Crafting Time – Part 5

Yes, seriously – Part 5 and still counting!

We once bought packages of this metal “sheet” that came in rolls and made these reliefs with it. They adorned everything from birthday cards to tags for gifts, and were real pretty to boot!

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This goes down as the weirdest craft ever conceived. B and her BFF sat on our porch one day after school and made these guys out of sticks – and chewed gum… ya. They do look kinda cute, though.

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Often our party invitations became craft times as well. This one is for one of A’s bday parties when she was younger. We had a stock of funky fonts (thanks to Gramma!) and pics back then to use. It was always a fun part of planning a party.

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Don’t let these plain old popsicle holders (from the dollar store, because we needed so many) fool you – these are works of art. We used to spend one day after school was out and go down to Granville Island and pick out all kinds of fresh fruit and make our own popsicle combo’s. The flavors got more and more interesting as time got on.

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Sometimes crafts are done “to” us. This is one of my Hubby’s brothers’ crafty gift at Christmas one year. He made these cards, inserting family faces into actual game shots, for the girls (soccer and baseball) and Hubby. There were even all kinds of made-up stats on the backs! They were a real hit, and a great Photoshop craft.

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Another “done to us” craft. Hubby’s bro (again) photoshopped each of the girls (and their friends – this was from B’s grad) into a published shot – Miss Universe, and I think A’s was a professional baseball game. Crazy fun! I really gotta learn photoshop…

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More, again, to follow, one day. Including crafts given to us by others! Stay tuned. Again.

the Poetry of Life – #007

Of you, my beautiful girls,
I am so very proud.
You’ve made great decisions
And not followed the crowd.
You’ve always worked so hard
And tried your very best;
You do what you can do,
Then trust God for the rest.
As you now get older
And life holds many more things,
I know you’ll be ready
For whatever He brings.
No matter what you do
And wherever you go,
Through good, through bad
I want you two to know -
That I love you both so dearly
It can never be undone
I’m proud of you now and always,
From your very blessed Mom!

copyright AKent 2009

Crafting Time – Part 4

Yes, Part 4! I’ve put only 6 crafts per post because I personally can’t read past two or three paragraphs without coming to the end of my own attention span – I’m giving you all the same courtesy . Who wants to read a post that’s 50 photos long?! So, here we go one more time.

Yes, even our pumpkins get downright crafty! One year we eve had one with little white lights poking all around it. These ones are an owl and an… anteater?? Can’t remember. We’ve had some pretty impressive ones around here, though. I’m pretty sure I remember these templates being in a Martha Stewart mag.

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It’s a bit hard to tell what this particular craft actually IS by this photo… We bought dollar store colored sponges, cut them into strips and tied 6 or so together to make water bombs! Then we put up barriers, like the trampoline on edge, and bombed each other away. They also made good, fun, wet, baseballs to hit with a bat for a splash. And far easier to “fill” than those fussy water balloons!!

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This craft was a great birthday gift for our then-4 year old niece/cousin. B painstakenly drew out the Dora and then her and A decorated away, front and back. She got to wear it the whole day – the whole year!

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Nothing is safe from a crafty soul – not even breakfast. With tubes of raspberry sauce and spray-whipped-cream, anything is possible!

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“Craftiness” around here not only includes food, but also clothes. B bought this “Gr 7 Grad” dress during our trip to Paris, and then sat and sewed on row after row of matching colored beads around the bottom rim and top collar. Way to go, B! It was a very rewarding craft – she was so proud of it on her “Grad” day.

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I can’t remember what we did with these after we went to all that trouble to make them, but at any rate, here they are! I’d found a dough-bead recipe online and away we went from plain round to super fancy. Dough-beads were fun to make, that much I do remember.

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Keep tuned for more craftyness!

Ser-VICE!

The club volleyball season that will suck up the next 3 months of our lives is, once again, upon us.
And now I’m sucking everyone else in with me.

Volleyball actually carries through the entire year now with very little reprieve between the school team, the club team and the beach team, between training, games and tournaments home and away – all multiplied by 2 girls. Dang good thing it’s mostly an indoor sport – soccer seasons were mostly COLD.

While I’m completely sold on the benefits of a little bit of team (or personal) sport for kids, especially for girls (keeps them outta the malls and, so far, keeps them too busy for the boys ), just driving to/fro and sitting/yelling, although I do those quite well, isn’t quite enough for me to get out of it.

My personal quest every season, every team, is to capture THE action shot.

Unfortunately I don’t exactly have THE best indoor action shot camera, but I doubt Hubby would let me spend $3,000.00 on a camera just to get volleyball pictures for my scrapbook.

Or, there is the possibility it’s not the camera, it’s just that I don’t know how to use it. The daylight/beach shots are definately easier to achieve.

Either way, these were the best few (out of 200!) from today. (Although the one above looks kinda funny with no ball in the picture… Like she was just very awkwardly “posing”).

It’s definately a bit easier to catch shots in warm-up – their moves are more predictable.

Well, on the challenge goes – 2 tournaments down, 8 to go…

Gift Ideas – Girls 12-16 part 2

A few more ideas since last post! I know we can all use ‘em this time of year. ‘Tis the season, afterall.
(Note I have NOT included things like iPods, laptops, personal Nintendo’s or DVD players – we generally just don’t give gifts that HELP teenage girls tune us more than they already may… having their own cell phones is about all we can bear!)

1. Night on the town. A few times we’ve given the gift of TIME together! Awww! Ya, I’m not sure they’d really favor this over money, but… We’ve given tickets to a post-Christmas show, which naturally includes getting all dressed up, having a fancy dinner, etc. It can get pricey, but it’s been fun. Once or twice aunts and grandmas joined in for an “all girl” night out.

