{kid craft} bookmarks

We haven't done any kid craft posts in a while now. Actually, there are a couple of reasons. There's things like summer and big brother going to school soon. But also it just got too much to do, photograph and post every week - and I realized I wasn't really doing this for the kids anymore. So we do some school prep instead these days, and just head out a whole lot, enjoying the time we don't have to do something while we still can.

Every once in a while we still sit down to do something though. This week big brother went to a friend's birthday party and since we bought a book as gift, we figured we'd do some of our tried-and-true bookmarks to go with it. Little brother did these as sibling gifts for Christmas, and we also made dog-themed ones as party favors.

This time, I marked a simple sheet of paper with lines every 5cm, showing big brother where the bookmarks would be cut. He then just colored using pencils and drawing all kinds of things for his best friends, carefully writing their names as well. There's the birthday boy in soccer uniform with a soccer ball, another friend with a cat and then one with his dog (no, that yellow thing is not a bee, it's Sammy the dog...). He took it very seriously.

The finished picture. With the, er, enthusiasm and frequency that my big boy likes to draw, I'm surprised you can actually see what it's supposed to be. No, make that amazed. I know, others draw the most gorgeous pictures at age almost 6, but hey, for my boy this is truly great. And I love that he took the time to pay attention to detail, think about what each of his friends would like and try his best in getting there.

Little brother on the other hand was busy being cranky. Sharpening pencils, getting in the way, whining and just being a general nuisance. Until he remembered he could take several pencils at once for coloring.

Am I the only one who thinks we have a tired little artist here?

Big brother joining the fun.

Once finished, I cut the paper into strips and laminated them, punched holes and tied on matching ribbon. Easy.

We also made some from the other drawings they did, which turned out rather cute, too.

Seems like we'll have enough bookmarks over here to last us the next few weeks...

Happy crafting,
Swenja

April home projects update

"Update home projects page" has been one of those items that just keeps being overdue on my to do list, and since I use an app, it's also turned this nasty red color. Ugh. Things are busy right here and with a lot of things going on, I decided to spend two hours this morning trying to clear up some items from my list.

So I updated the projects list - until it hit me that I never even posted an April update. Ooops. Not that there's much to show for that month, because really, where exactly did April go? It was Easter and then some and all of a sudden it's mid May. May?? You've got to be kidding me. It's can't be May yet. But it is, and so I'm trying my best to play catch-up:



"Get the garden in shape! Especially one flower bed that contains a grass that blooms in June."
That one was fairly high on my list, mainly because I get one shot at it, and that is spring. I have so many bulbs in that flower bed and I can't possibly remember where, so any major planting has to be done in spring when the dandelions are out. Lucky for me, that was late this year. I finally managed to make a list of plants to fill in for that ugly grass, because really, who needs a grass turned yellow in July? Save that for September, but in July I still want nice, green and pretty plants. Sorry little grass if I'm being a little harsh here, but that's the way it is. I tried it, I really did, but come June and then July I get frustrated with all that fall feeling taking over my flower bed. So I got some more of my favorite plants, the ones that do well in other parts of the garden as well. Like miscanthus sinensis or my all-time favorite gaura lindheimeri. Love those. How can you not love a plant that keeps blooming from June to October?

So this here is the offending grass. Don't be fooled by it being all nice and green. It'll turn ugly and yellow in the middle of summer, I swear.

Of course by the time the plants arrived it had turned rainy and ugly again, but oh well. And of course it was after I had placed my order that I discovered some of my favorite plants hadn't made it through the winter, due to that nasty and really cold period in February. Sigh.

Here's the said flower bed, looking a little sad right after planting because obviously the new plants are still small and the dandelions are wilting. But you can tell that I took a bunch of the grass out.

"Remove Cortaderia selloana. It's just not working. Plant miscanthus instead." Did that one at the same time. Feels sooooo much better and I can't wait for the new grass to get bigger. I didn't even have to feel guilty about this, because both of my cortaderia plants did not make it through the winter.

"Kids's Bath: Reframe prints. I copied pages of a favorite book for art but framed them in red frames that while I'm sure are nice elsewhere in the house, just don't go with the room here."
I came across these really cute prints so adding those in the existing frames might just as well work for now. 


"Hallway: Hang art. Preferably something uplifting and calming as this is where we try to get the kids out the door in time each morning... "
I never did take a picture of it, but I used this one here:

"Hallway: Maybe get a new rug. Not sure I'll get the old one clean after all that yellow sand from paving. Yuck."

Never did get it clean. So we got a new one. The brothers are delighted since it features a cat. I think it's a little bit too crazy and silly for me, but hey, it's cheerful and it really warms up the hallway. 

"Outside: Clean and refill sandbox and re-cover surrounding area with new mulch." Did that. Lots of it, and also lots of new sand. Which ends up everywhere. Sigh. Maybe I need to be decluttering sandbox toys, because the way they have them all over the sandbox within a nanosecond of being outside, they can't even sit in there anymore. But at least now there is some new sand under all those toys...


