My Christmas Crafting Gifts

Well Merry after Christmas to you all! Was your Christmas exciting and relaxing and everything you wanted? I had a nice quiet Christmas. Once the girls had unwrapped their presents they basically disappeared for the rest of the day playing nicely with each other. They only surfaced when they were hungry, which, is pretty typical.

This mean I could relax and do my logic puzzle book in relative peace. With my favourite fourth child (aka my dishwasher) we were able to keep on top of the dishes and kept the counters and sink looking as sparse as can be.

This year we tried to keep toys to a minimum, as they all ready have a gazillion, and those gazillion drive me crazy. This mean a bit of crafting on my part. There was one Christmas project I didn't even get started, but I figure, I will save that for their birthdays!

This is one of the crafty presents I made. I got the idea from this blog.

I found these canvas letters at Michael's and then hot glued a layer of white/cream buttons down.

I then decorated them with colourful buttons, usually trying to hide any gaps the white ones might have left. It was fun making them. And I have never been so grateful for a glue gun before in my life. Those things are miracle workers and they rock!

I got the idea for the next gift from this blog and I got the pattern for the bag from this blog.

I meant to put this fort kit together for my own kids, but ran out of time and energy. This is the one that I sent to my brother in-laws family. When I am done with the holidays I will put one together for my own as well.

This fort kit is genius. There are always cushions missing and chairs being taken from the dining room, all in the effort of building the ultimate fort. The kids seem to always be asking me for blankets and moving them all over the house. It can be a little frustrating. While I don't want to burst their creative bubble, I don't always want my dining room chairs and my bedroom comforter used as their forts. In comes the fort kit. It has everything you could want or need in one convenient bag. They have dedicated sheets, ropes etc. to make the best fort ever, and best of all, my comforter stays where it belongs, on my bed!

I didn't bother adding the tabs to the sheets, as suggested in the patterns blog. I think it will work out with out them.

I hope you enjoy this next week of festivities! Have a very Happy New Year! See you in 2015

No, Because I Love You

from Toysrus UK website

Christmas is on Thursday. While I will be enjoying the quiet festivities of the day the lead up to it is not quite as enjoyable. And that is mostly to do with the stuff and me being a bit of a Grinch this year. I don't really want much for Christmas. And anything I do want is ridiculously practical. I would rather have a new faucet then some crazy bauble that I will have to dust. I don't need books as the library is amazingly awesome at satisfying my reading itch. I actually want less stuff than more. So perhaps a great Christmas present could be cleaning out on of the rooms that we haven't done yet (hint hint).

But that is just me. Unfortunately we have kids in the house. And while their lists are not crazy, they are still pretty long and I am like, I don't think so. This year we are trying to keep it simple but it can be hard, even when you are trying to be less consumeristic. It is also sometimes hard to explain to kids that they have sufficient when they see their friends given so much excess. 

This whole dynamic can be summed up in a conversation that took place in our vehicle a few weeks ago. We were driving home, after picking up my husband from work. Miss G. called from the back saying she had something to add to her Christmas list. When asked what it was she said, "A Frozen lunch bag". When you think about it, it's not that crazy of a request. It doesn't cost a fortune and it is useful. But, my response was that she couldn't have one because we love her. Then Miss V. said "I don't think you heard her right, she said she wanted a Frozen lunch bag for Christmas". I told them that I had indeed heard correctly and that the answer was still no, because we love her. Well that kind of confused them. What does it mean that I love Miss G. when I say that she can't have what her heart desires at that point in time?

We as parents and guardians have to say no sometimes. It sucks but it is necessary. We need our kids to know that just because something is beautiful or the current fad, doesn't mean that we need to go out and buy it. Miss G. has a perfectly functional and pretty cool looking lunch bag as it is. Why would we get a Frozen one when she already has one. Teaching our children to make do with what they have and, in a way, treasure what they have is so important. When all around them they see a consumer driven society it means we need to be ever vigilant of our consumer mindset. Does that mean we never buy things? No. But it means it should be a thoughtful purchase instead of in the heat of the moment. (That is something I need to work one. Oh, my magpie tendencies.)

