{this moment}

{this moment} is a Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama.
If you'd like to play along, leave a link to your own {moment} in the comments!

elsa's norwegian hat

I refuse to allow my lack of knitting skills to stop my babies from wearing wool handknit goodness in the winter. Thank you, Etsy! Since a couple of you asked if I made the hat Elsa is wearing in my This Winter post, I decided the hat deserves it's own post! Elsa's new hat was made by Nona at Revolutionary Woolens on Etsy. She did such a beautiful job and was such a pleasure to work with that I custom ordered a hat for Fiona, too. I expect it to come in the mail any day now!

One day, I'll learn to knit hats. Until then, I have Nona.

cheering her on

With Mama and big sister cheering her on, Elsa got *this close* to rolling over yesterday. She sure is a determined little thing. She worked at it for like 20 minutes!

this winter

This winter, we are going to explore. Wear hats and gloves and boots and coats. Keep them by the door. At the ready. Take wandering walks in the morning. Run into friends at the playground in the afternoon. We'll build snowmen and make snow angels and go sledding. We won't retreat from the freezing temperatures. We won't hibernate. I'm of Norwegian stock, we were made for it after all.

This winter, we'll spend time with family. Parents and grandparents and brothers and sisters. Aunts and uncles and cousins. We'll nourish old friendships and grow new ones. We'll accept every invitation. We'll host parties and playdates. We'll have people for dinner and make enough food so they have some to take home.

This winter, we'll eat cozy things. Fresh bread and hot soup. We'll do cozy things. Take bubble baths and read books and cuddle under warm blankets. When the kids are asleep, we'll light candles and drink wine and stay up late. We'll dream of the future and be grateful for now.

This winter is going to be different. We won't hide from the season.