So here we go, finally the April update. Not sure I'll get much done in May, but maybe some more outdoor things and also the hubby has been painting away outside. We're getting there. One project at a time. Which is why I love this list - it really does make me look at all the things we got done. Now if I only managed to update it more frequently...


What's been on your list lately? What's been on it forever? And what felt really great to cross off?

Can't wait to hear.
Swenja

February home projects update: on eating frogs

February was a very busy month.

You see, next month I will change my office days from two to three. I won't increase my hours so that basically means more time with my kids as I get to pick them up from preschool in the afternoon instead of coming home at (or past) dinnertime. But it also means more time spent commuting and getting up before the crack of dawn. And it means a lot less time for projects of any kind, be it organizing, photography, sewing, party preparations or blogging.

So what does a crazy list-maker do? Prepare herself and make a list of what really, really needs to get done and then try to cross as many things off that list before March.

So February was a very busy month.

While reading a chapter or two in Tsh's 52 bites book I came across the concept of eating frogs. Frogs are those things on your list you don't really want to deal with, the ones you keep putting off. Eat your frog first thing and you'll feel much more productive. Sounded good. So instead of tackling my photography goals or start working on my annual family photo book, I tackled the things that I've been dreading and that really are best done in bigger chunks of time. A lot of them from my home projects list.

Like that small storage room / walk in closet, a.k.a. catch-all clutter magnet. I've cleaned this one out what feels like a zillion times after moving in not even three years ago. It always started to get messy again soon. That's a fairly sure sign that there simply is too much stuff in there, so no matter how you organize it or what storage bins you buy, it will get messy again.

Ironically, I did start by finally putting together the white storage boxes I got months ago. With some help, of course. 

Then I took a deep breath and dragged most of the closet's contents out. What bugged me most were the recycling stuff I kept in there for possible future craft project use (in a cabinet that I hadn't opened in weeks. Or months?), all the cleaning supplies that I purged before but that still looked cluttered sitting on an open shelf and the general lack of space to even walk in there.

So this time I was ruthless. All the cardboard boxes saved for mailing packages were tossed, other mailing stuff like padded envelopes and such was purged until it fit into a nice little white box. I kept 10% of the paper bags I had, and those are probably still too many. Then there was the bin where I keep things to be fixed. Broken toys and other household items. Some of them have been sitting in there for months. Apparently nobody was missing them enough to fix them, so most of that got tossed, too. I could keep going, but the bottomline is that I really tried to stick to that simple, number 1 decluttering rule: Love it, use it or lose it.

You know what happened? The rest of my house looked like a disaster zone. And the closet? Well, that one has empty bins now. I even took out one third of the shelves and will eventually replace the remaining ones with something that takes up less space. Not only can I walk in there now, I can also turn around and put things back where they belong.

I labelled all the boxes, drawers and cabinet doors, although I have to disappoint you: no scrapbook paper, fancy scalloped edge labels and not even a labelmaker. Nope, just some simple white paper cut into crooked pieces, the contents written on in my very own handwriting and stuck down with simple clear tape. Yeah, I know, I'm not going to win any make-it-cute awards here. But I don't care. Besides, I was busy getting rid of the recycling, donation boxes and other miscellaneous items no longer needed.

Ahhhhh. I can't even begin to tell you how great it feels.

So, on to the next frog: Kid's clothes.

Twice a year there's a local market where you can sell used clothing, and the great thing is that you don't have to stand there and sell your stuff, instead you get a number that you stick on your items together with a price and you bring it there the day before and pick it up after. It's only a very small fee and usually a lot of the stuff gets sold. I always wanted to do that but last Fall was the first time that I actually found the time to get it done. So now I try to make it a routine to sort through ALL of the kids' clothing before that date, purge what they've outgrown or simply don't wear, store what we're keeping for little brother and sort through the stuff previously stored to make sure he has the items that fit in his dresser. The remaining things directly go in the pile to be sold.

Again, I was ruthless and put everything in the sell pile that hardly gets worn. I know my mom and mother-in-law won't agree with me here, but I really, really don't think my kids need that many not-so-good longsleeves for messy projects. I have boys: every day is a messy project over here, really. And I don't buy designer stuff for them anyway. I also made lists of what they need. Luckily they always seem to have growth spurts right before I purge their stuff so it's easy to remove things that no longer fit and be strategic about buying new things. I'm getting much better at this, too, not replacing all the stuff I purged with new stuff right away (I'm entirely capable of that).

I also found two plain longsleeves in the pile of stuff that big brother had outgrown at age 3. He had hardly ever worn them, so I decided to pretty them up a bit for little brother, adding simple stamps I had on hand with my new fabric ink pad. I added circus stamps to the yellow one and a simple row of cars to the blue one. A five minute project and he loves wearing his "new" shirts.

Now I still have to get that mountain of clothes labelled for the market (unfortunately the labels weren't available yet when I did the sorting) and get the stuff over there, but that's ok.

My next frog actually deserves its own post, especially as this one is getting a bit long. So I'm just going to tell you that I sorted through that messy cabinet in the living room and also the glassware and dish cabinets in the kitchen.

