Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

Not a whole lot going on here. There should be a lot happening with the first day of spring (that's when the root children bring my little ones gifts), Easter and C's birthday all coming up. Yet, instead of creating, I am finding myself being distracted by family walks on these rare days without rain, readingand studyingways to involve my children in this Lenten season, the sudden urge to cook non-stop (and trying to bake with out grains or sugar)... Yes, there have been many distractions but they have all been welcome ones. Perhaps I needed a little break after my non-stop, up until the last minute crafting for Baby L's birthday. I'm letting it go and enjoying it.

In the meantime I have picked up Baby L's winter wheat Milo a couple of times after not working on it for a few weeks. I am knitting it from the bottom up so that I can work that wheat cable pattern I mentioned before. It looks a bit funny the way I photographed it but it really does look cute in person. I am ripping out the top half that I already started on to use the yarn for this bottom half. I can see I will eventually have to break out my second skein, though.

I also have a little sewing project in progress (if only currently in my mind). Looking at the two pictures together it seems like it might match the Milo quite well. That's an unintended bonus!

Anyways, enough about me.

I am happy to announce that there is now a KCCO Flickr group. Thanks to my friend Michelle, you can share your crafting photos anytime! Head on over and join us.

If you would like to link up and share your current works in progress please leave your link below. It can now be either to your specific blog post or Flickr photo. There are no rules, only that your link is current and something about a craft project (of any kind) you are working on.

Please remember to link back here so that others who may want to join KCCO can find us.

It's as simple as that. Remember your post can be from any day of the week, it doesn't have to be today. Now please share and inspire us all!


What are you working on? Happy creating!

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There are still a couple of days left to enter the Sarah's Silks giveaway here.

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

smitten and sick

After another horrible night of sleep last night (even after I have drastically changed my diet again - more on that later), Baby L and I came downstairs to see my girls. I should probably mention here that every Saturday night is 'Daddy snuggle night' for my girls. Since they only get to see him one or two days a week, they get this special night of bonding with him alone. Kevin puts our futon mattress in front of the wood stove downstairs and he and the girls all sleep there together. It's such a sweet little tradition they have going on. When we reached the bottom of the stairs C came rushing up to greet us. I looked at the bed and saw K and Kevin still asleep. Then K must have heard me walk in and in a sad voice she said, " Mama, we can't go to Mass today." I asked her why, knowing that it must be something major for her to feel the need to miss Mass. Then she burst into tears saying, "My ear really hurts!" I rushed over to check on her and then Kevin informed me that she hardly slept all night because she was in so much pain. He said he didn't want to wake me (but I wish he did). This was the first ear ache in our family's history so I had to stop and think about what to do. I knew I didn't want to take her to Urgent Care as they would just give her antibiotics. (I made that mistake when she was a baby. They misdiagnosed her with an ear infection and gave her antibiotics. When I took her to her regular doctor the next day she said K didn't have anything wrong with her ears. It was a big frustrating mess.) Instead I remembered a remedy I had come across when she was a baby. Back then I was certain any child of mine would get earaches as Kevin and I both had them all the time as babies, so I tried to prepare for them. We kept a bottle of this homeopathic remedy in our medicine cabinet at all times. It sat there unopened for years and eventually expired. I actually just recently threw it away. Of course following Murphy's law - now one of my children gets an ear infection/ache. I ran upstairs to our kitchen and grabbed some garlic and extra virgin olive oil and then I proceeded to make her an ear remedy.
I put some in her ear and she fell asleep. She slept for hours but still woke up in pain. I gave her another dose of the ear drops and she slept again. The next time she woke up she was feeling better. By the third dose she was able to sit up and play with her baby brother again. We'll see how she is in the morning but I plan on continuing the drops for another day. Thank goodness for natural remedies made from things we have readily available in our home!



Ear Remedy:

Pour two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into a small saucepan and warm over low heat. Mince 1-2 cloves of garlic and place in the oil (or use a garlic press). Warm the oil for a few minutes on very low heat. Make sure your garlic doesn't brown, you only want to infuse the oil. Strain the garlic out of the oil and pour it into a sterilized tincture with a dropper. Have your child lay on her/his side so that the affected ear is facing the ceiling and apply 2-3 drops in the affected ear. Cover the ear with a cotton ball and keep your child laying down in this position for 15-20 minutes. Make sure the oil is at room temperature or warmer when applying it to the ear. Cold oil can make her/his ear hurt more! Apply 3-4 times a day until it appears to be cleared up.

Store in the refrigerator. It should last for a couple of weeks, but honestly to be on the safe side I will just dump out the remaining mixture once she is all better. It's so fast and easy to make I could just make it as we need it.




Ahem - yes, Baby L will be wearing his new sweater in every picture from now on...

