Where the Wild Things Have a Blog

Halloweens Past

2009-10-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

With all the snow storms we've had so far this year, this Halloween will probably be simple. So I thought it might be fun to revisit our last two Halloween parties.

Last year we visited Neverland.

Invitation in a bottle.

I designed these little invitations and the map with Illustrator and printed them off on our ink jet printer.

Hook's Helm, overlooking the great room.

The treasure map. Each area was represented somewhere in our house. I used Kathie's teepee; Eric built a makeshift flying boat on the catwalk; Last year's tree became Pan's hideout; a pretend fishing pond (where you could fish for treats with poles was the mermaid lagoon,etc. At each place there were hidden toys and candy.

Adults without costumes got to wear these lovely planks.

Hook's flying ship.

Our 11 foot tall London tower - Big Ben. This was lots of fun in the dark with our fog machine.

Materials: papier mache, wardrobe boxes, clear acrylic sheet (protector for a cheap poster frame), floorlamp (inside), handcut paper roman numerals and clock hands

Wendy, S'mee, and Tink

Captain Hook and Wendy

She's got Tink attitude down, don't you think?

Wendy takes flight.

Before her class party

Christmas 2 years ago: Woodland Forest. I can't seem to find any pictures of the girls from this year, although they made cute woodland fairies. I know they're around here somewhere....

For this party, invitees received a little black box with a raven's black claw in it (on a bed of moss) that I cast. Around one claw was tied a red ribbon with a note that said, "Don't forget... Party in the Forbidden Forest."

I was a wood nymph.

Eric was a satyr. I sewed these shaggy pants and we put foam inside to make the shape of satyr legs. We papier mache'ed this tree over garden wire. My man rigged red LED lights inside the tree's knothole to look like eyes. So fun!

Got these great little handmade horns on ebay!

We had so much fun both years. Everyone was an excellent sport and wore awesome costumes. Kids had a delightful time. A word of caution to anyone attempting these parties: you'll most certainly be shampooing blood and chocolate out of your carpet. Whether its fake or real blood has yet to be determined.....muahahaha!!!!

Catching Up

2009-10-29T17:56:00.001-07:00

Oh, my! I have let time fly since my last post. I think I win loser blogger of the year award. Lets see if I can condense and highlight.

Girls Birthday Parties: They were lots of fun this year! One girl wanted an outdoor party.

One girl wanted a dog party at her Grandma Kathie's this year.

Goofy kids as the pinata gets lowered.

The kids love to play in our pond.

Hurry and blow out those candles before the icecream cake melts!

Bounce castle!

I'm not fantastic at making pretty cakes like my mom was, but hopefully I get an A for effort.

Yep, she got them all in one puff.

Pets: Remember the post on our hamster? I'm sad to say she died this year, as is the short life of a hamster. But she is featured in the 2010 calendar of Cute Overload. The girls are tickled pink. We got our first family dog. The girls named her Cocoa. She's a long-haired chihuahua. Ever since our youngest daughter was just barely old enough to talk, she toted around a stuffed chihuahua she named "wa-wa." Cocoa is a funny dog who sometimes acts more like a cat, but we definitely love her.

She can totally sleep like this.

The girls love to put her in pink. Yes, we're some of "those" people. Actually chihuahuas get cold easily and we live in Colorado, so you can imagine that a little something on her back now and then helps out.

I think my shoes were bigger than she was when we brought her home.

Design Inspiration

2009-01-31T15:37:00.001-08:00

These are inspiration rooms for Alyssa's main digs. Can I capture this feel on a beer budget? I'm not sure. A girl can dream.

