Another simple gift idea

When I ordered my free prints for that photo calendar, I found myself with 2 extra photos. So I created a 4x6 photo with 2 wallet-sized pictures. I did two of those so I had a wallet-sized photo of each child. I planned on just sending them to a set of grandparents, but then I had another idea. We have TONS of magnets on the fridge. I keep all those advertising ones that come in the mail with intentions of using them for a craft, but I never do.

Well, now I did. I used double-sided tape (a thin layer of glue would be a more permanent solution if you have time to wait for it to dry), stuck the photos on and trimmed them all down. Now, we have wallet-sized photo magnets to send as gifts and they didn't cost a cent.

Super simple gift idea

Seehere is offering 100 free prints and free shipping to new users. I ordered cards from them, but haven't received them yet, so I can't yet give you my opinion on their prints or service. I'm hearing good things about them on the interwebs from others who have already received their cards, though.

In the Target dollar aisle (aka my nirvana), I found some calendars with spots for a 4x6 photo on each month. I saw "My family," and "My grandchildren," ones. We grabbed two of the grandchildren ones for both sets of grandparents. I plan to order my free prints and put them in the calendars.

It's an easy, quick and super cheap gift. When the year is over, the grandparents still have 12 prints too.

Jewish Meme

Phyllis over there at Ima On (and Off) the Bima posted a Jewish Meme. I'll play along.

One menorah, or several?

Before we had kids, we had two--the beautiful silver one we picked out together after we were married and the electric one Bubbe gave us which we display in the window (see above). It doesn't fulfill the mitzvah, but the bulbs never die and it looks pretty in the window.

Then we had kids and those kids started attending religious school where, every year, they make new chanukiyot. They're cute enough, but they're unending.

Do you buy your children gifts for every night of Chanukah?

No, although they do get gifts for every night. Those gifts are just often provided by grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends. Oh and we prefer not to buy gifts at all. I love making as much as I can.

Do you and your spouse/partner or any other adults in your life exchange gifts?

We usually get gifts for our parents and we typically get a few things for each other. While that usually involves one fairly substantial gift, it often involves a few little things.

Special family chanukah traditions?

I don't know that we do anything particularly new or different.

Chanukah is one of the rare times the kids can have chocolate. They do so love chocolate gelt. So they get even more excited every Chanukah (and Purim which is another time they're allowed some of that lovely chocolately goodness) because they're allowed to have that. We light the plastic menorah in the window, but so do many others. We hang up whatever hand-made decorations have survived. We have a pretty cloth hanging that my oldest sister gave us which we always put up on the front door. Like I said, nothing very new/different.

Latkes or sufganiyot? If latkes, sour cream or applesauce?

Both, but I'm a bigger fan of latkes, but with nothing extra. No sour cream or applesauce for me, thankyouverymuch.

Favorite chanukah book?

One that does NOT play, "I have a little dreidle."

I can't find the book and I can't remember what holiday it was about, so it could be Chanukah, but I'm not certain. It's a children's book about a little Jewish girl in the city at a big party and there's a room where the adults can privately take or donate money. I really like that book.

As far as books whose titles I CAN remember and which I'm absolutely certain are actually about the correct holiday, I'd go with, "It's a Miracle! A Hanukkah Storybook" by Stephanie Spinner.

EDITED TO ADD:

I just remembered a book about the Shoah and a survivor and a potato that a friend got for my kids and I can never make it through that book without tearing up. Ugh. I can't find the book and searching online is proving to be useless. In the story, the grandmother (Rose?) is a survivor and each year, she repeats how she celebrated in the camps--she hollows out a potato and adds oil and string and lights it for Chanukah.

FOUND IT: One Candle by Eve Bunting.

Do you actually play dreidl? If so, what do you use for counters?

Yes we do. At home, we usually use animal crackers or pretzels. At the synagogue, they use M&Ms.

What relationship, if any, do you have with Christmas and all things Christmas-y?

We pretty much try to avoid anything Xmas-related. We even try to avoid the malls and all that jazz.

I do like to scour the ornament sales after Xmas to find cute ones that don't look at all like Xmas, though. There's nothing Jesusy about a pink glittery ballet slipper, but it does look awfully cute in my daughters' bedroom.

