whatever

throw back craft

i call this a throw back craft because it was based from something my great aunt Liza hung on her wall at christmas time... i don't know where that ended up.
i forgot about it until christmas.
hers was velvet and was covered in pearls and rhinestones sewn to it...in an antique frame.
she hung it above her fireplace.

we created a modern version of liza's tree...using craft supplies she gave to me.
she always sent me home with a box of supplies that she wasn't going to need any more.
she loved to hand sew, preferably with felt, seqins and beads.
i have thousands.

first we painted a canvas all one color. (this is a 16x20 canvas..we used acrylic craft paint)

she had bags of scraps of this puffy bright colored yarn.
so now i have bags of scraps of puffy yarn.
:)
i traced a tree shape (cut from paper) on our painted canvas when it dried
and we hot glued the puffy yarn in the shape.



this big bowl of sequins and beads is a teeny fraction of the stash i have from her. 

then we poured glue into the tree shape.
like.... we used almost the entire bottle of tacky glue.

i poured it out and spread it with a paint brush.

then we dumped the sequins and beads on the glue until every single bit of glue was covered.




the girls were LOVING it!!




it was messy.

but what fun is making art if you can't get messy?!


it's like a game of I Spy.



the gold star sequins were in their own glass pill bottle.
it was the perfect finishing touch.

i hope that we will hang this up every year too...for a long time....and that my girls will remember making it.

it is pretty awesome.

different from liza's but perfect for us.

 

christmassy

sooo....it's over.
that went by WAY too quickly for the amount of work that it was.
bummer.

we started at my parents house over the weekend.... 

i was in charge of the mashed potatoes.
















no green on my plate.
oops.

there was a kids table this year.  

and braids.  :)














lauren got her first pair of Birks. (i remember mine...)




some of my gifts.  
how beautiful are the mugs from anthro?! 

my dad had this shirt made from one of talby's drawings.





the big hit of the gifts at my parents house was Just Dance 4.
my mom has a Wii at her house (we don't have one) so my kids love to play it when they are there.
they started playing right away.

THEN the moms came down.... and we smoked them all.
HIGH SCORE all the three rounds.

oh yeah!





my niece is so cuddly.


this was one of sean's gifts.
it was called Cube-bot.
he did not put it down....made it into every shape imaginable.


family photo 2012.

and gangnum style....

christmas morning was back at out house....just the seven of us....all in their new jammies and slippers.


new boots (from santa)

new movie (from talby to sean)

new coat (from santa)


new boots (from santa)


new book (from santa)

we almost always give a big stack of dvds as a family gift.


this was my christmas morning: green water cup from talby, blue water cup & starbucks card from annie (i think daddy helped her out) doughnut pan from sean, candle from scott, cookbook from annie and a surprise gift of an itouch from mr. duerksen.  :)

it was one of the most calm and relaxed christmas mornings we may have ever had.
i guess they really are growing up.
and they were very grateful and kind to each other.

a christmas miracle indeed.

 

we headed over to craig's mom's house for fondue and gifts on christmas day.
the kids loved playing games with christmas themes.


they all got new clothes and goodies.


fondue is their family tradition for like....ever.
my boys LOVE all the meats...and also especailly the cheese with bread.

annie was struggling with her cast and holding her plate so i jokingly suggested she get in the old high chair.
she got big eyes and said "CAN I REALLY?!!"
ha ha ha

she stayed there and had craig bring her cooked meat!
she said many times over that it was her most favorite meal she has ever eaten. 

and the duerksen family picture of 2012.

we are done with our celebrations.
it went by so fast.
i still have christmas crafts to do though.... we are going to make them anyway.
they are too cute to wait a whole year more.

i hope your family had a nice celebration.
my favorite part of all of it was the christmas eve service we went to.
it brought my heart back to where it was supposed to be all along.

annie goes in tomorrow to get her cast off.
if you think of her...say a prayer for her to be brave and for full healing of her arm.

thanks.

i took four of my kids to a movie today and now...i am going to take a quick nap.

happy december 26 to you.

 

merry christmas.

i have posted this before....but it makes me so happy to watch (and listen to) that i had to do it again.

hope you have a wonderful christmas.

we are all getting on our new christmas eve jammies.
the kids are headed to bed. 
craig is making our breakfast casserole and then we are going to watch It's A Wonderful Life.

it is.
a truly wonderful life....a gift to be breathing and loving and smiling.

merry christmas.

 

 

SNOW! and crafts.