As for the frogs, that was enough for a month. There are still things like paper pile sorting and doing taxes on my frog list. And I also did a lot of non-froggy things this month, such as preparing for little brother's birthday party, making lion costumes, tackling sewing projects and making more wreaths.

From my home projects list I also did some smaller things, such as decluttering my recipe binder and finally put up that one Expedit door add-on that had been sitting in that closet ever since we moved and now nicely conceals my far too rapidly growing fabric stack in my home office. Now I only have to find a way to automatically clean up the chaos on my desk after projects...

Next month I'll likely focus on small things. Tiny things. Nice things.

As effective as that frog eating thing is and as good as it feels to get it out of the way, it's also fairly exhausting. I don't know about you, but I get tired just writing about it.

What frogs did you eat lately? And what's the biggest frog still sitting on your list? Do tell me in the comments, I'd love to hear.

Happy organizing,
Swenja

Decluttering my recipe binder

I promised to tackle two project from my home projects list per month. This month I was actually quite busy but haven't really gotten around to posting about any of the bigger things I tackled. So I'm posting about something small instead: finally decluttering my recipe collection.

Not sure if this one here is helping or supervising.

Probably supervising. What you see here is a fraction of my pile actually. I had a stuffed binder and lots and lots of loose printouts of recipes found online. All stuffed in a cabinet in the living room. So every time I was looking for something I either had to dig through the pile or just print another copy. Which explains why I had so many duplicates.

I took it all out and sorted by category. Revolutionary, I know.

And that was what I was left with. All the rest went into the recycling bin.

Now, I could have just been happy with this, post my pics and be done with it. And mind you, I sorted this two weeks ago. So what happened? Well, I didn't like the dividers.

Just let that sink in for a minute. I haven't crossed this off my list for two weeks now just because I didn't like the color of the dividers.

I think I read too many organizing blogs. Because really, I have a confession to make. I don't have white walls (gasp!), I don't scrapbook and I do not own a label maker. There you have it. Still I had this image in my head that I was supposed to add cute dividers and make it pretty, somehow.

I figured it would take minutes and some colorful paper. So today I finally managed to get around to it.

After two minutes I realized my plan wasn't working.

Remembering Rachel's post last week, I decided to do what I'm trying to do more often: just use what I have on hand and not try to make it perfect. I mean come on, it's a recipe binder. It's supposed to store recipes so I can find them and cook from them. And yeah, it helps if it's nice enough that I'll find a home for it in my kitchen and not stuff it in a living room cabinet.

But a couple colorful dividers with simple handwritten labels (stuck on by totally professional clear tape) and a cut out and stamped label as title (again stuck on using clear packing tape. Complete with creases. Oh well) is just about good enough.

So I went and reorganized some cookbooks and found this one here a new home on a kitchen shelf.
And that's it, crossed off my list and all done!

How far do you take your projects? When is good enough just good enough and when do you need perfect?

Cheers,
Swenja

Beware: my home projects list

Today I'm sharing my biggest to do list: my home projects list. Now, you don't have to read through it. The reason I'm posting it is that at the end of the year, I can see what I accomplished and what's still left. I have no plans of getting all of these done, some I know might take years to get to. But you know I like lists.

My goals this year don't even include any house projects, but I know I'll go crazy if I don't get to do any of them and many will simply have to get done. So I thought maybe I can do two things per month, even if they're tiny ones such as hanging some art or fixing something.

I tend to focus on what needs to get done and not what has been done. And I waste time by not getting started because I know I won't be able to finish a task. I'm trying to be better about this and just get something done, even if it's just a small part of a bigger project. Or a small part of a tiny project.

It just feels soooooo good to cross something off a list instead of thinking "oh, right, I was going to XYZ" every time you walk by.

This summer it'll be three years that we have been living in the house. I know we got a lot done, especially given that we both work and have small kids. Still, what remains to be done sometimes seems overwhelming. I'm adding this list as a page to my navigation bar at the right so I can check back there and cross things off as they get done. I'm hoping that will help me focus on what we got done.

So here it goes, in no particular order:



Home office:

• Find a space for remaining craft supplies, mainly those recycling bin things I keep saving (toilet paper creatures, anyone?)
• Re-organize sewing supplies
• Find a new (better) place for fabric stash. Currently it's a box which means I keep digging for things and can't see what I have. It's not much, but I don't want it to grow just because I forgot about that old shirt I saved and could have used for a project
• Get some cork, paint white and use as photography background. Saw this idea here. The wall behind my desk is painted a dark green. While I love the color, it doesn't always make for a good backdrop, especially when you add dark winter months and lack of photography and styling skills
• Get some more cork to make pinboard. My mother in law gave me this pinboard thing where you have two rows of twine and use clothespins to hang things. Not practical. I want to add some cork to the back to I have a decent pinboard. Or remove it alltogether if it gets to cluttered, because I also want to:
• Hang art above desk! I have a number of things I want to hang, I just can't seem to find the time to just go get a hammer and some nails and decide on a layout! One of those things where it takes you longer to move it around your to do lists than actually finish the task. Sigh.
• Organize kid's art and craft projects from preschool. They don't come home with a lot of it but I do need to find a system before school starts.
• Get a new lampshade. This one is tricky because it's an old lamp from my grandmother. I really don't like the glass lampshade that comes with it in that room, but it seems like they made lampshades differently back then, so none of your standard (Ikea...) models will fit. 

