Easy Oil Paintings for the Artistically Challenged

I painted this painting of O in utero shortly after she was born, but I decided to share it since it would make a fun handmade gift. I've always planned to do more oil paintings using pictures, but I just haven't painted much since O's been born.

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Here's how I did it...I printed an 8 x10 of my favorite 3d ultrasound picture. Then I placed a piece of carbon paper on top of an 8 x 10 canvas and put the photo on top. Then I traced around the image with a pen (pressing down fairly hard and evenly). I then removed the image and carbon paper and painted in the lines. It was fun and easy. Obviously, it's not perfect! I'd prefer you didn't notice her hands or feet :) I promise that she has 5 toes on her right foot, not 3! I could never decide how to finish the painting, so I never did anything. Now I've decided that I like it the way it is :) I'd love to do more of these paintings. I really love to do oil paintings, but I don't like to be interrupted once I start painting which is an impossibility at this point in my life :)

Embroidered Handprints

I loved this idea from Plum Pudding so much that I knew I had to try it. These are the perfect Christmas gifts for our family. They were so easy and fun to make. Now I need to make one for me :)

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To make these handprints, I photocopied M and O's hands (I could have just as easily traced them, but I had access to a copying machine:). I cut out their handprints, pinned them to the fabric, and traced around them using a disappearing ink pen. That ink disappears FAST! I had to stop and retrace several times while I was working, and I really wasn't sewing that slowly! I used the back stitch to embroider the hands which is super easy to do :)

Building a Gingerbread Cottage

For O's 15th advent activity we made a gingerbread cottage! I bought a kit last year after Christmas (50% off!), so we had everything we needed. (I decided that it didn't matter if the cookies and candy were old, since we won't be eating it anyway.) We had lots of fun, and we were excited that Elliott was here to help us.


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Elliott enjoyed making the gingerbread cottage much more than I anticipated :)

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Here's our finished cottage! (along with the messy table!)

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Making & Drinking Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows!

For O and M's 14th day advent activity, we made hot chocolate with marshmallows. O has never had hot chocolate, so she was THRILLED (the girl LOVES chocolate!). My sister had Godiva hot chocolate that she shared with us. Thanks, Mem! The girls were so excited to stir in the chocolate and then drop in the marshmallows. The hot chocolate was YUMMY!


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Mixing in the marshmallows.

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Delicious!

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The Nutcracker Ballet

For O's 13th day advent activity, we went to see The Nutcracker Ballet! O was enthralled! It was a family event (Guh-guh, my niece, my sister, my BIL, O, and I), and we had a wonderful time. After the ballet, we were allowed to walk on the stage, explore the scenery, and meet the dancers. This was a wonderful experience that we plan to make a yearly tradition. We hope our cousins and their little girls will be able to join us next year!

O is walking through the door of a gingerbread cottage. Sorry for the poor image quality...I don't like the look of pictures with flashes, so my pics are often blurry :)

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The fake fire was very neat! O was impressed!

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Guh-guh gave each girl this book as a souvenir of our theater experience :) This book is really great...it not only includes the story of the nutcracker, but it also has 2 fold out stages and paper dolls, so the girls can reinact the ballet :)

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Mesmerized...

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O is mesmerized by this tree with a train running through it. Guh-guh is an Avon lady, so she has lots of neat Avon Christmas things. O and my niece, M, LOVE this train or as O says "tain."

Favorite Christmas Books

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Here are a few of O's favorite Christmas books so far. She especially loves the puzzle books. Santa Mouse is also VERY popular :)

She's a Good Little Mama!

O is a very attentive mama to her baby dolls. She's nursing baby Emma after taking her to the doctor (I was the doctor, and O was the nurse).

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Hard at Work!

O has been hard at work making handmade Christmas gifts. A couple of lucky folks wil get origial artwork by O painted on a canvas :)

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Felt Gingerbread Cookie Making Kit

For O's 12th advent activity, we had a treasure hunt to find a special handmade gift :) The 1st note sent her to the ottoman where she found another note (Elliott read the notes to her). That note sent her to the sliding glass door by the stairs. She pulled the curtain back to find the note on the door. Then she headed to her seat at the table. There was a note stuck to the bottom of her seat which directed her to the pots and pans cabinet. When she opened the cabinet door, she found her special prize! O didn't really understand the treasure hunt at 1st, but once she understood what we were doing she LOVED it. I plan on having a couple of more treasure hunts for her to find handmade gifts for advent.

O's special prize is a felt gingerbread cookie making kit! I've seen sugar cookie kits similar to this on etsy and at various online shops, and I couldn't wait to make one for O. It was easy to make, but it did take a while. I did all of the sewing by hand, which I really enjoyed (I'm still a little intimidated by the sewing machine!).

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Here are the freshly baked and decorated gingerbread girl and boy. I'd planned to embroider the details, but then I realized that it would be MUCH easier, faster, and would look more like icing if I painted the details with puff, fabric paint! O immediately took these cookies to her play kitchen :)

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Guh-guh quickly made a coordinate gingerbread man drawstring bag for storing the gingerbread making kit before she left our house this morning. Thanks, Guh-guh!

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O's Stocking is FINALLY Finished!

I embroidered O's stocking using a free pattern from Wee Wonderfuls (love that site!) months ago. Then I put it aside until just a few weeks ago. Thank goodness for Guh-guh! I told her how I wanted the stocking made, and she made it! I embroidered O's name at the top of the stocking, and Guh-guh did the rest :) Thanks, Guh-guh!


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Our stockings don't match, but they all have one thing in common...they were handmade with love by our mamas and grandmamas! This is my stocking. We had several different stockings as we were growing up, but this one was always my favorite :)

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This is Elliott's stocking (obviously!). His mom made it for him. His is MUCH smaller than mine and O's, so Santa can focus on ours :) Opening my stocking was always my favorite part of Christmas morning :)

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She LOVES Bubble Wrap!

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O has spent a lot of time popping the bubbles on the bubble wrap lately! She LOVES this, and it keeps her occupied for long periods of time :)

All She Wants for Christmas Is...

choc-choc (chocolate), kleenex, and bandaids. Hmmmmm. I could have saved myself a lot of time and money if I'd had this list a few months ago :)

Christmas Crafts with Guh-guh

Guh-guh and O had fun making Christmas crafts for O's 11th day advent activities. They had a busy day!
They started their day of crafts by pushing whole cloves into an orange. This is one of the crafts that we did every year when we were kids, and we always loved it :)

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Mmmmmm. It smells good!

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After O's nap, they colored a picture and decorated a t-shirt by making a Christmas tree using O's handprint. O LOVES to make things using her handprints, and we've done A LOT of that lately while making handmade gifts (more on that later).

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What a fun way to jazz up an old t-shirt! O is VERY proud of her shirt :)

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Thanks, Guh-guh, for crafting with my girl and for taking pictures!!!