Jonah Lisa Land

Homemade Sleigh Bells

Hey, the WGA is still on strike so what the hell else am I going to do?

I don't make much that isn't directly inspired by someone else but this was all me, baby!  I wanted sleigh bells to put on the little pull sled Huck rides in every day--our mail box is about a 1/4 mile walk from the house.  So I came up with a plan for how to make them and it worked! 

The basic gist is that it's a harness of sleigh bells made out of an old belt. 

Go look in your closet.  I'm betting that you probably have a belt from the 80's or 90's that is actually sized to go around your true waist.   Let's face it, waistlines haven't been that high since Clinton got elected--the first time.  Go ahead, put it on.  Can you believe you wore that thing that high up? 

I found 2 belts that wouldn't fit a single pair of my pants even on the last hole because the waists were about 3 inches below my true waist.  And I'm not a thong-bearer by any stretch. 

Of course, if you're still wearing your pants way up there, you can probably get a leather belt at a thrift store for about a buck. 

Click on the "continue reading" link below for a full tutorial.

Green Holiday Series :: Tree Decorations

 

Most of my green Christmas decorations revolve around natural materials, reducing what I buy and reusing things I already have in a different way.


Stuffed Felt Stars
Because lord knows I always have a ton of felt lying around.  These are super easy--just like making a little pillow.  Easy to do all by hand.  You don't even have to turn it inside out, just use a pretty contrasting embroidery floss.  You can make other stuffed felt objects too--fruit, mini stockings, snowflakes.  Look at these gorgeous Ice Skating felt ornaments from Posie Gets Cozy.  She sells the kits in the months leading up to the holidays!  Below is Huck's special Huckleberry ornament.

Pinecones
Just collect a bunch when they drop in the late fall and hang them from string or ribbon.  You can also buy bags of pinecones at craft stores and make a project of painting them or decorating them with glue and glitter.

 

Straw Snowflakes
I bought mine last year at a craft fair but this is basically what they look like.   I think it's a Scandinavian thing but I'm not sure.  It just occurred to me that you could make lots of things from straw.  Maybe you've got some leftover from Halloween decorations.  Try making little men or donkeys maybe?

Mittens & Socks
String up a pair of too small child's knit mittens or baby booties.  Little hats work too.  If you knit, even better!  Make some especially for the tree in holiday colors.  I also found some fabulous Mini Sock Monkeys one year at an after Christmas sale.

Jingle Bells
For about $1.99 you can buy a bag of 3 large brass jingle bells.  String 2 together on some pretty ribbon, tie a knot to keep them together.  Then leave a big enough open circle that they can be hung on the tree and tie a bow at the top.  We made lots of these and hung them near the bottom.  They were a fun toy I didn't mind Huck taking off the tree to play with.

Cookie Cutters
Just pull them out of the drawer, string them on some ribbon and hang them on the tree.  I especially love the way the copper ones look with the lights glinting off them.

Candy Canes & Gingerbread Cookies
If I'm not mistaken, the original Christmas tree tradition (Germanic maybe?) was all about decorating with food.

Animals
You can have a fun holiday project out of making Oragami animals.  I had some little painted wooden animals from years ago, but Casey's Wood has cutouts you can paint yourself or have the kids paint them.  Casey's also has cutouts of Christmas trees and snowmen.

Garland & Tinsel
Now, I didn't do this but I love the idea.  SouleMama made this wonderful knitted garland and her children made a simple twisted one out of yarn.  Sarah over at The Small Object made a really fun fabric garland chain.  I wish I had time to try one of these but I guess I have to leave something for next year.  Of course, there's always that perrennial evergreen, popcorn and cranberries.  In the past I've just alternated one cranberry and one piece of popcorn but the other day at my bank, I saw that they had done sequences of 6 and 6 each and it was gorgeous.  I didn't know popcorn and cranberries could look so classy.

5 cool things to make with a cardboard box

Am I the only one drowning in cardboard boxes?  Despite the fact that I have done a ton of shopping locally, made many, many gifts by hand, and done all of my own disgustingly expensive shipping in boxes I've received from other people, I still have like a gazillion of them stacking up in my garage.  Some of them are freaking gigantic!