Closet, Abstellkammer, catch-all:

• purge. Again. I do this about two to three times a year and the frequency should tell me that there is still way too much stuff in there and the organization method doesn't work at all. Sigh.
• Move remaining craft material to office
• Clean out files. I have a feeling I can toss about 90% of what's there. I should add organize photos to this, but just typing that makes me feel exhausted.
• Find a different (ak.a. nicer) way to store cleaning supplies. They're currently sitting on an open shelf. I'm not going for that "cute container with scrapbook-paper and nice, matching labels" look here (come on, it's a closet!), but it's still bugging me
• Put together, set up and label those new storage boxes (that have been sitting there for months)

Master Bath: I don't think I'll do any of this in 2012, but for the sake of completeness...

• Add some large scale art on the wall behind the door. Preferably a canvas print of a photo I took of the beaches on vacation in the Netherlands. 
• Paint the walls! One of the few rooms not painted that sandy color the rest of the house has. I wasn't sure it would go with the color of the tiles. So I'm thinking, a soft, taupy gray. Not necessarily this year though.
• Hack one of those Ikea coatracks I have elsewhere in the house to fit over the door and replace those flimsy (and ugly) hooks that are currently there
• Purge the cabinet under the sink
• Replace the unit under the sink with a drawer unit - much easier access and much easier to clean (we have one in the kids bath). Oh well, one of these days.

Kids:

• Get a desk for big brother. He starts school this year, so he really needs one. And some drawers, a lamp, maybe a pinboard, some art, shelves... 
• Move play store to little brothers room. This will mean some rearranging there, also
• Add some art to the walls. I'm thinking yarn-wrapped monograms and such. We'll see.
• Finally go to that basement and find the rail thing that is supposed to go on top of big brother's closet. Install it or cross it off the list forever.
• Get a new side table or storage system for next to big brother's bed. He's starting with small Legos so I might be getting a Trofast storage unit there. I hate them, but they work for this type of thing.
• Purge! The next opportunity to sell kids clothing and toys is in March and I really want to make some space for the school stuff and get rid of things that are worn or no longer fit/are used
• Find a place for small Legos. Shoeboxes in an attic space don't count, I suppose.
• Install the two white, vintage phones I got months ago so they can talk from one room to the other. They're not real phones but they can be connected to each other.

Kids bath:

• Finish things. There are still baseboards and stuff missing. Not pretty.
• Replace the vanity with a simple mirror. We have this hanging unit from Ikea but I never really liked it, it's just too big for the room and we don't need the storage. I'd get rid of it immediately, but you know, we just bought it like a year ago or so... 
• Find a lamp for over the mirror. See, that's what happens when I don't buy the Ikea good-enough-for-now solution. It never gets done. Sigh.
• Reframe prints. I copied pages of a favorite book for art but framed them in red frames that while I'm sure are nice elsewhere in the house, just don't go with the room here. 
• Get new towels. Like matching ones.

Bedroom:

• Paint bed. There's a corner we had to fix after moving and it never got painted over again. It's these little things I really need to be better at taking care of before starting something new. Maybe this list will help?
• Add some more art. 
• Do something about the sides of the armoires. We got these big Ikea wardrobes/armoires/closets whatever you call them. You know, the Pax. I loooooove it because the 1m Pax unit plus some drawers will fit all my clothing. If it gets crowded I know I need to purge. Eventually I want to add nice drawers instead of the mesh baskets we have. But for this list, I really want to do something about the sides. They're bright white, and the doors we have are off white. They way they're placed results in the bright sides looking strange, so I need to paint them or cover them (vintage fabric?) or something. One day. You know, when inspiration strikes.
• Refinish tops of nightstands and dresser. They're solid wood but haven't been taken care of much. Our cats used to jump on the dresser so it's full of scratch marks and needs to be oiled.

Hallway: now this is tiny. And I mean TINY. I did some reorganizing last year, so what's left is minor stuff that I just need to cross off the list

• Hang art. Preferably something uplifting and calming as this is where we try to get the kids out the door in time each morning...
• Add new hooks for keys
• Finally fix that handle on the Ikea box that came off sometime last year.
• Maybe get a new rug. Not sure I'll get the old one clean after all that yellow sand from paving. Yuck.