Bedroom Design in Progress

2009-01-31T14:11:00.000-08:00

Since we are splitting the girls into their own bedrooms, that means nixing the playroom, which is really an eyesore anyway. This is the room I'm tackling first. Its been fun working with Eric and my mom on design ideas. I will post inspiration shots for the room next. There are a few challenges; first, the room is really small so I'm trying to tackle storage issues and making the room feel bigger. The plan is to install mirrored closet doors which are opposite the window to make the room feel more open. We will install a removable ballet bar in front of the mirrored doors and cap them with crystal knobs, so Alyssa has a place to practice. I have chosen a pale blue with a slightly lighter, reflective ceiling which should make the ceiling feel taller. (crosses fingers) Also one accent wall will get a lightly reflective wallpaper with a stripe design incorporated which should continue to bounce light around and make the room feel taller. We will raise her low bed to make room for more storage underneath. I could go on, but I'll leave the final pictures when we're finished do the talking. It's not much to look at now, but we're getting closer. Frustratingly, the wallpaper has been ordered nearly 3 weeks ago and still hasn't arrived.

Before shot: playroom mayhem

Day 1 : Toys organized, furniture removed, room emptied, carpet shampooed

A couple weeks into project: Ceiling and walls painted. Ceiling painted with candlelight topcoat, which gives it a slightly reflective and glittery look in light. Beds stripped and sanded, awaiting fresh paint and some minor alterations. Wishing wallpaper would arrive faster.

Bargain shopping: found these 5 yard remnants on clearance with an additional 50% off. Heavyweight, extra wide jacquard like this usually runs between $25-35 a yard. Got a total of 10 yards for only $4 each.

I love craigslist! One of the problems I have is finding furniture for Alyssa. I want her to be comfortable, but since she's already almost 7, I don't want to buy her "kiddie" chairs that she will outgrow in a blink. Found these vintage chairs on craigslist for a steal. Since they were made in the 60's, they fit an adult comfortably, but they are smaller than today's chairs and sit a little lower. Down filled and sturdy. The fabric is a severely faded blue velvet, but works with what I'm trying to achieve. Plus its amazing what a good shampoo and brushing can do.

Cute little matching table mimics the curve in the chair. I can't wait to put these in the room!

It's A Rather Blustery Day

2008-12-30T18:25:00.000-08:00

The winds today were unbelievable! I was worried the roof of my house might get ripped to shreds. This sounds like an exaggeration, but I assure you it's not. Winds reached up to 80 mph today and overturned a semi-truck on I-25. (The driver was uninjured, in case you're wondering.) Where many people had damage to cars, etc, we fared alright. Once we get our neighbors' trampolines and outdoor furniture out of our yard and track down the strangest incident of our uprooted tree that has just gone missing, everything should be back to normal. Heavens knows our fence didn't make it. But that's a whole new tale of woe. (This picture is one of many like it from the Denver Post.)

Cali's First Birthday

2008-12-28T15:22:00.000-08:00

So today was Cali's (yep, the hamster-the Californian Golden Girl) first birthday. Well, actually it was sometime about 3 weeks ago, but who's counting really? Apparently the girls. They were mortified to learn that we hadn't thrown a party on the special day. So we decided a late party would do. As silly as this little ritual seems, I now think everyone should throw parties for their pets, because its just too darn funny.

She showed us what Cali's cheeks would look like by the end of the party.

Make a wish little hamster...

Her little cake was made of a piece of bread with a layer of cream cheese and topped with a carrot. Tasty.

"I wonder if I can fit da whol' ting in my mouf."

"I'm stuffed."

The girls and I made this house for her. It fits inside her cage. The girls wet cheerios with a little dab of milk and stuck them to the outside - along with carrot and apple pieces.

Cali fell right to sleep afterwards. I think she almost had as much fun as the girls did.

Christmas Recovery

2008-12-27T18:26:00.000-08:00

Today I avoided the shopping madness. Eric, however, went shopping for a new suit and found a screaming deal on a gorgeous charcoal houndstooth. The girls and I stayed inside and tackled the endless pile of house chores that have been long neglected - laundry, cleaning the hamster's (Cali's) cage, thank you notes, assembling various pieces to Christmas presents (you know the drill).