Oh and I do occasionally rewrite Xmas songs for my own amusement.

I don't know how many fellow yids I have as readers who haven't done this one yet. So if you haven't and you want to, consider yourself tagged.

I swear, my husband controls Twitter WITH HIS MIND.

My husband wants a new t.v. For those who have been following, you may remember that we don't have a television. We have what was once a television, but is now a glorified monitor. We cancelled cable to save money (and oh howdy, have we!) before the digital switch and, since then we've had nothing but blue screens. We weren't interested in a converter box because we fell out of the habit of watching television and we like it that way.

We do have game systems hooked up to there, though and my brilliant husband found PlayOn which allows us to stream Hulu and files saved on our computers through those game systems on to our t.v. which really isn't a t.v. anymore.

He made lots of trade-ins and sales on Craig's List so that he could afford a PS3. Now, he's dying for a new t.v. on which to play and watch movies. Our monitor which was once a t.v. is pretty old and very frill-less (which should be obvious from the fact that it wasn't capable of handling the digital switch). He's been doing his research and has found some great deals. When asked what we should do for each other for Chanukah, he informed me that all he really wants is a new t.v.

So, when I opened my mail and saw, "LCD TV Deals (TheLCDTVDeals) is now following your tweets on Twitter," I stuck my head out of the office and yelled, "This is YOUR fault." He was baffled and asked me, "How?" Honestly, I have no freaking clue, but this has to be his fault somehow. My best guess is that he's somehow controlling Twitter WITH HIS MIND.

That's it. That's gotta be it. There really is no other explanation, right? Who's with me? Anyone?

Mothers' Day gifts

On the radio today, I heard a number of moms call in to share either their favorite Mothers' Day gift or what they want this year. The answers ranged from a house keeper to one mom's wish to watch her favorite t.v. shows at the actual time they're on rather than having to record them to watch later.

It doesn't take me any time to decide what my favorite Mothers' Day gift is.

When my daughters were in the NICU, we went to visit them on Mothers' Day and found notes taped to the top of their incubators. The nurses there had left gifts for all the moms. They typed up a poem on pretty paper and stamped each babies' feet on the side.

This was a time when I didn't feel like a mother at all. I wasn't able to parent my babies. The doctors and nurses made all the decisions and did all the baby care. We were only able to hold our children twice a day. I wore my hospital ID bracelets long after I was released because they had given me one for each of my babies to identify me as their mother. I had to leave without my babies. Whereas other moms around me pushed babies in strollers, wore them in slings or carried them in their arms, my arms were empty. Those bracelets proved I was a mother since I had no babies with me to do that.

So that little poem was even more important for me. I needed to know that people saw me as a mother. I needed to be reminded that my children still relied on me as their mother, even when I couldn't do the typical motherly things.

That gift cost nothing, but I don't think any Mothers' Day gift will ever be more important or more profound.

I like part 2 (the cupcake/chocolate/coffee-scented edition)

I've already mentioned that I'm not cool enough to be one of those bloggers who actually gets stuff for free to review or to give away. That, however, doesn't stop me from sharing some favorites with you.

Well, now I have a chance to share favorites AND get free stuff. Rock on!

I first came across Embrace Bath & Body Shop a few months back. They were kind enough to donate to a fund raiser. Because I believe that good deeds should be rewarded (and because their items sounded really interesting and the prices were much lower than I've seen in stores), I decided to order about two weeks ago. Oh my goodness! I LOVE their stuff.

So when I read on their blog that they're inviting people to spread the word, I had to jump on that opportunity. And hey, you can do it too.

See that blog link and contact them, then, put the image up in your side bar and in exchange, you'll get your choice any three Lip Balms and 10% off everything for as long as you keep the ad up.

So, if you feel so compelled join in. If not, have a look around their store anyway. And hey, if you are, by any chance, looking for gift ideas for me, may I point you in the direction of the large cupcake collection and the large chocolate collection as well. :)

Thursday Thirteen: 13 things I sent my husband

My husband was active duty military until very recently. The first time the military took him away from me (which was before the September 11th attacks), I made him a little box filled with trinkets to remind him of home. That box now lives in our son's room, but ever since I started doing these TT's, I've wanted to post about that box. Today, I have my chance.