Downstairs bath:

• Do something with that bland white shade. Like a Scandinavian modern print, of course all DIY. Looks good - in my head at least.
• Paint. Like the upstairs bath, this could use some color. Not sure gray qualifies as a color, but I just don't like white walls (GASP! I know, you're not even allowed to think about anything else but white walls these days. But they just look blah to me, especially in that North-facing room)

Kitchen:

• PURGE. I'm fairly good about kitchen gadgets, but I'm hopeless when it comes to china. I have way too many (often vintage) plates and bowls and such that I never use. I really have to stop telling myself that I might use them for blog photos. Or keep a small, accessible stash for that and donate the rest. 
• More purging. This spills over into the living room, where there is a mess of a cabinet hiding all sort of glassware and vases. Ultimately, I'd like to keep only one set of wineglasses - not one in the kitchen and one "for good" in the living room. 
• Refinish and oil countertops.
• Fix the lazy susan in the corner kitchen cabinet that has been broken ever since we moved.
• Find a better way to store cookies and candy for the kids. It's a cabinet they can't reach, but the cabinet gets messy way too quickly. So I need to purge and find a better way to organize the rest.
• Do a pantry challenge and clear some of the build-up groceries from the holidays.

Living room:

• Purge that Ikea unit, especially the one with the glassware and vases. Ugh.
• Purge cat toys. Those lazy furballs don't play with half of the crap in there. A couple of nice felt mice should suffice.
• Purge tablecloths. And possibly find a new place to store them. I hardly ever use tablecloths anyway, especially the large ones have just been sitting there. I like out table the way it is and just use a runner. That's also much easier with kids and cats if you ask me...
• Get a cover for the large chair. One of the few things that doesn't have a slipcover - and it shows. At least it's the same fabric as the couch, and when I had to throw an old couch slipcover out last year (I have my wonderful feline friends to thank for that), I tore off as much of the fabric as I could save. Plan is to make something from that for the chair. 
• Get a new sofa to replace the chair and current sofa. Yeah I know, contradictory, but this is a long-term, someday thing. The large sofa and chair don't fit perfectly in the space and a corner sofa would be nicer. Someday. Or maybe not, maybe we'll find a different setup when the kids get bigger and we don't need the play area behind the sofa anymore.
• Purge magazines. 
• Organize those recipe printouts!
• Purge the inspiration folder I set up when we build the house. I'm sure tastes have changed so things can go.

Upstairs landing:

• Make a gallery wall.
• Frame some vintage style posters for the wall between the kids' rooms
• Add a shallow shelf for the kids' shared library. Not sure any of this is a 2012 project though...

Basement
Oh don't even get me started. It's a project from hell and I have no idea when that is ever going to get done. Nice for 2012 would be some decluttering progress and some more tiles... some paint maybe... I guess I would need to focus on this for a few months and get it over with, but that would mean I'd get nothing else done. Hey, it's a basement... This year I am NOT including this in my goals. While it would be nice to have a decluttered and nice basement, my happiness doesn't depend on it. I can close the door, after all.

Outside of the house:

• Increase curb appeal. Now that the driveway is finally paved, we need to add something to conceal the garbage cans that have no other place to go and genereally pretty up the front of the house a bit. Add a bench for taking off muddy shoes, get a new mailbox (that generic mailbox is another one of those not-perfect-but-good-for-now things that I shouldn't have gotten in the first place!) and add some plants. Not all of this is for 2012 though.
• Find some decent storage for the bikes and gokarts. Who knew all the kids' wheels would take up so much space?
• Add a roof to the back patio. Not likely a 2012 project. We keep wanting to do this but somehow there are always other things that need our time and money. One day.
• Get the garden in shape! Especially one flower bed that contains a grass that blooms in June. I mean come on, June? I wanted something for Fall that would cover up the perennials no longer pretty by the end of the summer. Now this stuff just blooms and then looks wasted the rest of the Summer/Fall. That needs to be redone. 
• Renovate kid's playhouse. It's only been up for two years, but it does need some repainting on the white parts. 
• Finally finish the inside of the playhouse's second story. This year little brother will no doubt want to go up there, too, so I really need to get something done. Right now it's empty and we have plans for adding an "office" complete with old keyboards, phones and such. We'll see.
• Sew curtains for the playhouse! This one has been on my list forever and again, that's ridiculous. I have fabric and the window's arent big, so I just need to sit down and figure out how to do it.
• Clean and refill sandbox and re-cover surrounding area with new mulch. 
• Various repainting projects around the outside of the house. 
• Make plant signs for the herb garden. I have five different kinds of sage. I think. Need I say more
• Remove Cortaderia selloana. It's just not working. Plant miscanthus instead.
• Grow tomatoes. My mom always does, but I haven't managed to the last few years.
• Clean up and purge shed. AGAIN. And repeatedly, I'm sure.
• Add backs to the shelves in the shed to hide some of the mess make them more stable

There.

Congratulations if you scrolled this far down! It's one long, long list. Longer than I thought, actually. But it's good to see it all written out. Maybe by the end of the year some things will be crossed off. I want to cross something off right now.

I'll keep you posted on our progress. Even if it's 2013.

What's on your list?
Swenja

{kid craft} Paper garlands

Don't be fooled by my handmade Christmas posts. I'm seriously challenged when it comes to crafts. And I'm not kidding when I say that I can't cut a straight line.