After another night of the girls' bedtime bickering, Eric and I have decided to give them their own rooms. They actually don't bicker too often, but it seems that by the end of the day, as bedtime approaches, tears surface easily. With this comes a mountain of chores, but it provides an opportunity to paint the rooms. The girls were so excited to hear that they were getting their own rooms and that they would get to vote on color and decor. I will be prepping the rooms first - organizing toys, making Good Will donations, sketching plans to place all the furniture, carpet shampooing, etc. I will try to get before and after pictures. Just don't expect "after" pictures too quickly.

Somewhere in the mix, I have to get back to work. My website is still sitting at its "under construction" status. I can create collateral and sales packages for others all day long, but eventually I need marketing materials for my own business. As always, I have lots of plans for the new year. Hopefully I can complete them.

I'd like to encourage everyone to make New Year's Resolutions for 2009. I know, I know. We often set goals we just can't manage to complete when things get hectic, but just by setting them, they will be there - floating in your head - reminding you of some of the things that are important to you. And you never know, you might just surprise yourself. Sometimes even failure can be a good thing. So what if somewhere in mid-spring you abandoned the 3 times weekly work-out? Just think of all the months (or weeks) you got the exercise that you might not have if you hadn't set a goal. What is life without ambition and even the occasional failure? Happy New Year! Don't forget those resolutions!

Christmas Day

2008-12-26T11:42:00.000-08:00

She got a bit gooney by the end of the night. She also got a kazoo in her Christmas Cracker, allowing for a noisier goon.

She got a very suiting eye patch in her Christmas Cracker, as she's still recovering from our neighbor's 7-year-old's golf club swing to the face. (It was an accident. She very sweetly gave her a get-well-soon present.)

All bundled up and ready to go to Grandma's house.

The girls liked their rag doll bunnies.

Eric made sock puppets for the girls.

Dad's tradition. We didn't have a Christmas train, we have an old race car track - the kind that cars fly off from if they get going too fast.

Meesha isn't too sure what to think of the race cars.

Christmas Day was so much fun. The girls woke up before the sun came up. Uggh! They were irresistibly cute and excited when opening their Christmas presents. We had a cheddar egg souffle for breakfast and took a nap. My in-laws, Alan and Kathie came by for a bit to exchange gifts and their visit was a pleasant and quiet one. My dad called from Baghdad. I was so glad to hear from him. Everyone has been missing him terribly. We moseyed on over to Jen's for dinner sometime around 6ish. She made the very best roast ever (lovingly referred to as "roast beastie" around here). It was such a fun visit. About 2 pieces of pie later, (and an hour past the girls' bedtime) craziness began to ensue and we bade our farewells. All-in-all a truly wonderful Christmas.

The December I Never Slept

2008-12-26T10:17:00.000-08:00

As the economy has seemed to hit everyone's Christmas budget hard this year, my mother-in-law decided to encourage everyone to make their gifts this year. True to form, I latched onto this idea and ran for miles with it. I look back on it and wonder if I have masochistic tendencies, but I must admit that I think this was one of my favorite Christmases ever. I must have threatened my sewing machine a million times, but the look of joy on my girls' faces when they received something I made for them was priceless.

Here in Colorado we share Christmas with extended family as well - 5 on my side, 28! and growing on Eric's side. I should have recognized this as mission impossible from the start. I can sigh in relief now that we managed to pull it off and now it's over.

This is just a sampling of the gifts made from this year. Plush toys, nursery watercolor paintings, paper dolls and t-shirts illustrated and designed by me, zines, potter's tool belts, nightgowns for the girls, kids' bathmitts, chemical-free soaps, picnic sets, kids' magnet games of long and short (using watercolor illustrations of various animals), calendars, travel art kits, picture books... a monster sized migraine. I just can't thank Eric enough for being patient with me through this madness, for all the dinners he cooked, all the kitchen duties he picked up where I slacked off, and especially all the wrapping. (He hates wrapping.) I love you!

It's About Time

2008-12-26T08:56:00.000-08:00

In an effort to keep long distance loved ones in touch, I'm finally creating a blog. Since I have a natural abhorrence for Christmas newsletters and fear authorship of boring year summations, I am instead creating a blog, which hopefully will not wind up being just another Christmas newsletter of epic proportions.