Thirteen Things I sent my husband


1..... A ruby slipper earring to remind him, "There's no place like home."






2..... A shell we collected from the beach when we got married. He was gone for our anniversary, so I sent him that to remind him that I'd be thinking of him on that day even if we couldn't be together.









3.....Oh the foreshadowing! This is actually a pin I had from Operation Desert Storm. I included this to remind him that he was always on my mind. I had no idea that the future held another "War" and more deployments to frightening places.






4.....Corny as hell, I know, but I sent him a key because he had the key to my heart.








5.....I sent him this star to remind him that I made wishes for him on stars all the time.









6.....I did this drawing back in middle school. It was actually done on a book cover. I always liked it, so I saved it all these years. I sent it to him to remind him that I missed him.








7.....This is an angel earing I had. I sent it to him to remind him that I was praying for him.








8.....(not pictured) It's no longer in the box, but at the time, I included a burnt match that I had used to light the shabbas candles in his absence. I explained in the letter sent with the box that it was also a promise of the shabbas candles we would once again light together in the future.

The rest are fortunes we had saved which I included in the box. They're not pictured, but I'll share the text.

9.....You make people realize that there exist other beauties in the world.

10.....You have the ability to adapt to diverse situations.

11.....Good luck bestows upon you. You will get what your heart desires.

12.....Follow your heart's desire.

13.....Stop searching forever. Happiness is just next to you.

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The only thing better than great friends are great friends with cool socks.

I have the coolest friends in the world.

Recently, I had to have a scary procedure done. While getting ready to head out, I purposely reached for a pair of Fragle Rock socks a friend once sent me. During the procedure, I glanced down and saw my bright yellow socks. They made me grin to myself and feel a little more at ease.

Today, a package came from that same friend. In this package was a handmade card, some stickers for the kids and another pack of cool socks.

I will be changing into a pair of them today.

I like funky socks. Even when you need to be dressed professionally, you can usually wear a pair of unusual socks. So even if the rest of the world thinks you're conforming to the norm, you know that your bright green monster socks would beg to differ.

I like odd socks, but I LOVE my friends. If you are a friend bearing socks, then you rock my world.

After opening that package today, I'm now inspired to do more little things like that for my friends. There are lots of people I want to make/buy things for just to let them know I'm thinking of them. I think I just got the kick in the pants I needed to do that.

My Xmas gift to you.

And by, "You," I mean my readers who are either Christian or those agnostics who celebrate Christmas as a secular holiday.

I found the funniest gift tags at Angry Chicken. And so, I am sharing them with you all (via a link to her fabulous creations).

Go forth and celebrate. For those of you who actually bought/made real gifts, head here for funny gift tags.

If you celebrate Xmas, have a good one. If not, come over to my place and we'll do something completely not Jesus-related together. :-) Unfortunately, the Chinese food places in our neck of the woods are closed on Christmas because they're all Christian. Dude, that's not fair! Stop Christian missionaries now before the Jewish tradition of Chinese food and a movie is destroyed. No movie for us either because we have a toddler who won't sit through one.

Now excuse me while I sigh loudly.

For those of you who celebrate, have a great Xmas.

For those of you who don't, please send some chicken and broccoli my way.

Another word from my kids

My children have been making gifts for friends. I suggested they might want to try personalizing each for the recipient. While making one for a friend's new baby daughter (yes, you), Girl1 had some questions.

Girl1: She's a baby. What would a baby like? Is she breastfed?
Me: Yes.
Girl1: Hmm...then maybe nursing bras? No, moms like those more than babies. I know. Babies like nipples. I can draw nipples.
Me: giggling quietly to myself

Best Chanukah gift ever

Yesterday, I rushed home from a playdate with a friend just before sunset. I considered stopping for Starbucks, but had pretty much decided not to. Then I realized that I could slap one of our shiny blue bows on it and call it a Chanukah gift for dh (who has been a great sport about only receiving one gift this year). Then I had the thought, "Watch us both stop for Starbucks."

I considered not stopping, but figured that if I didn't, then dh wouldn't either and we wouldn't be able to enjoy the yummy goodness that is Starbucks. So I stopped and got my favorite and dh's favorite. When I hurried home, dh was not yet there. And so, his coffee was bow-toped and waiting for him on the dining room table.