I still try. And I need to try more with my kids.

They loved doing Christmas crafts and making gifts for family and friends. They were very serious about it. For about half an hour. But still.

Big brother will start school this year. We need to practice drawing, cutting and basically everything arts and crafts. Also, my number one goal for 2012 is more fun with the kids.

So what does a newby blogger do? Yep, start a challenge. Like one craft per week with the kids. Doesn't have to be fancy, I'll leave that to the pros and scrapbookers out there. I recently got a book about 100 craft projects your kids should have done (it's a German one, see here), and I will use this as a starting point.

So for week 1, we did simple paper garlands. You know, the ones you remember from when you were a kid: fold, cut, unfold. I told you I'm not doing fancy here. This is more about mommy trying to spend some time crafting simple things with the brothers and not some cool, never seen before craft tutorials. Hope that's ok for you.

We had fun though, especially big brother, who was working on a heart garland for his preschool girlfriend, who's out sick this week.

 Cutting out hearts.

 And decorating them.

Little brother was more interested in mommy's computer.

Drawing flowers. Sunflowers, actually. With seeds. For the birds.

Little brother adding the seat belts to mommy's badly drawn passengers. Oh yeah, of course we did a car garland for him. What did you expect?

Then he started cutting the cars apart. Because, "Mommy, they can't have headlight when they're stuck togther!" Ah. Of course.

Oh, and sorry for the bad photos. One of my photography goals is to finally work out that white balance thing. I need to figure out how to manually adjust it...

"Look Mommy, that's our house, and that over there is Fiona's". Ah. And no, that was not big brother's drawing. It was me.

Any suggestions for next week? I'm letting the kids look through the book and decide but maybe you have some ideas as well for those who need practice cutting a straight line.

Happy crafting,
Swenja

Decluttering my 2012 Resolutions

Just like last year, I started out with a long list of things I wanted to accomplish in the New Year.  Blame it on being a slightly perfectionist list-maker, but I do like resolutions. Ah, a plan for the new year! A chance to cross things off and become a better version of oneself. Or just get the house organized. Whatever.

It's almost 2012. So here we are again, and I have another long list of things I want to do. Some of them sound familiar, because I didn't really get them done last year. Learning to sew. Take better pictures. Be more relaxed with the kids. Oh, and then there is the basement. Sigh.

Then there are the ones I saved for this year. Like exercise. Take better care of my garden. Bake my own bread. Oh, and countless DIY and organizing projects. Because even I realized I wasn't going to get them done in 2011.

There are two problems with this list.

For one, I am never going to get it all done. I'm going to start too many things at once and at the end get none of them really done. Or just a few.

Also, exactly why am I doing these things in the first place?

I'm sure it would be nice to sew. Stuff for my kids. A library book bag. One of a kind tees. Pillows. Handmade little pouches for their Advent calendar.

There's this image I have in my head. Of me, making things, growing things, cooking things and having fun with my kids, all the while taking great photos of it and posting on my blog. You know, creating all those nice, happy memories.

In reality the kids are probably going to remember not the handmade pouches but mommy being busy all weekend and fighting with her sewing machine.

As you may have noticed, I am slightly crazy. Ok, a lot (just ask my poor husband). Once I make a plan, I want to stick to it. And no, I am not good at being spontaneous. I want to get things done. Cross stuff off my list. So if there is a long list of home projects I was planning on doing, sitting around at the playground for an afternoon or even a Saturday morning feels sort of like a waste of time. There you have it, I admit it.

Just let that sink in for a minute. I set goals for myself because I want my home to be a nice place and end up making my home a stressful place because I obsess over things that didn't get done.

Uhmmm, something is wrong here, don't you think?

So, I made a new list. And this one is entirely preliminary, because I have signed up for Aby's class, starting Thursday. I have a feeling I might be updating this list. Anyhow, here it goes for now:

1) Have more fun with my kids
They are 5 and almost 3 years old. Big brother will start school in Fall. And I don't know if it's the age, some development stage, being one of the big boys at preschool, his parents being too busy with and worried about work, a to-do list obsessed mommy or little brother getting more attention due to his age - maybe it's all of the above, but things haven't really been smooth lately. Yeah, I know, kids are loud and messy and all that. But when the entire family feels worn out from the weekend on a Sunday night, something is going wrong.

And when I think about what would really make my day, make my year and make all of us happier, then it's have more fun with the kids. At the end of the day goals are about making things better, right?

So the plan for 2012 is to have more fun. Start really enjoying each other's company again. Spend some time at the playground every week. Get some fresh air every day. Get ready for school.Practice being quiet for 15 minutes. Do at least one day trip as a family each month. Let the kids help more with household chores, like cleaning their room, emptying the dishwasher, help cooking, do laundry. Ok, the last one might not be so much about having fun, but about doing things together. Instead of mommy being grumpy because she has to clean and pick up toys and sort laundry while the kids are acting up because mommy doesn't play with them.

