In the past couple of weeks I've been gearing up for some Mad Holiday Action. First is the planning. I have my little notebook that I'm writing all sorts of stuff in, because this year my goal is to go handmade for all my gifts. I usually do some handmade, but, save for a few things for my kids and hubby (he has a special place in his heart for DVDs), I'm making all the gifts. I have thought of some great ideas, even purchased a book on working with beeswax (I'm dying with anticipation) (no, I'm not planning candles). Second is the organizing. My house is in need of some decluttering and cleaning. There's administravia clutter. Mental clutter. I chip away at it. The stakes all of a sudden got a little higher now that Marlowe is freaking mobile!!! Not quite a true crawl...yet! He is definitely inchworming his way through life, though. Then I need to gather my supplies for my handmade gifts. (Man, I wish I could blabber about them, but I don't want to spoil the gifts I'm giving. feel free to email.) I know a beekeeper in Lancaster that I may try to score some beeswax off of. And I'm already saving up for a fun trip to the fabric store.

I used to feel a little embarrassed about making gifts for Christmas, because I was mostly doing it to save money. Now, though, it's something I like to do particularly, money-saving or not. I enjoy thinking of the person I'm making something for. Trying to think of which fabric they would like or what they might need or enjoy. So while I make each gift, I think of and pray for that person a lot. I think it makes Christmas more fun. Not a mad rush to slap some gifts together, but a nice warm, fuzzy holiday. This year, I'm going to try to get Ellis involved in a little gift-making action. I'm hoping he'll understand making something for somebody. And I've managed to talk my whole family (parents, brothers and sisters) to have an entire DiBer handmade holiday.

I'm excited to see that the Sew, Mama, Sew blog has another month of Handmade Holiday ideas.
I also hope to be able to contribute to SouleMama's new project: mama to mama. Go check it out!

I've got nothing else this morning. You really don't want to hear me wallowing in hormonally induced ineptitude.

So I will share so many cool things I've seen around the internet:
Maia's Hand Quilt via The Artful Parent, one of my top favorite blogs! You really should check her out.

Speaking of quilts, I'm so pumped about this exhibit opening this weekend at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt

I have no desire to make a quilt right now, but I love looking at them.

And speaking of hands, I loved this banner as seen at Ohdeedoh

(I'm envisioning fabric paint, though....hmmmm)

And totally on another topic, angry chicken linked to all these yummy looking cracker recipes on the king arthur flour website. (never thought to look there for recipes.) I'm SO going to have to try this. There's even a recipe for digestive biscuits. Yum. (though, of course, they would need to be dipped in chocolate)

Ok, back to your normally scheduled constructive life. Coffee's drunk.

The diaper bag scenario is frustrating. These are the options:
* use the stupid Enfamil bag you get when you leave the hospital
* throw it all in the abyss of a tote
* spend a lot of money for something sleak, yet boring, from Babies'R'Us
* spend even more money for something really cool looking

I opted for:
* make your own! just the way you like it!

When I saw the red fabric at Ikea a few months ago, I knew it was for my mom bag. I'm calling it a mom bag, b/c I made it with a long-term view, and it's useful for more than just diapers, ya know.

It's a simple messenger style bag. With just a flap to keep it all together. I don't like to mess with fasteners, which is why I find a tote style bag appealing. But totes just don't work for this purpose right now. Everything sinks to the bottom and that's very annoying.

Here's the bag with the flap up. Lots of nice little compartments easily accessible without having to dig through the bag. Cell phone, pens, small notebook, chapstick, gum, etc.

Inside is a big pocket for a changing pad, which is just an all-purpose waterproof pad that I got at Babies'R'Us. I'd like to make a coordinate backing for it, but we'll see if I have time. I still need to get a toggle button to hold the pocket closed with the loop I already made. It's kind of floppy right now. (I envision this becoming useful for a laptop someday.)

There are three pockets on the other side where I can stash diapers and wipes and whatnot.

Watter bottle or coffee mug holders on each of the ends.

Velcro straps on back to attach a custom food bag I have yet to make. We're always packing peanut butter sandwiches and other snacks, and it gets annoying to have that floating around the main bag.

And I'm all about this: ties at the bottom to attach a rolled up blanket (or wrap!) for further outdoor fun.

And that is my cool new bag. I'm totally basking in its awesomeness!!!

(T minus 5 days 'til vacation!)

Baby shoes for a church shower this evening. The new mom doesn't know if she is having a boy or girl, so I came up with a gender neutral color scheme.

QUACK!

The orange and stripey is Ikea fabric. The top is corduroy and the insides are flannel. Should be nice and cozy for the fall. I'm getting better at these. Sewing a couple of pairs by hand for Marlowe really helped me fine tune my mind around the process.

I'm totally in love with these ducks. The funny thing is that every time I stitched their beaks it felt creepy. I was sewing a mouth! For some reason that felt weird. duck, duck, duck.

I have recently found a blog that just blows me away. It's my new favorite blog: The Artful Parent: The intersection of Art and Parenting.

The title kind of says it all. It's about a mother and her interactions with her toddler doing art things, resources for the rest of us, art ideas, art concepts, and the philosophy of doing art with children. They have weekly art playdates with other toddlers. I love it because it partly explores what is developmentally appropriate for their age, developing their own sense of creativity.

I know nothing about art. At best, I can categorize paintings into historical genres and mediums. I know what was important when. I know the Virgin Mary is painted in cobalt blue. But as far as applied art? nothing. Never had an art class. Ever. Not even in high school. We had art class like 3 times in first grade. And I think after school a couple of times in jr high. I've always had art supplies available to me. I've dibbled and dabbled here and there, reading a few books. But basically I know nothing. But I think creativity is really important, and its something I want to inspire daily with my kids. Resources like this blog are really valuable to me, because I'm getting an education about more constructive ways to share the art experience with my toddler.