Deciding what type of person we want to be correlates into the type of parent we want to be and the type of people we want to raise. While we love them and want them to have beautiful things in their life, we also need to give them the permission to say no to things, the blessing of saying no to things, the attitude of contentment with themselves. You don't need to say no to everything, but I think it is important that we are a little more selective about when we say yes and what we say yes to. Saying no, can often mean I love you.

Days Nine to Twelve of the 12 Days of Decluttering Challenge

I did it! Today is the last day of the challenge and I did what I set out to do. Though this is only the beginning, what a beginning it was. Hopefully this will help me continue in my decluttering ways. One surface at a time.

Sorry for no before and after pictures. I got so busy and had to squeeze these declutterings in that I didn't even think about it until I was almost done. Sorry. 2015 will be better for pictures. I promise.

Day nine I tidied my sewing desk. It was heaped with mending that needed to be done, material, wool and just general junk. I needed it tidy so I could actually sew. I am making some Christmas presents and prefer not to have to stitch by hand. Now all I need is some drawers for my desk. (Christmas hint Matt)

Day ten I decluttered a book shelf in my living room. This is where I want to store our library books and then other kids favourites that they girls don't want to keep in their room. I also cleared off the end table in the living room which was covered in kids' junk.

Day eleven I cleaned off the top of the fridge. It was full of papers, and wrappers and other stuff that we put out of kids reach and then forgot about it. Out of all the things I decluttered this is the one my husband noticed without me telling him. It must have to do with his height as he would see the top of the fridge and I at my 5'3" would not.

Day twelve I cleaned off the top of my pantry. Like the fridge it was covered in papers and junk. It was nice to get it cleaned off and dusted.

So, what have I learned over the past twelve days?

1. Decluttering is not that bad if you keep it small. When I look around my house at the junk that is here I usually feel overwhelmed and then helpless to do anything about it. When all I had to do was focus on one shelf, or one cupboard it made it easier. It meant that it was okay if I didn't tackle everything in the house in one go. I did a little. That little when done every day will add up to a whole lot.
2. Clutter is really delaying decisions or hurt feelings. A lot of the things that were on my surfaces ended up in the garbage or recycling. There were art projects that one of the kids made that we felt we couldn't get rid of that second. There were bills that we paid but delayed putting in the shredder or file system. Somethings were items we had in our hand and put up when something else caught our attention. This year I really want to delay less. If I am done with something throw it out. If it is of no use to us, put in in the bin for the thrift store. If it is not important to do something with right then, it probably isn't worth holding on to. And, there will always be more art projects, so don't keep the junky ones.
3. My family has too much stuff and I am looking forward to purging it.

If you did the challenge with me I hope that you are feeling as satisfied and quasi motivated as I am. If you haven't done it, do it now. What a great Christmas present it will be to yourself. Now the next goal, keep those surfaces clutter free!

Days Five to Eight of the 12 Days of Decluttering Challenge

Well, the weekend was busy and it was hard to get in everything, but I made it. How about you?

On day five of the challenge I decluttered the mudroom chest of drawers. This is a catchall for crap things that are in your hands when you get in the door and you want to put down somewhere. It drives me insane! Is it too much to ask for a nice welcoming entrance when I get in from wrestling with a Miss P. while I am picking up the other two from school. I just want my house to look pretty! Okay, enough moaning.

before

The end result looks great. Now I just need to maintain it and makes sure the rest of the family doesn't keep using it as their personal dumping ground. I am looking forward to next year when I might actually be able to decorate the top of the chest with some cool kind of Christmasy vignette.

after

On day six, I dusted the tops of the cabinets in the main bathroom. I know this isn't nescessarily decluttering, but man were they ever dusty. I am pretty good at keeping what I see dust free but if it is out of my range of sight, well, the dust just doesn't enter into my consciousness. So, while it was not decluttering of stuff, I was definitely decluttering the air of my house, one dust mite at a time.

On days seven and eight I did something I have been wanting to do for months, and just never did. I finally dealt with the totes full of clothes that the girls have outgrown. Now, I want to be a thrifty person. While we live comfortably and have our needs met, we aren't rolling in the dough. I have been really good about keeping girls old clothes and using hand-me-downs from friends and all that stuff. But I was starting to feel overwhelmed with clothes. With Miss V. being 7 and Miss P still 1 there are a lot of different sizes that are floating around our home. As well, Miss G. doesn't always want to wear what Miss V. did because Miss G. has a very particular aesthetic she goes for, while Miss V. is happy in anything. I could go on and on about the headache that is the hand-me-down story in my house.