2) Take better care of myself
When you become a mother, you quickly learn to ignore your own needs. Sleep? Ha! Take a shower? Luxury. A healthy, balanced and warm meal? Hmmm, not unless some leftover pasta plus a half a banana counts. Fashion? Oh come on, that's for those mommies who will show up at the playground wearing high heels.

I could continue. Except that at some point, kids get older. You finally get to go to the bathroom when you need to and not when they finally finish nursing (and wake up from the nap that they took right after nursing, still on your lap, of course). You could cook something that takes no longer than 30 minutes to prepare. You could take some care how you dress. You could moisturize. Drink enough water. Excercise (and no, I'm not taking about vacuuming against that endless supply of crumbs here).

Except that, at least in my case, other things seem more important. After all, you're used to neglect yourself. And at least for me, I sometimes really need to see a result of what I'm doing. Yeah, I know, healthy and happy kids, paycheck, ... yeah. That's wonderful. But I need some more, I want something to show at the end of the day/week/month/year. Something that lasts longer than the two nanoseconds the house stays clean after I've spent two hours getting it clean. So I write those to do and goal lists. And ignore everything else just to cross something off that list.

Well, just like I'm putting my family first in 2012, I'm also going to put myself somewhat higher on the list. And not just because that could help with achieving goal No 1. But because I deserve more attention that a closet in need of cleaning and decluttering. Period.

So in 2012 I plan to take better care of myself. Sleep. Eat right. Moisturize. Excercise, and that's the hardest part. I hate sports. I'm really, really bad at it. And I don't like things I am bad at. But my shoulder hurts so much I can't sleep on it and my belly, oh let's just not talk about it. My shoulder at least was much better the few weeks that I actually stuck to the excercise DVD my coworkers forced me to do gave to me because they care.

But as I said, I need something more. So I'm adding two things here for my creative well-being, too: Photography. And blogging.

I've always loved photography. It helps me save all those family memories and I love doing our annual photo books. So in a way I am sneaking in one of my previous goals here. But I do believe that mastering my camera and shooting in manual mode will be an accomplishment that helps me feel really productive. Also, I want to save the memories of the fun with my kids now and not five years later. And I want to get better at that.

I've also come to love blogging. Where else do you meet people who are as crazy? Who else would listen to me ramble on and on about my goals for 2012?! See.

Besides, don't those productivity experts always say that making yourself accountable helps in achieving goals? See.

I might combine the two and do a photo project. I don't think I can manage a 365 one just yet, but maybe a weekly linkup like Rebecca's {simple things sunday}. 

And that's it. No more goals for 2012.

Well, almost.

I made a list. Of all the things I would like to do. I call them bonus goals. If I cross something off that list, good. If not, that's ok too. Here it goes, and yes, it will sound familiar:

• bake bread. I really want to try Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.
• keep spending less, plus track spending.
• live with less, or that William Morris quote about nothing in your home that you don't think is beautiful or useful that's been going around blogland. I would love to do this as a project the way Jules from Pancakes and French Fries did, but, well, see above. So I'm just keeping this in mind, because even if I'm not trying, things will come into this house, things will need to be cleaned out and dealt with.
• garden. One of my flower beds needs some serious re-arranging. And I didn't garden a lot on 2011, but I miss it. Who knows, maybe this is going to be something fun to do with the kids. If not, then maybe the garden will have to be neglected for another year. Oh well.
• some of what feels like a gazillion DIY and home projects. Declutter the closet, reorganize my newly acquired craft supplies, get a desk for big brother's room... Chances are, some of these are going to be done. But I am not making this a priority. I don't need to, because I love these projects and I know that I'll fit some of them in anyway. But my focus will be something else this year.
• make progress on the basement. Ugh. 
• try new recipes. Try things I wouldn't normally do, like this flatbread. 
• cook more from the cookbooks I already own and the recipes I've already clipped.
• clean out the pantry and freezer. Use up what's there before buying more stuff.
• learn to sew. At the very bottom of the list.

I actually look forward to my goals. I can't wait to get started. The only things I know will be hard to get into a habit will be excercising (oh how I hate that), not yelling or snapping at the kids at the end of a long and trying day (suggestions, anyone?????), putting myself before my to do list oh, and adding things to the list.

Do you make resolutions? I'd love to hear.

Have a wonderful start to the new year!
Swenja

Pasta with peas and bacon: A suggestion.

Remember than one-new-recipe-a-week thing I'm doing this year? It' part of my goals. Often I end up baking something or making a recipe I've seen somewhere in the blogosphere or elsewhere on the Internet. And while that is fine, my original idea behind this was to pull out one of my way too many cookbooks and actually cook something from it. Might have to tweak this next year and assign a cookbook per week or so. Anyhow.

This time I actually made something from a good, old-fashioned cookbook. No flimsy printout, no screen, no phone in my kitchen. Just a book. I pulled out Diane Seed's Top 100 Pasta Sauces. Because I felt like having some pasta. Hm. I always feel like having some pasta. And I didn't go grocery shopping for a week, so that sort of limited my options a little.

