a wintery ray of rainbow

 

sorry for the smudges in the window(...this is from the boys' room),

but see the little ray of rainbow in the left corner? :)

PF 2013 - office/home calendar :)

h a v e   a   n i c e   r i d e   i n   2 0 1 3 !

download - en

download - cz

p.s. made for paper size A5, but you can use any size you like.
looks best on a little bit grainy cardstock(klasická čtvrtka).
hope you like it :)!

little hedgehogs

.....it's still christmas ;)

 

traditional christmas cookies that my family has been making for generations!

they have always been my favorite and they are my boys' favorite too :)

 

 

christmas fish :)

the traditional christmas fish...

 

  

...cut out of paper, colored, sprinkled with glitter, made by Ji :)

 

(we were inspired by the fish Ji and his classmates made at his preschool :)

wooden bead garland

 

just string them on and tie a double knot...

stick and bead tree mobile

cut sticks to desired lengths,

drilled a hole in the center,

and Ji stringed them

(altering with xl wooden beads)

 

 ...and St got to play

 

 zorro ? :)

stamped wrapping paper

we did some stamping with the boys :)...

 

 

...just some ordinary erasers, ink/paint and paper

i cut the tree out of an ordinary white eraser with my exacto knife, used a pencil eraser for the dots and stamped onto ordinary brown packaging paper

tip: make sure you have suitable ink/paint and paper - test it out first...so that the ink/paint soaks into the paper and doesn't smear. usually really smooth or glossy paper doesn't work well...
p.s. ikea has this really cheap brown paper, but i haven't made it to the store yet, so i can't tell you how well it works.

card gift wrap

a simple way to wrap a print/photo/children's drawing gift into a card...

 

 

cut out a simple deisgn,  then fold paper,

wrap gift in colored tissue paper and insert :)

 

Our anual St. Nicholas Day ride :)

 

 

...when we got to the station, the sun was just rising and it was so magical!

inside we sat next to a coal burning stove and there we 2 devils(St. Nicholas' "accomplices") with

guitars sitting behind us and the whole ride we sang carols and folk songs - it was so much fun!

willow and birch branch advent wreath

h a p p y   a d v e n t !

...same technique as the advent mobile, only after

i weaved in some birch branches and decorated :) 

willow branch advent mobile

just some willow branches intertwined into a circle,

wrapped in jute ribbon and red twine

attached straw ornaments

 

 

tip: when weaving the circle, you need to tie

the intertwining branches in at least 3 places

to keep the unruly branches in place :)! after tied, 

you can form it a little more - to make a nicer circle ;)

sparkling morning frost

after a couple of really gloomy fall days, this morning we

got to see this! on our front lawn while eating breakfast....

 

 

 it only lasted for a couple of minutes but the sparkling colors were so magical!

some fabric...

 

why do i always come home with more fabric, than i intended on buying? ;)

papier-mache hot air balloon decoration

we used this pinata tutorial, only ours is a decorative and healthier version.....no candy ;)

 

p.s. this tutorial uses the flour-water "glue" - great for smaller kids!

 

a craft for both of the boys :)..... i love it when they work together!

a play-hole in our coffee table

you can't see them on the photos, but there are A LOT of holes/dents in our wooden coffee table!...we bought it 4 yrs ago, and it's basically it's the boys' play table, so a lot of damage has been done(...luckily it was really cheap)!
so i decided to contribute with a hole also, but this one is not from play but FOR play! and it's not going to be just for marbles!

i used a forstner drill bit so i could cover it up with a faux wood knot

 

...St just loves to just drop the marbles into the hole

(we put a bowl underneath the hole to catch the marbles)

 

 

p.s. i plan on making some interchangable wood knots

for other activities...and maybe some more holes ;)

 

twine fish

 just twine and glue :

 

i dipped my fingers in glue and applied it to the twine until it was soaked with glue,

then layed it flat onto non-stick baking paper and formed it into a fish shape :)

 

tips:

- if yor twine is really thin, braid it first.

- if you use alot of twine, it will be heavy and the shape

could deform after being hung for a while.....but you

could glue it onto paper and have it as a picture instead :)

- it's fun to play with the shadows!

 

...picking up some trout at the local fish market :)

zlaté návrší - golden hilltops

from home, drove half an hour to the bus stop, 15 mins up with the bus.....

 

 

and here we are!...it was such a beautiful autumn afternoon!

bike :)

Ji test-riding St's new bike....inside :)

simple bias tape holder

i love the new pretty "stripes" of color on my sewing-corner of my desk :)...instead of being in a stacking container on a shelf!


need:
- piece of wood
(mine was a piece of scrap wood i had lying around :)
- wooden dowels
- drill + bit(dowel size)
- empty paper spools
or
- make little paper rolls

tips:
- i cut the paper spools using a saw
- when you run out of spools like i did :), you can make little paper rolls - cut strips of paper and twirl around a dowel (or something that has a little larger circumference than your dowel holders), applying glue to the outside "beginning" end(before twirling) and the inside "end" end

 

....and if you don't have one yet, make a holder for your spools of thread too :)!