Sure enough, he walks in a few minutes later carrying 2 cups of Starbucks--the exact same drinks that I got. And sure enough, he said he almost didn't stop.

He seemed mildly annoyed, but I thought it was cool as hell.

The coffee was pretty cool, but the real gift was being that in tune with each other again after everything we've dealt with in the past few years.

"Waiting for the world to change" from the deaf perspective

I LOVE this video.

While my children are hearing, I've mentioned that they have an affinity for Leah Coleman who is deaf. My kids know some ASL and they adore the Signing Time DVDs (They got the latest set yesterday for Chanukah and are thrilled by this fact. TheBoy even grinned, signed "Sign" and said, "Time," when he saw them). They've never met Leah IRL, but they insist she is their friend (her little sister Lucy too). My girls have explained to me that they're learning ASL so that they can talk to Leah.

Years and years ago, I damn near worshiped Linda from Sesame Street. I don't know why, but she and her language just fascinated me. When I was a kid, my mother got her hair done every week with Linda's mother and I thought that was the coolest thing in the world.


Language has always fascinated me. Notice one of the quotations I featured in my last Thursday Thirteen:

• "Only where there is language is there world."-Adrienne Rich

I'm also compelled by injustice. When I watched this video, I was just horrified by some of the quotations in there regarding those who are deaf. It's just disgusting. At the same time, I'm thrilled by watching the folks in this video perform. That little girl especially just makes me smile.

Go watch this video. It's eye-opening and very neat.

Frustration aka: What does writing on your butt have to do with the Macabees?

Why do I bother? Please explain my family to me. No, really, PLEASE explain them. I'm begging you.

If you read my blog at all, you know we're rebelling this year against excess, against contaminated toys and against a mutiny conducted entirely by crappy plastic toys. I'm making most of the kids' gifts. Some of my children have oral issues (which is a nice way to say that the kid chews on EVERYTHING). So this plethora of lead paint recalls has me more than a tad bit frightened.

When the family asked me for a wish list for the children, I spent days talking to them and doing research. I then spent hours putting together a list for the family. I went so far as to package it all together in one neat little wish list which actually removes the items as they are purchased (a lovely feature if you don't want to repeat the fiasco that occurs when one receives doubles of three different toys). I e-mailed the family three times--initially with a self-compiled wish list and then with the new fancy version. In every e-mail, I explained two things:

• #1. Please do not feel obligated to buy our children anything. Money does not equal love (note to my mother). We don't expect gifts from anyone. We only sent the wish list as a courtesy for those who requested suggestions.
• #2. Due to the current recalls (Damn you, Mr. Kelly, my sophomore English teacher. I used the phrase, "Due to" to initiate a sentence and there's nothing you can do about it), we are very concerned about toys available in most retail stores. Please, if you buy something for the kids, please refrain from buying plastic toys.

I created the list specifically because my MIL asked me to (although other people had the same request later). I made the simple request that people not buy plastic toys. On the wish list, I included options that varied both in price and in function.

What did we get from my MIL today? A box chock full o'gifts. Said box contained nothing at all from the wish list. It did, however, contain lots of plastic toys.

I don't know if you'd consider me a good mom or an evil one, but I hid myself away from the kids, unwrapped all the gifts, and took away some of them. Some are going to be exchanged. Some are being donated.

And just FTR, I do NOT allow my children to wear clothing with anything written across the rear. This includes the otherwise absolutely adorable pants my MIL included with the shipment. I am far too skeeved by the idea of someone not only looking at my daughters' behinds, but doing so with the intensity required to read it. In addition, as I have mentioned previously, we're traditional Jews and while we personally don't subscribe to the long skirts/long sleeves fashion, we do prefer modesty. Dressing them in something which encourages staring at a child's behind is far from modest, IMHO.

GAH! I'm frustrated. Although, then I feel badly about that. I'm not ungrateful. I truly do appreciate the fact that they sent anything at all. They're family and I love them. I don't, however, love having to hide away the plastic crap that will most likely kill them in their sleep.

Oh and on a related note, does anyone out there think white corduroy pants are appropriate for younger children? Modesty has nothing to do with this. Laundry, however, does. Dh and my reactions when we saw them was, "Oh hell no. Those won't last a day before they're stained beyond repair."