My mother is a hoarder.  She has rooms full of "good boxes" that she won't get rid of because "you never know when you might need something just that size."  I am the opposite.  I don't like to keep garbage laying around "just in case."  If I can use it in the near future, I will.  If not, it's off to the dump, the recycling station or the thrift store pretty damn quickly.

I had the brilliant idea that maybe I'd make Huck a little playhouse out of one of them.  However, we just got a package for Huck from some friends.  You'll never guess what they sent him.  A cardboard box playhouse!  Want to take a stab at what it was packaged in?  Yep, a cardboard box.  The playhouse is totally adorable and clever and 100% recycled and I love it, but still, the irony.

So I've been online trying to figure out if there's anything else cool I could do with some of these boxes besides cart them all off to the burn pile at our city dump--our recycling program went belly up about a year ago.  I sometimes drive my recycling over the pass to another town in another state but they recently put up a sign to scare off "Evil Idaho Recyclers."  Okay, I added the evil part, but that's what they mean.  The gist is that they don't want our plastic and cardboard in their pile.  I have been known to remove all the shipping labels and drop my stuff there anyway but the license plates do give me away.  I have to be stealth about it and choose just the right times to dump and run. 

That's right, I'm an illegal recycler and I don't give a fuck who knows it. 

So, in case I'm not alone in the holiday cardboard box onslaught here are 5 cool things (more really, but apparently it's good blog biz to pick a number) you can make out of a cardboard box.

1. A castle and knight's armor.  Mr. McGroovy's site has detailed tutorials on how to do this as well as how to build a spaceship, pirate ship, and fire engine, lemonade stand, Santa sleigh, train, etc, etc, all out of cardboard.  He uses some kind of special nut that you can order from him, or you can just get inspired and do your own thing with duct tape and a staple gun.  But his end product looks great!
2. A groovy guitar.  I think you could get a little funkier with this idea than they did.  I was expecting something that looked more like a ukulele. 
3. A play kitchen.  I love this.
4. An armchair.  This site has several other cool uses but none of them fit my location or lifestyle.  They also have lots of great cardboard and recycling facts.
5. A puppet theater.  Of course, no one does this shit better than Martha.  But in case her project feels a little too daunting, there's a less slick version here.

And then there's this amazing series of books I ran across in this search, including Look What You Can Make With Boxes!  The series also includes books on making things out of Tubes, Plastic Bottles, Newspaper, Magazine & Cards.  Neato.

This is really just scratching the surface.  People are making looms and incubators and solar cookers out of cardboard.  There's a whole wingnut culture out there of people doing useful stuff with these things. 

   

Wee Things

These are a bunch of small gifts and doodads I've made recently.  I know some people probably like the frank and funny posts better but I think we should accept reality--it's the week leading up to the holidays and this is just what I'm doing.  Let's just go ahead and call it a craft blog for the week and be done with it.  I'll get back to other stuff once we're though Christmas.  I promise.  Right now, I really need an outlet to show this stuff because when I present a teeny tiny pin cushion handmade from a bottle cap to my husband for comment, he just thinks it's really, really weird.

Bottlecap Pin Cushions

 

Bendy Dolls

 

A bunch of gnomes

 

A small tray I painted

 

Amish Family
(I think he needs a straw hat)

 

A Chippy Doll

 

Huckleberry Ornament

 

Color Cookies

Where Daddy Pea go?

Huck says this at least fifteen times a day.  This is the first time Stephen's been away on a trip where Huck really feels the absence.  He knows it's not normal.  I keep reassuring him that Daddy Pea went away on a trip and he'll be back soon, but who knows what of that is really taking hold.  Is it a conceptual blip (trip and back soon may not be on his radar yet) or just weak short term memory?  I have no clue.  All I know is he repeats the question every couple of hours and sometimes stands at the top of the stairs and yells "Daddy Pea!" down into the basement.  Like maybe Stephen's just hiding under his desk down there--not that he hasn't done that before but never for this long.  And he occasionally gives me a sort of sideways stare, like he's a tad confused by the fact that I don't seem too concerned that our guy seems to have taken a hike. 