Looking through the book I came across a recipe for pasta with peas. Peas? I always have frozen peas. Let's see, what else.... bacon? Check. (Don't ask me why, I'm afraid there is no good answer for that). Parmesan? Check! Lots! And that was it. Easy peasy. (sorry) So here's my version:

Pasta with peas and bacon

500g / 1 lb pasta (I used Penne Rigate but pretty much anything will work)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
150g / 5 oz bacon

2 tablespoons butter
3 onions
3 cups frozen peas
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons Mascarpone cheese
100g / 4 oz Parmesan cheese

Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a large sautee pan. Cut bacon into small pieces and add to pan. Meanwhile, finely chop onions. Cook bacon until crisp, remove from pan and set aside. Add butter and remaining olive oil to the pan, add onions and cook until onions are very tender, about five minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta. Add peas to the onions, season with salt and pepper. Be careful with the salt as the bacon will also add saltiness to the sauce. Add some pasta water a tablespoon at a time and wait until absorbed. Add Mascarpone and stir to melt. Drain pasta. Add as much pasta as you like to the sauce, ass bacon and check seasoning. Grate the parmesan cheese and serve on the side.

Adapted from Seed, Diane: The Top 100 Pasta Sauces. "Pasta e Piselli con la Pancetta"

If you know me at all, you know that I have a hard time following recipes. This one is no exception. It said to cook the bacon with the onions, add peas and pasta and keep cooking. Sounds like soft, mushy bacon to me. But I wanted nice, crisp, crunchy bacon. So I started with the bacon, cooked until crisp, set it aside and then put the onions in the same pan to sautee in the bacon fat.

Also, the original recipe suggests (in my book recipes are just that: suggestions) you undercook the pasta, then add it to the sauce with some pasta water, cover and finish cooking. Nice idea. I'll try that someday. Someday when I don't have a picky toddler. Until then, I prefer to cook my pasta al dente, drain, reserve some plain pasta for my toddler-plan-B and add the rest to whatever sauce I am making. I don't know about your house, but at my house this has prevented quite a few screaming fits at the dinner table...

I also reduced the amount of peas - limited by what was left in my freezer. I still thought it was plenty of peas. The original recipe calls for 4 cups. I used something between 2 and 3 cups. Honestly, I didn't measure. I just threw the rest of the package into the sauce. I also didn't take any pictures of the process. It was dark outside. So what you see in these photos are the leftovers I had for lunch on Friday. Yeah, I'm that professional.

But my favorite change occured towards the end, looking at the onion and pea mixture. Hmmmm.... Something is missing here.... Mascarpone! There's some mascarpone cheese left in the fridge! That never hurts, now does it? Actually, it's wonderful. Creamy. And it makes this nice spring dish much more ready for fall. Yum.

So go ahead, use my version, use the original version or feel free to change it around. You know, it's just a suggestion after all.

Have a great week,
Swenja

PS: I made my first batches of the Spekulatiuslikör today. And since it's a very foggy, chilly day and from the two batches I made there was this small cup left over, I added it to our hot cocoa this afternoon. With whipped cream on top. Forgot to take a picture. But it is sooooo good.

Fall impressions

Today I have a brand-new, never-been-done-before topic for you: fall pictures. Amazing, right? Like no other blog on the whole, (world)wide Internet has ever shown these during, well, fall. And you are never going to guess who is starring in these photos: leaves! Berries! Mushrooms! More leaves!

Anyway. I have to admit I still haven't turned the auto settings off on my camera, but still, I do think I'm inching a bit closer to one of my 2011 goals: take better pictures. So you'll just have to bear with me here and have a look at this tiny selection of the gazillion photos I took while we went for a walk last weekend. And leave tons of encouraging comments. Of course.

 I like this one.

 Very yellow. Little brother would love it.

 We went to visit these guys.

Of course the pedal go-kart had to come along. Love the rear seat since little brother can just sit there and relax, which is especially good when he didn't have a nap.

 More yellow!

 Up close.

 Yep, summer IS over. Even though it was almost warm enough go without a jacket.

 I have never seen one this big.

Daddy going for a ride into the fields. Like really into the fields, so much that big brother had to help him get out there while mommy was busy taking pictures of yellow stuff.

 Leaves. Colorful leaves. Such an novel concept.

 But they are pretty. (Aren't they?!)

 Big brother and his loot. He loves letting them fly and calls them helicopters.

 Hmmm, there are more up there...

 Little brother wanting in the driver's seat.

 Riding home.

And now, since no post of fall pictures seems to be complete without this statement: I just love this season. So cliche, I know. But it's true, I really like it, especially when it happens to be sunny and warm and colorful and not dreary and rainy and cold like it sometimes is in Germany when it goes straight from summer to winter.

Want to see more fall pictures? And really (I mean REALLY) good ones? Go have a look at Yvonne's blog. She recently also posted these very yummy looking pumpkin cupcakes with the cutest ever leaf decoration (and the prettiest ever cupcake wrappers). Hmm.... I didn't do the new recipe for this week yet...

So, honestly, what is your favorite season?

Swenja