It's Time to Make the Sushi.

I can't sleep. So what's any normal person to do when insomnia strikes? I don't know what normal people do, but I know I made sushi--at least some of the felt variety.

Remember, one of the things I wanted to make for the big kids this Chanukah is felt sushi. I combined the pattern I mentioned there with Lilly Bean's felt sushi (also linked on that post). I didn't even bother with the avocado the way the tutorial explains it. I just stitched a pile of green scraps together quickly. The whole project was super quick. It's probably the easiest felt food I've made thus far.

In the real world, we usually stick to the vegetable rolls, so I went with green in the middle to mimic any sort of vegetable. If I had a lighter green, I would have added that too. When I make these for friends, I think I'll use a mix of colors for those not bound by kashrut.




That was supposed to be the back, but with the (horribly sloppy) stitching, it looks much more like rice. In the future, I'll sew 2 pieces together on all 4 sides rather than creating a tube and only sewing on 3.

I've been craving sushi from one of my favorite restaurants. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. It's not helping my sushi lust.

At least I have something to show for my insomnia--and that something is faux sushi. :) I do so love my felt sushi. :)

The best gift ever

The fine folks and PBN and more people I've never heard of at Excitations (where they have lots of gifts I will never get) are asking about memorable gifts. I have a few.

1. Just before I got married, my parents gave me my grandmother's hope chest. It had lived in my parents' basement for years and was filled with pictures, cards, and scrapbooks from my grandmother (I'm named after her, but she died long before I was born). Through her collection, I saw relatives I had never seen before. I found my father's old report cards. I read cards with sweet little notes that my grandfather gave her.

2. On my very first Mothers' Day, the NICU nurses wrote up a poem about mothers and stamped each girls' foot on one. The poems were displayed on top of their incubators when we came in to see them. I cried.

3. The digital SLR camera dh gave me the day I had TheBoy. It was just before Chanukah. Not too long after my water broke (or my waters released for my fellow hynobirthers), dh gave me the camera. I got my son and an awesome camera. Cool deal! To this day, that camera is probably my favorite gift dh has ever given me. I use it all the freaking time. LOVE it.

4. I loved the gifts the girls picked out last Chanukah. It was so neat to see the thought process and so sweet that they insisted on getting a gift for TheBoy as well.

5. Maybe it didn't come complete with a bow, but I consider this to have been a gift which I was thrilled to get.

I could keep writing about this topic forever, but I'll spare you. Although, I can't promise that I won't post in the future about the worst gifts.

The easiest gift ever

A few years back, I had an awful time finding scarves for my girls. I was only able to find the neck-warming goodness available in sets with gloves and/or hats. We already had the head and hand coverings covered, so that was unnecessary. Plus, I just didn't like the scarves I saw in stores. I don't knit or crochet, so that was out.

I do, however, own a pair of scissors and a baby blanket. We had this gorgeous blanket that we got as a shower gift. It's a fleece type flowered small blanket. It's pink with flowers and very very soft. My kids had long since outgrown it, but we still had it hanging around. So I held my breath and cut it into long strips. Since it was baby-sized, it was perfect for my then toddlers. They cost us nothing. We recycled. And in my oh so humble opinion, those scarves were far cuter than anything I could find in the stores.

While at Target today, I came across these animal blankets in the $2.50 area of the Dollar Section. It's a nice big square of fabric with fringed edges. It's some sort of faux fleece. I found it in red stripe (think candy cane), pink with black paw prints and blue with snow flakes. I went with the blue and cut 4 strips--3 scarves for the kids and one extra for when someone loses his/hers (yes, when, not if). I still have half left to use to make softies.

I got to thinking that we could easily make some scarves as party favors for a winter party. I don't know that we will, but hey, we could and it would be CHEAP. True, they're too small for adults or bigger kids, but they're still super cute for the younger crowd (they'd probably be good until 9 or 10 depending on how big the child is). You don't have to be able to sew. You don't have to know what on earth you're doing with knitting needles. The only skill one must posses is the ability to use scissors. So, basically, as long as you graduated from the first grade, you're good to go.