This winter, we'll revel in it.

~~~

If you haven't entered my Love Confetti print giveaway, click here to leave a comment for a chance to win!

introducing the love confetti print (one's for you!)

may your life be so full of love
that your heart just might burst
and fill the sky with wild confetti

Over the weekend, I was suddenly struck with inspiration and designed this print just in time for Valentine's Day. Gotta love that I'm not pregnant anymore! I can do anything! energy. I've been planning to open an Etsy Shop for... um... a long time, so I'm finally doing it. In the past, I might have waited for the perfect moment to open the shop with the perfect array of prints and handmade things. But really, when is that ever gonna happen? So, whatever, I'll open the shop with a grand total of one design! I hope you like it! :)

I think the print would make a great gift for Valentine's Day. Or really any time! It's 9x12", so it's a standard size for framing.

For a chance to win a Love Confetti print, leave a comment on this post. I'll choose one reader to receive the print using a random number generator on Monday, January 23rd, so don't forget to check back.

To keep up to date on shop news, giveaways, blog posts and funny things Fiona says during the day, go ahead and like Miranda Makes on Facebook:

I'll also make the prints available in the Miranda Makes Etsy Shop on Monday so you can purchase one if you're not chosen!

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Thank you so much to all who played along and left comments. It means so much to me that
you like the print and visit my blog! Miranda Makes an Etsy Shop is now open!

The winner of the Love Confetti print is...

I love it! :-)
Posted by: Molly

countdown to three

Fiona's third birthday is a little over two months away! (What?! Can't be.) With my sweet Elsa requiring much bouncing and nursing and wearing, the only way I am going to get the crafting done that I desperately want to get done is to work slowly and mindfully a bit every day. I have plans for a sweet and simple celebration for my girl and I have no plans to stay up till the wee hours of the morning the night before, so I'm getting to work! Now! Start early. Work slowly. Work often.

Above fabric is Children at Play by Sarah Jane. Love.

this drop cloth will do

I've had plans for a while now to sew a big drop cloth out of pretty oil cloth for the kids to do art projects on. Unfortunately, I have a lot of plans, and "make a cute drop cloth" is pretty far down on the list. So when I saw this vintage table cloth at the thrift store, I put it in my basket. But then I wondered, do I want a green background in every kids crafting picture? Is it kitschy cute or kitschy tacky? Does it look like astroturf? Is it just plain ugly? As I was mulling over these important questions in my mind, it occurred to me, what kind of person needs even their drop cloth to be perfect?! Then I bought the damn thing.

So this weekend when Fiona said she wanted to paint a picture of Elijah building his Lego Hogwarts Castle, instead of scrambling around spreading out newspaper and mumbling something about really needing to sew a drop cloth one of these days, I just got out my huge (kitschy/tacky/astroturfy?) green table cloth from the closet and laid it out. And you know what? No paint got on the floor and it actually looks kind of cute in the pictures.

And yes, I did just turn buying a drop cloth into a metaphor for my life, in case you were wondering.

{this moment}

This is what happens on our walks when we don't go the direction Fiona would like us to go.

{this moment} is a Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama.
If you'd like to play along, leave a link to your own {moment} in the comments!

a place for playing

Last weekend, we packed away Christmas. Fiona and I put on holiday music and carefully packed each ornament to be stored away until next year. Fiona was really into the whole process of it until suddenly, a look of terror crossed her face. She looked up at me and in the sweetest, most nervous voice, asked, "And my toys, too?" Oh, my sweet innocent child. It's hard to imagine what it must be like to be her age. Every experience new... and often confusing. "Of course not, Fiona! Your toys stay out all the time!" (And really, who would put them away when they are this beautiful?!)

I love looking at other's play spaces, so I thought you might like a better look at ours. This is what is seen as soon as someone enters our house. Fiona is such a good player. She really plays all day, so it's important that her playthings are in the heart of our living space. Everything she needs to imagine, create and play.

I just love this space. It's my favorite area of the house to tend to. I rearrange, reorganize and rethink it constantly. I think about all the playing Fiona and Elijah do in the space, dream of the playing Elsa has yet to do, and then (perhaps?) another child after that. And then if I'm feeling especially sentimental, I allow myself to dream even further. Could even more generations, one day, play in this same spot with these same toys? Oh, my heart just about bursts thinking about it. And isn't that part of the beauty of simple, natural and quality playthings? These toys are forever. 

Oh, and it's never this neat. Fiona and Daddy were on a walk, so I straightened up and took pictures real quick. ;)

And because the playspace isn't quite right without the girl who inspired it, one play action shot from when Fiona and Daddy got home from their walk...

The dollhouse baby in Fiona's hand looks to be in quite the perilous position. Mama should keep a better eye on her but is too busy napping in the front yard with the dog...

mirrors, magnatiles and danny, the parkour cat

Fiona started feeling a bit better on Saturday, which happened to coincide with the most beautiful weather, so in our jammies, we headed out back for some fresh air. I brought out our acrylic mirrors and magnatiles. Fiona LOVES her magnatiles and this was a fun spin on building with them. She built this structure for Danny, the parkour cat. If you don't know who he's named after, watch this. Fiona watches parkour videos with my brother Eric. (He's so cool!)

Next time we get the mirrors out, I want to do this.

{this moment}

{this moment} is a Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama.
I would love if you left a link to your own {moment} in the comments!

handmade holidays: personalized sketch books

What a crappy week we're having! Fiona has croup. At one point, her fever went up to 103.8! She was shaking. It was horrible. She is finally perking up a bit today. Though, after 4 days at home, despite being a bit of a homebody, even I feel like I'm going to lose my mind cooped (crouped?) up in this house. Sheldon suggested that we take a ride to the drive thru Starbucks. Good idea! I used to do that with Fiona during her early, colicky days. But before we go, another simple little project from Christmas...

So, I went a little crazy this year with the Martha Stewart alphabet stickers. They are such a fun way to personalize without having to get out every crafting material in the (already messy) house. It's nice to have the kids make something for each other and since Elijah's sisters love to draw (barring the one whose only interest is nursing at this point), sketch books seemed like a great idea.

Elijah placed the letters for each of the girls names on the front cover and then included a note and drawing on the first page of each book. He is such a sweet and thoughtful boy. For several nights, after Fiona went to bed, Elijah worked hard on each book creating a personal message and drawing especially for each sister.