In other news - meet Marble. Isn't she the sweetest little dog? I promise you we didn't adopt another animal into this zoo of ours. She was lost last Friday and made her way to us. I swear, lost dogs just seem to know to come to us. I heard our dogs going crazy outside and when I looked out the window I saw marble in our driveway running back and forth. I opened up the front door to see what was going on and she ran into our house. The girls we ecstatic over this and Baby L was quite smitten, too. Thankfully, she had a collar on and a microchip so I was able to contact her owner. Marble only stayed with us about a half hour but it was a half hour of pure joy. The girls were sad that she had to go but once they saw the relief and happiness on her owner's face they felt better about letting her go. A nice little lesson of compassion (amongst other things) for the day.



Smitten I tell you, absolutely smitten. I think the feeling was mutual. Thanks for the fun Marble!!

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Don't forget to enter for your chance to win one of two pocket playsliks from Sarah's Silks here.

smitten and sick

Sponsor Giveaway : Sarah's Silks

picture courtesy Sarah's Silks

I am honored to present to you one of my newest sponsors Sarah's Silks. We have been using Sarah's Silks products in our home ever since K was a toddler, so as you can imagine this is quite a thrill for me! Playsilks, in my personal opinion, are one of the best toys a child could have. The possibilities with them are endless - as my daughters have shown me over the years. Sarah's Silks has many other imagination filled products as well. Both of my girls have cherished their mermaid costume, butterfly wings,fairy canopy and more from them.





A little bit about Sarah's Silks in Sarah's own words:

Sarah Lee, creator of Sarah’s Silks, smiles while reflecting on her oldest son’s early childhood days. “Mom, I am a turtle today. I NEED some green to wear.” “I need some wings to fly today – blue ones!” Or, “Logan is doing a play with me. She is the princess and I am the knight. We need some pink, purple and red colors.”

“First I reached for an old silk scarf. My son loved the smooth, silky feel. (Finally something he didn’t declare itchy!). Soon I found myself dying squares of silks to support his play.”

“I discovered silks serve as wonderful props for almost any make-believe game. I began to think about my fellow Waldorf families searching for natural toys to enhance open ended play, and the idea evolved for a line of silk play items.”

Seventeen years later, Sarah’s Silks are found in homes across the world.


picture courtesy Sarah's Silks

Today, Sarah is kindly offering two of you one of her new pocket playsilks.


picture courtesy Sarah's Silks

Pockets are secret hideaways for treasured toys. Little pouches that safely carry happiness and joy along for every ride. Watch a child play with them and you'll see that for them, pockets are full of possibility and hope.
There are so many ways you can use pockets to store inspiration and fascination with your children. Here are just a few ways to enjoy a pocket:
• Wear one while hiking through nature to collect and store treasures
• Use one as a pirate headband, doll carrier or sling
• Add one to nature tables and playscapes
• Stuff one with wool and make a throw toy
• Hang one above your child's bed for tooth fairy exchanges (place a coupon, token or gold dollar inside)
• Give one as a gift with a warm wish tucked inside
• Wear one as an apron or a tool belt
Or just give one to your child to see how their imagination will run wild.

These look like so much fun.

This giveaway is a little bit different than usual - there are two pocket playsilks up for grabs, one here and one through Sarah's Silks Facebook page.

*For your first chance to win, simply leave a comment on this post! If you would like additional entries here:
Leave a separate comment telling me what your favorite Sarah's Silks product is
Leave a separate comment letting me know you are a dear follower of Frontier Dreams

I will close comments on Thursday March 1st at 9pm PST and announce the winner within this post that night. Please make sure you check back - some prized have gone unclaimed in the past.


Comments closed
The winner is:

Heather
oh my goodness! these are beautiful! I was just looking where to buy some silks. Thanks for the chance to win!

Congrats Heather. Please e-mail me at farmergopi (at) yahoo (dot) com.

*For your next chance to win hop on over to Sarah's Silks Facebook page and become a Facebook fan or leave a message. Sarah will draw a name on Thursday March 1 and announce the winner there.

Thank you so much Sarah's Silks for this wonderful opportunity.
Good luck, everyone!

Sponsor Giveaway : Sarah's Silks

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

Warning - this is a ridiculously long post. Feel free to skip to the end!

Where oh where shall I begin? Trying to fit all of this into one post is a bit much but let's see what I can do. I don't have any beautiful pictures of Baby L's presents due to living in the land where the sun never exists...ahem. I love Oregon - it's only downfall is that it can be frustrating picture wise. Anyways,maybe once these rainy days have passed I can get some better pictures. Until then, these will just have to do.

I'll start out with my personal favorite presents... the ones K made for him.



She finger knitted Baby L's doll a scarf. She wanted to make one for Baby L, too but ran out of time.



She also decided at the last minute on the afternoon before Baby L's birthday that she wanted to make him an angel puppet/mobile. She cut out the fabric and quickly created it for him.













I made him a rainbow ball (for crossing the rainbow bridge) from random scrap yarn using the pattern from Knitting for Baby: 30 Heirloom Projects with Complete How-to-Knit Instructions. I planned on making a bunch of these knitted balls but then I channeled my inner Kim John Payne and remembered ‘less is more’ and stuck with just one. I mentioned before that I was going to try stuffing it with a wool ball I had already felted (from a previous project) instead of wool stuffing and it worked! It felted down perfectly over the pre-felted ball. It made it more of a bouncing ball, which is a plus and now I can throw it in the washer when it gets dirty.





