our $100 Christmas goal; I think mostly what we'll buy is stocking stuffers.  I go nuts about stuffing stockings:)  Here's a glimpse at what lies ahead; for the next three weeks I'll do two posts each Saturday, in the following order.

• Fabric and Yarn Gifts
• Gifts in Jars
• Gifts for Guys and Gals
• Gifts Kids Can Make
• Edible Gifts
• Last Minute Gifts

You could also check the Make and Do archives as I think there are probably some good project ideas in there.  The thing about brainstorming projects is that once you get started you end up with way more fantastic ideas that you have time for!  My mind is already spinning after compiling these lists...  Happy making!

Lovely table linens.
I would LOVE a basket of these felt rocks.

A reusable lunch set.  Here's one in a pretty oil cloth.

Felt food!  I've totally been looking for an excuse to make some of these amazing "snacks."

For little guys nuts about cars (or for any kid really, because it's that cool), how about a customized, oil cloth floor mat? 
And for the girly-girl in your life, a super fluffy tutu!
A pointy hat from a felted sweater, or any type of hat really, the possibilities are endless!  Oh, felted wool, how I love you...
Mittens with character.

Recycled sweater totes.

A sweet, stuffed critter.

And what more appropriate wrapping for such lovelies as some of this charming sewn packaging?  Or perhaps some reusable, cloth gift bags?

PS Here's another fun book that should've definitely been on Thursday's list.  I couldn't resist adding it here; it's so adorable!

Secret Santa Saturday: Gifts in Jars

The fun thing about gifts in jars is that it's easy to make up a whole bunch of something and then make lots of pretty packages of it.  These make great neighbor gifts, mom's group gifts, co-worker gifts, etc.

Salt Scrub. 

Chai concentrate.  This is a lovely, creamy, spicy mix that you can add to any tea.  Perfect for cozy, winter evenings.

image from LoobyLu

Cookie mix, S'mores, muffins mix, soup... lots of good things, all in jars, all easy to make in large batches and distribute to friends.  Or how about your single, work-a-holic brother-in-law who never cooks at home?  Stock his kitchen shelves with a little homemade goodness!
These little pies in a tiny jar are so cute!
How about a little a bit of springtime in a jar to chase away the midwinter chill?
Mmmm, homemade root beer.

image from EyeSeeISaw

Jar candles.  You could decorate yours with pretty fabric, pressed flowers, or maybe just use a funky, vintage jar and leave it plain.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

The Friday Make and Do

Make a felt ball garland.
Make your very own family of Tomten to keep you company throughout the holidays.  You can see my tutorial over at Rhythm of the Home.
Do you have your advent calendar up?  I was a day late getting ours up (December snuck up on me!).  I'll share our updated version next week, but you can see how I made it last year here.
Earlier in the week we received a most unexpected and generous surprise on our doorstep (thank you!!!), so thoughtful it made us a little teary.  It also made us want to do as many nice things for other people as we can, especially during the holidays.  And, of course, secret nice things are even more fun.  Who could you do a special secret something for this season?
Make some slippers!  I have this idea in my head that I'd like to have a whole basket full of cozy slippers for people to wear when they come over.  Your floors stay clean and people feel cozy and right at home, perfect.  Try some of these fun patterns.

Have a cozy, cheerful weekend!

Secret Santa Saturdays, The Books

This weekend is our first Secret Santa Saturday.  I've been compiling list after list of fun ideas!!  But first I thought I'd start out with a list of some excellent books to get you in the mood, books about making everything from homemade mustard to go-carts.  And, of course, I'm hoping you will leave your own favorite books and resources in the comments for all to see.

Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes

Handy Dad: 25 Awesome Projects for Dads and Kids

Wee Wonderfuls: 24 Dolls to Sew and Love

Canning for a New Generation

Little Birds

The Black Apple's Paper Doll Primer

Fanciful Felties

Gifted: Lovely Little Things to Knit and Crochet

Felt Wee Folk

Gifts Cooks Love: Recipes for Giving

Zany Wooden Toys That Whiz, Spin, Pop, and Fly

Chocolates, Sweets & Candies: Hand-Made Temptations to Give

That should get you started!  On Saturday I'll have a whole list of fun project ideas.

Back on the Needles Again

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