2. Camera. Not that every kid needs all their own expensive toys, but digital cameras aren’t as pricey as they once were. Teenage girls LOVE to take photos of each other (or themselves) and paste them on their Facebook. Even B, generally camera-shy, takes her camera to parties and such.

3. Sporting Goods. Any teenage girl that plays sports, can use an extra nice sporty something or other. Whether an extra nice pair of volleyball shorts found online, an extra nice ski jacket or a fancy baseball bag. Even if they can just use it for practice, girls always like adding a bit of style. The girls both love volleyball, so one year we bought both of them a beach net to share.

4. Clothes? Now, I generally DON’T recommend buying teenage girls clothes. BUT, if there’s a specific thing in an exact size that they’ve actually tried on, go for it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t risk it – try a Mall Gift Card instead. I don’t know how many clothes those girls have NOT worn because it wasn’t quite the right color, or didn’t fit exactly right, or it wasn’t cool enough… *sigh*. (Although, see earlier blog about getting “staples” – every gal needs a plain old white collared shirt). I’m sure this won’t be a problem w/ teenage boys down the road!

5. Kitcheny things… I asked the girls what their favorite gifts have been, and would you guess it – Kitcheny things were in abundance! Even though some were “family gifts”, they loved the Ice Cream maker, the KitchenAid (wait for your own wedding, kid), the Whip Creamer and we even have a torch for creme brulees.

6. Magazines. Both girls have their own interests, and could benefit from individual magazine subscriptions. And who doesn’t like MAIL addressed to them once in awhile??

7. Bags. Purses. Clutches. I know it’s still a “style” preference, but really, what gal doesn’t need at least 20 different bags in her closet? There’s the “going-out-purse”, the “shopping-with-friends” bag, the “grab-and-go” wallet, the “courier-catch-all”, in basic black, chocolate brown, red, white… ohhhh, I need a new bag…

8. Personalized gifts. Well, there isn’t a lot you can MAKE a teenager that they’ll truly appreciate, but a few of our relatives seem to do a great job. Gramma once gave each a “mock magazine cover” with their picture playing their favorite sport, all framed; an Uncle once gave a packet of a fashion magazine, mall card and a “glamoured up” photo for each of the girls. With photoshop, ANYTHING is possible nowadays!

9. A Holiday. Ok, so not many people have such a budget as to give airplane tickets as a Cmas gift (uh, never would happen), but if you’re planning to go away soon anyhow, Christmas might be a good time to spring the surprise! Include a copy of an airline ticket with a travel book (geared to kids, with lots of photos), a really cute travel tag, perhaps a nice piece of luggage, a language book, some foreign currency, etc – get creative!

10. Memory Book. I keep scrapbooks, but I haven’t given a personally put together book just for an individual gift highlighting, say, their high school years, or their elementary school friendships. Lots of great websites do this now such as Shutterfly.

Not sure I can possibly think of ANOTHER 10 – please add any ideas you might have as comments!

Gift Ideas – Girls 12-16 part 1

It’s nearing Christmas, and for those of you who haven’t yet begun to shop, perhaps this will help.

What can I say? I just love lists. Straightforward, to the point lists.

Over the years the girls have received (and not JUST from me!) some really great gifts. I always like something that’s going to teach them something, or something they’ll (hopefully) treasure, something meaningful. It’s always so tough to get just the right idea, so here are some extra ideas to ponder…

1. Beads (or any craft). We started out with the big chunky “little kid” beads, but ended up with expensive stones – through the last 8 years we continue to make our own necklaces and jewelry to wear, sell and give away. The gift that keeps giving! Also beading books are great gifts for ideas.

2. TV DVD’s. They love to own their favorite TV shows from Top Models to Heroes, to re-watch as the new season starts (or hits a lull) or to share with their friends.

3. Jewelry boxes. And not just the cheesy ones – nice, grownup, stitched leather ones, travel ones, fancy ones.

4. Staples. Every girl needs a. black dress pants,  b. a white dress shirt and c. a decent pair of shoes and d. a coat they can finish it all off with (for concerts, nice dinners out, Christmas, etc). And, at a younger age, they’ll keep growing out of them, so it’s a gift you can give a few times

5. Shopping! What a gift! The girls’ Grampa leaves nothing to chance, and takes them shopping for 2 “items” each (cost per “item” pre-determined!), which he takes and wraps up. It’s a gift they’ll actually wear, and also gives the gift of time together.

6. “Hope Chest” thangs. As the girls have gotten older, I think more of gifts that I can see them using when they have their own house to live in, such as a solid quality quilt, a special blanket, special “grown up” pj’s, expensive housecoat, etc.

7. A Skill in a Box. A few times I’ve created a box of some kind of skill to enjoy teaching/learning with the girls over the coming year. A sewing box, a crafts box, a glass bead making box. Some simple items to get them intrigued or started in learning something new that year.

8. Match ‘em up! I have two girls, plus me, so once or twice I’ve given all three of us something matching, making it meaningful. Mostly jewelry does this just right, especially if we can get an engraving. I received an old ring from a passed-away aunt that had 25 stones in it. Next year we plan to have 3 matching rings made, which I’ve asked my eldest daughter to design.

9. All in the family. Last year I made each girl (plus one or two of their close friends) a cookbook with basic cooking guidelines and recipes from every branch of the family. I especially included all their favorite meal things from our day to day dinners. (Kind of goes with Hope Chest things – they can take this with them wherever they go from here).

10. Hot rollers! Amazing, but not every young gal has grown up with hot rollers somewhere in their closet! We’ve had a blast learning to use them on each other and trying to make them super curly to just-right wavy.

That should do it for ideas for this season – perhaps by next season I’ll have thought out / remembered 10 more. Enjoy your shopping!