He received this new hat from me simply because I was looking for an excuse to knit this cute pattern up. I had to modify it a bit to make it a larger size but I think I managed to get it to work out. He makes an adorable little bear if I do say so myself! That silly picture of him wearing it in his car seat is the only one I have right now due to aforementioned dark and gloomy skies.







Of course we can't forget his baby doll - a first birthday tradition in our home. This time around I used a Weir dolls pattern. He is a 16" doll yet he is much smaller than the other dolls I have made. He's just not as chubby or plump but that works out since Baby L is the tiniest of my children so far. I unintentionally embroidered his left eye the tiniest bit smaller than his right. It is almost as if that was meant to happen because Baby L's left eye is the one that appears smaller (due to the slightly droopy lid) from his Horner's Syndrome. I just hope in the future when he starts to understand more that he's ok with his doll being that way too. I also gave his doll the hat I knit for him when he was first born. It was too small on him but fits his baby doll just right.

I didn't plan on making his doll some clothes but then I found myself procrastinating and avoiding his birthday crown, which ended up with me looking for something else to make. My lovely friend Julia enabled me with her pattern. It was so fast to make and just what his doll needed. I used left over scraps of fabric from a blanket (and pillow) I made a couple of years ago and the fabric I ordered for his crown. I adjusted the pattern ever so slightly so that the top and pants were a bit more fitted on his skinny doll.






After finishing his doll's clothes I felt the need to further my crown procrastination and knit a pair of doll socks. We don't want his doll to have cold feet, right? It was the perfect project for a mini skein from Sweet Basil.





I did eventually get around the other first birthday tradition - making his crown (using my usual pattern). It wasn't until very late at night on the eve of his birthday. I just wasn't inspired or motivated for some reason. I kept it really simple with a snowflake in the center. I wanted to add candles (since he is named after Saint Lucia), king winter and more but it just wasn't happening. I do plan on adding to his crown until I feel it is finished but this was done enough for his first birthday. None of my other children kept their birthday crowns on for more than 5 minutes on their first birthdays so I didn't expect him to be any different. Next year it will be better, and I am sure he will understand.











I almost forgot our tradition of the birthday sweater. I have been wanting to knit this ever since it came out in Petite Purls. The pattern designer lives here in Oregon and she was inspired to create this sweater by our beautiful landscapes. That seemed only fitting for our 'outdoorsy' family, in particular my baby actually born here in Oregon. I used that beautiful Sweet Basil yarn in the lemon grass colorway that I have been hoarding forever. It looks so darn cute on him, the color is just perfect.
I modified the pattern here and there (don't I always). I didn't like how it left a gap towards the bottom almost in need of an additional button. You can see all my mods on my rav page. I basically just added length, changed the collar up a bit and ended the last leaf motif on the bottom of the cardigan differently. Again, better pictures coming soon!


Since I make the girls each a dress for their birthday, I was going to sew Baby L some pants from Handmade Beginnings, but my sewing machine became possessed so I had to scrap that idea... at least for now.

I thought I was keeping it somewhat simple for his first birthday but boy, typing this post up makes me think otherwise! Sorry that was so long. Phew!

If you would like to join me and share your current works in progress please leave your link below. There are no rules, only that your link is current and something about a craft project (of any kind) you are working on. Please remember to link back here for all of us to see. It's as simple as that. Remember your post can be from any day of the week, it doesn't have to be today. Now please share and inspire us all!


What are you working on? Happy creating!

p.s - I am linking this post up to my friend Tricia's stash bash this week since I used up some stash yarn and fabric. Won't you join us?

p.p.s - Stay tuned for another great giveaway later this week.

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

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Dear Baby L,






blanket rav notes


small things romper rav notes

My how you've grown since those first days...



even though you are still such a little peanut. I can't believe my baby is now one.





Big sister K requested to decorate and arrange the birthday table in your honor. (We keep it really simple for the first birthday)







C's birthday card - a picture of you 'doing this':





Big sister C had fun arranging the items on your highchair.



















First banana as the 'birthday cake'. You squealed with delight over this and made us smile with your first spoken word 'nanana' (banana). The same first word as your biggest sister K.







It's sweetness was thoroughly enjoyed by you (and our vacuum dog Nara - you love to test gravity).



Present time!









Finally, after months of trying to steal your sisters' dolls - you have a baby doll of your own. Mama put so much love and energy into that doll for you. Your reaction of smiles, hugs and open mouth kisses couldn't have been any better.

Oh my sweet little boy. You are so full of life and such a happy soul. I'll admit it's been a bit of a bumpy road through those health scares this first year, but you are so strong and you give me the strength I need to help you through it all. I am so honored that you chose me as your Mama - thank you. I love you more than words could ever say. Our family is so very blessed to have you in it. I hope you had the happiest birthday imaginable (even after waking me up at 4am to start the day with your never ending big smiles and giggles). Happy birthday!

Love,
Mama


P.s - Birthday makings in this week's Keep Calm Craft On post.

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