You're wondering about the pea thing.  We have a great book called Little Pea.  It's about a family of green peas--Mama Pea, Papa Pea and Little Pea--and it's one of Huck's absolute favorites.  As if he didn't think his book was hysterical enough, I thought it would be cute to call Little Pea, Huck Pea instead when I read it to him.  Well, it was a huge hit.  Too huge in fact.  The kid totally rolled with it and now adds Pea onto everyone's name.  I'm Mommy Pea, Stephen is Daddy Pea, he does it with the animals, Taxi Pea and Buckle Pea, and even his friends, Will Pea, John Pea and Miles Pea.  As a result I end up telling this little tale quite often. 

His newest Pea Pal is Santa Pea.   It's cute but I find myself slipping and calling people by their Pea name more often than I'm comfortable with.

The Evil Workshop

This is for the voyeurs.  I just finished cleaning my office (yes, really cleaning, not just picking stuff up and moving it around) and it occured to me that I could give you a little peek inside my world.  I'm mean, let's face it, this is really just another form of reality TV so I know you want to have a look.  Part of what I really enjoy about SouleMama is seeing Amanda's house (and her amazing studio).  And I loved the post on Dooce where Heather showed off her office--no surprise, it's gorgeous!

My husband and I share this office--he's got the window and I've got the aisle.  He works down here every day.  In many ways it's more his office than mine but I do a bunch of stuff down here too when I'm not working over the pass--trolling the internet for coupons, stalking Etsy, blogging, starting book projects (that I never finish), working on scripts, and arguing about scripts. 

It's the only no-child zone in the house.  Wonder how much longer that will last?

So, My Office...

By all means, play with your food!

Well, I finally finished all the felt food for Huck's play kitchen and I just wanted to share the collection. 

I had horrible visions of myself feverishly hemming anchovies late on Christmas Eve while my husband snored, so I'm really thrilled to be finished with this much time to spare. 

The pizza toppings are removable so he can decorate it himself.  It's about 8 inches in diameter.

Breakfast, Lunch & Produce:

Pasta dinners--ravioli, spaghetti & meatballs and bow tie pasta (a work in progress but I think the boy has enough carbs for the time being).

Tea Bags, Sugar Cookies and a Cheese Tray.  I snagged that funky mini domed thing at a thrift store for 2 bucks!  It's wee--only about 5" around.

Hen Eggs from Casey's Wood.  Not handmade--except for the artwork--and these could send a playmate to the ER.  We'll just have to see how he handles them.

Plus, I found this awesome set of small, tin & enamel, camping dishes at the thrift store too for $3 and the wooden serving tray for only a dollar!!  The tray is kind of rough so I might sand it down and paint it and do a stencil on it.  I might even keep it for myself.  Add to all this the pots and pans my sister is getting him and this boy is ready to cook!

I plan to send a man out into the world who knows his way around the kitchen and who, like his father, isn't afraid to hit the Martha Stewart Cookbook when he gets the urge to whip something up.

A Christmas PSA for your spouse

It's time to do your husband, partner, boyfriend or lover a little holiday favor.  If you've got a guy (or girl)  who just isn't that good at gifts or holidays or is just a little bit thick, give up on the hints and deliver this little note instead.  I delivered mine orally yesterday.  That's NOT what I meant!  But I suppose it could hammer the message home for the hard cases.

-----

Dear Honey,

Just in case you haven't gotten around to buying me a Christmas gift this year I wanted to give you a friendly heads up.  You are fast approaching the time when stores will be horribly crowded and picked over, many items will be out-of-stock, and shipping to get online purchases or special orders here on time will be incredibly expensive, if not impossible.  I know you don't want to get left out in the cold, so this is just a gentle reminder of my expectations.

