The making of Nightpain

Our kiddo is the oldest of all her cousins so you can imagine my surprise when she wanted to do the flour sack baby assignment. Of course, I should have known it would be a fun adventure!

May I present Nightpain. 

Yes, that is her flour sack baby's name. It's a goth vampire baby... nothing out the ordinary there! 

To make your very own Flour Sack Baby you will need:

Outfit(s)

Tape

5lb bag of flour (or rice, ect)

2 pairs of knee high pantyhose

Markers (to draw face stuff)
Batting/Stuffing

Fabric glue and a scrap of fabric (optional. You could go bald and draw the eyes right on the pantyhose)

Yarn for hair (optional)

This video on how to put it together is very helpful and fun to watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GozoUvpP3IM

As a part of this lesson there will be research on the cost of raising a baby. There will be reports written about childhood injury for things like dropping Nightpain or leaving her in the car. She will be required to get a babysitter if she does not want to take Nightpain somewhere. I do not plan on babysitting! Ha! ;) 

5 fun things I enjoy about having an only child

Like everyone else in the world, from time to time I get annoyed with all the unsolicited “advice” and opinion that people bestow upon me. I have an only child. The horror!! Gasp!! By CHOICE?! Yep.

It’s not for any real reason, so to speak, except that is what I was blessed with. One would think that would be a good enough answer to the big family pushers out there. Now, don’t get me wrong here I think you should have as many kids as you want to raise! I’m all for you doing what is right for you and me doing what it right for me. I’m absolutely positive there are some great things about having lots of kids that I won’t experience. However, I’m having a blast here with my only child and I wanted to share this positive mini-list for those of us who might be just a tad tired of hearing how you simply need to have more children.

5    fun things I enjoy about having an only:

1.      Quiet time is easy to come by and keep peaceful. We can all grab a book and chill out on the couch reading. Maybe this is because I’m extra lucky to have a peaceful child but maybe it’s because there aren’t any other kids to run after. Either way, we are loving it.

2.  Short order cooking. We can all have what we want for the most part just about any time. While dinner is planned, we really don’t have a plan for breakfast and lunch. It’s easy to make a ‘special order’ meal when I only have to do it for one person.

3.  Every day is special “mommy and me” time. There is no competition for my time or attention so anytime she wants it, it’s hers. At any free moment we could be painting each other’s nails, playing a game together or just hanging out. There are the typical distractions like chores and school work of course but the rest of the time is fair game fun time!

4.  Equality is easy. Since there are only 3 of us total, we find that splitting things equally is easy and taking turns really doesn’t take long at all. We can play split screen on most video games too! 

5.  Have a favorite. This is my favorite part!! In my phone and even on some of my photo albums I nicknamed my daughter “Favorite Child.” It’s pretty cool to have a favorite. She gets to be my favorite person in the whole wide world. 

So, next time you think you should tell a mom how sad it is to only have one child, think again!
They might be loving it. What matters is that we all love our children, do our best and try not to mess them up. When it’s all said and done, none of us have all the answers and one size never fits all. Love and be loved ya’ll!

T-shirt to pillow

As you may have noticed, our little crafter is a teenager now. She has been learning to sew. What better project for a newbie than to make a t-shirt pillow?!

Right after the fire she was given this really cute Y'all shirt from a friend of ours. She has since grown out of it.

We made t-shirt yarn out of the bottom for a future project. Making pillows is so easy! Just cut, sew and stuff.

 It's going to be adorable in her pile of stuffed animals and pillows on her bed! It is so much fun watching and guiding her in these craft projects!

Playing with Byzantine Chainmaille

This chain maille lace pattern has been on my make list for a few months now. Finally, the time was upon me! I am making an anklet and bracelet with this weave. 

Happy crafting y'all!

Handmade Christmas

Hey family and friends! Our little crafter, Aurora, has been hard at work making gifts for her family. We wanted to share some of her favorite projects with you.

She is 14 now which is scary but super fun! It was interesting watching her create so much on her own. She found ideas she wanted to copy or use as a starting point. She picked something personal for each one of her cousins.

Starting out on top, she sewed gift bags for each child. Sewing straight lines is pretty easy! :p :)  There are tons of tutorials for basic bags on the net. If you need a starting off point, check this place out.

Next up was painting. Her two favorites of her paintings were the white deer and the Minecraft one.

Another easy craft she thought she could tackle on her own was to make some onsies.

She was blessed with twin cousins this year! That Aunt and Uncle grew up on Mario so it was a natural choice. I cracked up when she asked me to print these. Teen crafters are the best!

We will see you next year! Merry Christmas, from our family to yours. :)