 

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finally.
we haven't had snow for way too long.
even if it knocked out my plans AGAIN today...i am still so happy to have snow.


talby was sick yesterday all day.
so sick.
poor baby...waffle tried his best to keep her happy.  :)

she felt well enough in the afternoon to work on a project with me.
she was so bored all day. 

step one for our ripped paper tree is to paint a background paper.
we taped annie's down because with only one arm the paper moves around a lot.

also i painted paper the night before for them to make sure it was dry enough to work on it all at once.

i used acrylic craft paint (you know...the .97 little bottles in all crafts stores)
for all of the painted paper and annie's background sheet too.



just green paint painted over the whole thing.

when your green paper is completely dry...then you rip your sheet into strips about 1-2 inches wide.



when your background sheet is dry you begin shaping your tree.
we forgot to make a snowy ground.... but it still worked out fine.
rip the strips into the right size to form a tree shape.
we used ten strips total.

it's FUN to rip the paper into the shapes you want!
i love how the ripped edge shows, the white on some sides and how all the strips are uneven.



we also painted paper with different colors to  use for the star, the presents and the ornaments.
we made patterns in the paint by using the pointed end of a paintbrush
and making dots with a pencil eraser dipped in paint.


macaroni and cheese break!


you could use a glue stick but i think school glue would hold better in the long run...the painted paper gets heavy.


add some "snow" with a q-tip or splatter it on.
and some yarn bows on the gifts.
and you have an Eric Carle inspired christmas tree work of art!





talby chose a night scene and used water color for her background.












SO much FUN!!!

i found this idea on Artsonia.

 

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How about ONE MORE IDEA FOR A GIFT???

for just $20 you can purchase a stove for a family in Haiti and give the gift of coal efficiency!

you can buy a stove "gift card" to give to someone on your gift list!

how much better is that than another tie?

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY 

TO GET A 

STOVE CARD

mailed in time for christmas!!

you can give it to your dad.
you can give it to your husband.
you can say "it's a gift to me!"  and purchase a gift card.

or two or three or ten.

GO TO The Adventure Project TODAY for information.

 

 

snowflakes

 

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this first holiday craft was super duper easy but looks really cool.
we made 3D snowflakes!

you will need only pipe cleaners and beads.
we choose silver pipe cleaners and clear beads.
(but you could do white pipe cleaners with rainbow colored beads and it would be adorable!)


clear beads from the plastic crafty bead section at the craft store.
they are like $1.99 a bag or so.


take 10 pipe cleaners and lay one the opposite direction of the other 9.


wrap the 9 together tightly a few times with the one pipe cleaner...twisting to make it stay.


then fan out the pipe cleaners as evenly as you can in all directions.


then we snipped off a few inches from all the sides EXCEPT ONE.


on the ONE tall pipe cleaner...place one bead and the wrap the end into a loop.


next place one bead or more on every pipe cleaner.
they stay on whereever you place them...they don't slide around.
i like that.


we took some of the small pieces that we snipped off and wrapped them 
around the ends of a few of the points...to give it that "snowflake" look.

and that's it!



my kids each made several.
and argued over whose was the best.
of course.

happy crafting!

 (idea for this craft was found here)

 

God is good.

the shootings in Newtown were devastating.
it's horrible.
it's heartbreaking.
it is evil.

Psalms 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Lord continue to be with all the families affected by this tragedy.

 

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my friend pam is getting better and her girls are getting better too.
their health is improving.

i am praising God for that this week!
i have absolutely LOVED the amazingness of the internet and cell phones this week.
she and i can "talk" fairly easily ACROSS THE WORLD!
getting an email from Pam is cause for stopping what i am doing and reading it.
i love to hear from her.

 

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this is my "GET IN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT" week.
i am determined to get it.
i will bake.  i will pray.  i will sing.  i will craft.  i will shop.  i will wrap.  i will plan.  i will BE MERRY.

there will be kids craft posts all week long!

i have five days to finish.
oy.

how are you doing on your christmas attitude?  
are you having a hard time like me remembering that christmas is about jesus, not schedulues, gifts & decorating?

i am trying. 

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thankful for so many little details in my life this weekend....candle light dinner with the kids...creativity...healthy legs to run...those faces...kids who eat peanut butter like crazy...sleeping in LATE...cuddling with waffle...basketball games...silly moments like shoulder rides and running barefoot in the parking lot.

 

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who says she can't be a lefty after all.
she drew the whole picture with a pencil first and then colored it all in...with her left hand!!

 

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talby and i put together some Blessing Bags yesterday.
she said "this is so nice to do for people! this makes me feel good."
exactly.
she was reading my mind. 
i look forward to her being able to pass them out.
we are keeping them in our car so we can be sure to have them when we need them.

read about how to make your own blessing bags HERE.   

 

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this morning....

super foggy.....ran with friends in 24 degrees....breakfast - i love those! ....annie bought an AG with her own money and it arrived today. she is going to be SO excited after school!!

 

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    I am joining The Adventure Project again this holiday to help in Haiti, Africa and India....

                                           

                    

 

     

   Go over to The Adventure Project to see HOW you can can be a part of this amazing tribe!!