From baby blanket to super-cute toddler-sized scarf:



Here's the current view of the coat hooks inside the closet door. That's where our brand new scarves have taken to hanging out:



I passed the old scarves on to the kids to use for dress-up. They pretended the scarves were bandages. Girl1 accidentally called them "Cabbages" at one point which amused me to no end. She has decided she much prefers that word and will now call all bandages, "Cabbages." Yes, she did make that proclamation. Although, I think the old scarves/bandages/cabbages will probably get thrown into the next load of wash and then miraculously turn up again reincarnated as softies for Chanukah.

Closed for gift-making. Be back soon.

It suddenly struck me that since Chanukah falls early on the secular calendar this year, that means it's only 2 and 1/2 weeks away (it starts Dec. 5). AHHHHHH. I decided to make everything this year.

Ut oh.

So I've been busy making stuff. Thus far, we have some hair clips half finished, felt green beans done (even though dh insists one looks like a jalepeno), some jewelry put aside, one pattern ready to use, and some definite plans and all the materials for my niece's gifts (which I can't share since her mom reads the blog).

I don't, however, have any ideas what on earth to make for dh. Anyone have any ideas? Please share. I have no clue where to start with guy's gifts.

I *heart* handmade.

Perhaps you've noticed the new image over there on the left. I'm all about handmade things lately. The recent toy recalls have frightened me and made me look around for handmade alternatives.

You'll notice I have added quite a few blogs from creative folks in the past few weeks. I'm being drawn deeper and deeper into the craft side. :-)

I'm planning on making gifts not only for my kids, but for friends' kids as well. Nothing will be show room quality, but they'll be cute in a folksy (aka: I still can't use a sewing machine and so everything is hand stitched and not always well) kind of way.

The good news is that I've heard reports that others are doing the same. I'm thrilled to report that my sister has ventured into making Waldorf dolls. I actually scoured the internet a month or two ago in an attempt to find some for the bigger kids. They're way beyond my level of craftiness and the prices were more than I was willing to spend. So when my sister told me she plans on making some for my kids, I could have kissed her.

I'm really looking forward to this holiday season. I love the idea of not only making things for my kids, but of getting handmade gifts as well. They really do mean so much more than the standard store bought plastic crap...um...er....toys.

Shhhh, it's a secret.

It's also an ice pop. Well, it's one of the felt variety, at least.

It's the first of the Chanukah gifts. I even managed to put it aside to save it for Chanukah (every other time I made felt food, I wound up putting it straight into their toybox).

It's not fabulous, but it works. They'll like it.

Oh and it's stuffed with a cut up old t-shirt that the boy has outgrown (after snipping off the baseball shaped buttons to use for other projects). So I'm doubly proud of myself.

Brainstorming gift ideas

I'm starting to devise a decent list of things to make for the bigger kids for Chanukah. I'll share my ideas thus far, but please feel free to comment with any other ideas you may have.

Now, let's review: I'm boycotting Matel after all the recent recalls. I'm also trying to avoid any plastic toys for the kids. I'd like to be a bit more earth friendly. Most of the toys I love that lack plastic are insanely expensive. So I figured I'd try to make more things myself (extra points if they contain recycled components).

Here's what I plan om doing:

More felt food. I want to do sushi, a cupcake, more fries, sliced bread and cheese slices. What else? I need some simple ideas. I already made one egg, cookies, a single fry and a pancake.

Felt hair clips. I just love these and these and I think I can manage a simple version of those myself.

Jewelry. I LOVE the jewlery here, but after really looking at it, I realized I could make something similar from femo, existing beads, buttons and clear nail-polish covered pictures (stickers, printouts, fabric scraps and magazine cut outs).

Some more stenciled clothing. I figure I could recycle some of their existing clothes. I'm going to hit a garage sale type thing where they always have tons of kids' clothes, so maybe I could stash some of those away and decorate them. I'm also planning on making some iron-on transfers of different images including this one:



As much as I don't want the kids to have more stuffed toys (they have way too many), I'm thinking I may make some felt plush toys for them. I found some very simple patterns that I could do.

So, now, does anyone have any other suggestions? What on earth can I make for the wee one? I have a bunch of ideas for the big kids, but none at all for TheBoy. Feel free to throw some ideas at me.