I mean it in the nicest possible way, in a preemptive sort of better to have a little discomfort now rather than a lot later kind of way, but I want you to know that I will be upset if there's nothing under the tree for me on Christmas morning.  Or if what's under the tree for me are little cut out pictures of what you're going to get me stuck inside a get well soon card.  Maybe it's me, but somehow it's just not the same as getting an actual gift, in time, on the actual holiday, and having it to enjoy immediately as I bask in your love.

In the interest of making things easy, here are three things I would be thrilled to get:

1. Photoshop Elements Software (available at many online retailers)
2. Any piece of jewelry from Magpie's on Ski Hill Road (open 10-4pm, Mon-Sat)
3. Any book from the Amazon Wish List I have created for your use.  You could print out this list and take it to our local bookstore to order by Sunday 12/16 and pick up on Wednesday 12/18.  They do free gift wrapping!

(Please note the level of specificity.)

These are simply suggestions and do not constitute a list of must haves.  The truth is, I would simply love to receive anything you came up with and picked out yourself.  So long as I receive it on Christmas morning.  But just to avoid any problems, here are three things I would really not consider appropriate gifts:

1. Anything that helps me cook or clean more efficiently
2. A gym membership
3. Anything crotchless

I truly hope you'll take this little public service announcement in the spirit it was given--with 14 years of love, understanding and acceptance and with the hope that we'll all have a lovely Christmas morning.

All my Love...

Absence really does make the heart grow fonder

Does anyone else actually enjoy it when their husband goes away on a trip?  Or does that make me an unloving wife? 

It's not like I boot him out the door or roll my eyes when he calls to check-in, but I absolutely love having some time to myself.  I love that my house stays clean (well, you know, neat anyway).  And I love that I can get so much done in the evenings.  The minute he tells me he has a trip, I start making lists of what all I'm going to do with my free time, and without that nagging feeling that I'm taking time and attention away from him.  Ah, guilt free living.

It's like...Autonomy Week.

See, I'm not so good at doing things outside the house, just for me.  You know, girl's night out or a class or therapy.  I just don't do it.  I think about it, I sometimes even fantasize about it a little, but I have no follow through.  So, his business trips are really my personal recharge times, too.  I'll do a little DIY spa night and clean my ears and loofa between my toes and walk around with mashed avocado on my face.  I'll sip tea and listen to lesbian music.  I'll snuggle in bed and sew while watching movies he would hate and weep over them like a fool.  It's only a week.  But it's a glorious, wonderful week.

And I assure you, the feeling is mutual.  He loves spreading out in a big bed by himself and not having someone yank on the covers or kick him when he inadvertantly crosses the maginot line (apparently, I'm not a very nice person in the middle of the night).  He enjoys sleeping deeply (and late) without the edgy fear that a baby might scream out in the darkness.  And then there's Sports Center.

When we were back east, I'd go off to Cincinnati, or Miami, or Boston on 13 week show runs and he'd go off on 8 week film shoots from time to time.  We'd have one visit in the middle--and let me tell you it was a great visit.  Since we moved out west he's gone back to the city for a week every month or so.  I think these separations have been good for us--ongoing breaks to tune into our own needs, reconnect with being individual human beings, and occasional reminders of how much the other person actually does for us and how much we appreciate it.

The fun really only last about 4 days, then I start to miss him.  I actually love the whole progression though--the growing anticipation of his trip and the coming alone time, the prospect of getting so much done in the evenings, ticking things of my list, starting to miss him, talking about missing each other on the phone, the eagerness for his return, and finally, welcoming him home.  It's all a nice change from the routine.

Anyway, he leaves tomorrow afternoon and my list is made. 

Sappy or scary movie suggestions now being accepted.

O Christmas Tree!

We got our tree today!  The old-fashioned way.

Yep, we hiked up into the national forest behind our house with a sled and a saw (and a toddler) and chopped one down.  Don't worry, we didn't break any laws.  We paid $5 for a permit at the Forest Service.

Here's a little photo essay of the experience for those of you still wearing tank tops and using your A/C.  It was a very fun and special day. 

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