I think the biggest thing right now is Miss P. has a very different body type than the other girls. While none of my kids have been what you would call chunky, Miss P. is a rail. She is skinny but lengthy. If pants don't have the adjustable waistbands or aren't the leggings, the waist is either too big or the inseam too short. So, I am having to buy her new stuff anyways, so why keep the old stuff.

So day seven was moving all the totes out of Miss P.'s room (that was where they were stored) clearing the horizontal floor space of her room, and man what a difference. Day eight was all about the going through the clothes. I threw out all the clothes that were so horribly stained that it is a wonder I actually kept them. All the nicer clothes that didn't look super worn I put in a box that I am going to take to the consignment shop tomorrow and the rest I put into bags to go to the thrift store. I did keep some clothes, like the next size up of shirts for Miss P. and a few sleepers and things that we would want to use if we had a baby number four. But, I went from 5 totes down to 1 and I think that it pretty amazing. Man, does it ever feel good to have that done!

If you are doing the challenge we are in the home stretch. If you haven't started, it's not too late. This is something you can do anytime. I might do it in the New Year.

Days Three and Four of the 12 Days of Decluttering Challenge

Well yesterday and today were clean out the cupboard day. I even remembered to take a before picture!

On day three it was the day for organizing the baking cupboard. This is a good thing to do seasonally. It's good to get rid of things that are expired, move around things so the most used items are the easiest to get and to take stock of what you need more of. I need to get more cornmeal.

before

This cupboard was simply a disaster. Things were shuffled around, condiments for toast were infront of my flour container. This made it awful when I had to bake. For months I was saying, "I really need to do something about this cupboard". But, other things always get in the way or seem more of a priority. Thanks goodness for this challenge.

Now things are easy to reach. The things I use most often are easy to access. Some of the other things I use less often I have tucked in behind. But most things, whether I use them often or not, don't have anything in front of them. So that is nice.

after

I also went through the bin.This is where I store my odds and ends with baking stuff, such as, food colouring, cupcake papers, small spice containers, sprinkles and birthday candles. I have gotten rid of all the short candles, cleaned up some leaking food colouring bottles, and in general made it nice.

On day four I cleaned out another cupboard. I didn't take a picture of this one. This is the cupboard that houses all our hot drink mixes, so herbal tea bags, hot chocolate and caf-lib. It also houses our ice cream condiments, vitamins, and then extra milk jugs, ice cube trays and popsicle moulds.

Man it was crazy. It looked so jambled and basically we would just cram the stuff in and close the door as quickly as possible. Now I have things easy to reach for the kids. I have tucked the things we don't  use often in the back and in general made it just look nice.

My husband asked if since my cupboards each have three shelves if that counts as three days worth. For some the answer is yes. For me it was no as I was easily able to get through them in one day. Though, I will count it as me being awesome for doing three times the amount of horizontal surafaces ;-) I can't wait until tomorrow's challenge!

Day One and Two of the 12 Days of Decluttering Challenge

Well here I am with the first two days of the challenge under my belt. And I actually am doing it. Yay!!! The horizontal surfaces I have decluttered are definitely not earth shattering. You might even think they are lame, and that's okay. The whole point of this is to just get us started doing something. Perhaps I will come up with a more meaty task for tomorrow. I forgot to take before pictures. So, you will just have to enjoy the afters.

On day one I decluttered the top of my microwave. It seemed to be a catch all for papers and random bits of kitcheny stuff. What I really want it to be is a place to store my bread knife, so little hands don't get it and where to put our bread, so the bread is not on the counters. This wasn't able to happen before but it is now.

On day two I decluttered the top of my piano. That too was a catch all for mail, things that should be filed, kids toys, coins... You name it and it was probably there. It is just such a convenient place to put things because it is up high so Miss P won't get at things and you can kind of forget about it. Well no more I say! Now I will be able to put a nice Christmas arrangement there without it looking horrible. Yea!!

Have you been doing the challenge? What have you decluttered so far?