wishing you and your families a holiday season full of love…

...just like rudolph & clarice

a time of friendship — those tried & true and those new & unexpected…

just like hermey, yukon cornelius, rudolph, and bumble

a very magical night before christmas…

may all your wishes come true!

have a merry christmas day!

don’t forget to have some hot cocoa and get some rest when it’s all said and done!

*all drawings courtesy of my sweet little N (done randomly throughout december.)

(this is from a pin, too)

the first one i undertook was simple. i finally bought a date stamp (yep, like old school libraries used. it was about $7 at a mom & pop office supply store) and i am using it to stamp the date on art work. it’s great for me since N produces zillllllions of pieces and i get so overwhelmed by this task each week. (this idea was originally featured in the now-defunct cookie magazine. who else out there misses cookie?)

since this little artist cranks out about 30 pieces per day (and i’d say at least half are “keepers”) now i just need to figure out if i should stick with the large 3-ring binder method i began last year to hold these works or if i should just start a bin (with monthly separated tabs, maybe.) what do you do?

the other pin-tip i undertook was to wind my embroidery floss around clothes pins. (on pinterest this links back to heather’s life blog, but in her entry, she sites finding the idea on pinterest. the wheel keeps on turning and turning and turning…)

anyway, the idea is simple, cheap, and helps keep it from knotting up. i marked the clothes pin with the number of the DMC floss, to keep track of what i’m using for a project (since that paper tab will be tossed.)

it’s also colorful and cute.

and extremely satisfying to look at when finished.

what clever pins have you tried out in your home?

(click images to view them in a larger size.)

“once upon a time there were six frogs. they were hanging out on their lily pads until one day they decided they were bored. they wanted to paint cool designs on their lily pads. so they did. and when they did, they realized the lily pads looked like surf boards, so they went surfing!

one little frog (the one at the bottom who was about to paint purple in the first picture) surfed by a pole and held on tight!

and then when he let go and was surfing, he saw his reflection in the water, and he felt peaceful.”

i just love the expressive faces and postures captured in this little vignette… random froggy surfing fun!

N's on left, dad's on right

obviously, N went on the color the sky, etc. once daddy was finished being the art student.

i just love this impromptu exercise as an example of making art alongside your child and in your child’s “handwriting” as a way of validation. this sort of mirroring is a key component of a healthy relationship, and is one healing aspect of the art therapy work i do with clients. it communicates the ideas “i see you” and “what you say/make/do are important.” i love how my husband is so attuned to my daughter that this arose naturally between them.

try it out with your child and let me know how it goes.

cover page

N decided on the first message of the book: “step outside and breathe” with a “rainbow-checkered earth picture.”

page 1

then an activity she and nana like to do together:

page 2

nana lives on a beach, which is one of N’s favorite locations, of course, so she drew this:

page 3

when i asked N what her favorite memories of thoughts of nana are, she said she likes how they’re always holding hands when they walk together, and she drew this next and thought of her own caption for it – “sharing family love.”

page 4

then she remembered one of nana’s favorite things on earth — candy! my nana is legendary for her “candy drawer!”

page 5

the last image in the book is a birthday cake for the birthday girl, nana:

page 6 (that's a 91 over there on the right, for her age)

on the back, N drew a picture of herself for an author page, along with her name at the top (which i’ve blocked out for privacy/safety.)

back cover

easy construction: we punched 3 holes in the folded papers and threaded it with yarn of N’s choice and finished with a bow.

i don’t know about you, but i’d be THRILLED to get a book like this for my birthday! handmade gifts are just so special – what types of gifts do your kids create for grandparents?