Yarn Snowman

My husband has a rule about not decorating for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. Does anybody else have to live with this non-sense? Don't get me wrong, I love, love, loooove Thanksgiving, but I also love Christmas and I think one month of all those lovely decorations and ornaments is just not enough. But never fear, I found a loop hole, just because I can't decorate until after Thanksgiving doesn't mean I can't make decorations :) I know, sneaky sneaky! So without further ado, allow me to introduce Jack Lionbrand:

Jack enjoys playing in the snow, taking long walks by the evergreens, and relaxing far away from the warm fire. He loves carrots and smiling.. His favorite accessories are his signature top hat and scarf.

Isn't he just the cutest?
Don't you want to make one too? I will tell you what I did, but first let me warn you that I am the worlds WORST tutorial writer/photographer, if you have no problem with that then keep reading.

Supplies:
3 White Styrofoam Balls (different sizes or all the same)
White yarn (1 skien is plenty, I had about half of one and ran out during my last ball.)
Block of wood
Paint
Glue
3/8in Ribbon (1 yard each of green, white, red)
Half of a popcicle stick or anything for the lollipop stick
Buttons for eyes, and body or whatever you want to use
Sticks or pipe cleaners or whatever for arms
Fabric or felt
Embellishments (I used modeling clay for the nose and candy pieces.)

Now, if you can't tell by the list of supplies, this is pretty flexible and super easy to do. I just used what I had around the house which means that little cutie didn't cost me a dime! For the next one I make though, I'm going to use super fluffy white yarn ;)

Step 1:
Paint your wood however you like.

Step 2:
Cover your balls haphazardly with yarn, until you get the look you want. If you have a color other than white styrofoam just paint it before you cover it with yarn. That way if you have blank spaces they won't be as obvious. Then glue them together however you choose. I used hot glue.

Step 3: Make your lollipop. Take your ribon and glue all three ends together. Fold the glued end over and glue again. Then just wrap the ribbon around in a circle gluing every couple of turns or so. Be sure you hold the ribbon tight. Glue your popcicle stick to the back, then cut a piece of felt or foam the size of your lollipop and glue it over the popcicle stick on the back of the lollipop to hold it all together. You can add a bow like I did if you want added cuteness. All the pictures I took of this step were blurry beyond repair, but hopefully your cool like me and can figure it out by looking at the picture :)

Step 4:
Glue your snowman to the wood and embellish.
And that's pretty much it. Super cute, super easy, super flexible. That's what I like to see!

(Disclaimer: The laundry and cartoons in the background are not mine, someone broke into my house and left their laundry during saturday morning cartoons. Investigation pending.)

So, did you get any of that or was I just rambling? I really hope I made a little bit of sense because something this adorable shouldn't get passed up by my ignorance :) Have a blast, and please comment of email me if you have any questions! (You can comment me even if you don't have questions also, it would make my day;)
Linking to:

What do you get when you mix a cat and a dragon?

Two very adorable little trick-or-treaters!

Taylor and I went trick-or-treating and on a hay ride while Daddy and Jaxon stayed home and handed out candy. We didn't get a bunch of candy (fine with me:) because at the last minute Taylor decided she didn't want to be a cat, she wanted to be Iron Man! She went to a few houses, but mostly just enjoyed the hay ride. Guess we will try again next year!

Chelsy

Our {not-so scary} Halloween Mantle

BOO! Did I scare you? No? Hmmm...Then our mantle won't either. I wanted people to know that Halloween had certainly arrived in our house, but not at the expense of frightening the bejezus out of a toddler! Now, before we get to the pictures, let me warn you that there is one scary element to this post which is my photography skills. I hope you don't have nightmares but if you do feel free to call me, I will sit up with you!

Here she is in all her glory. I tried and tried to get rid of that glare and it just wasn't happening! I used the tutorial from Crafts and Sutch for the spider web and the spiders are cut out of black cardstock. The sign is from the dollar store, I cut off the string that was on it and used ribbon instead. My "Spooky" banner is treat bags from Wal-Mart, and green scrapbook paper. I'm kinda ghetto and don't have a printer right now, so I traced the letters right off the computer screen and traced them backwards onto the scrapbook paper and cut them out. Then I just punched holes in the corners and tied it all together with ribbon. And stuck it up, quite literally...yeah... so... I seriously just taped it up there ;) You can't tell though right? Ok, nevermind, I don't want to know.

I call this "Ode to Dollar Tree"

The skeleton in the jar was whole at one time, but I took out some aggresion on him, he said it was ok. I threw in the spanish moss to keep him warm at night. The candles just have scrapbook paper wrapped around them and they are sitting on top of upside down martini glasses.

The blocks are from last year, but you know the drill... cardstock, modge podge, yada, yada, yada. Daddy, Mommy, and Baby mummy are candle holders wrapped in gauze. The candle holders came in a pack of 3 for $1, and the gauze was $1. I glued beady eyes on and pulled some of the gauze over to make them look a little more "mummy-ish"

These happy pumpkins are perched on candle sticks, they light up but there was already enough glare going on in these pictures I figured I should quit while I was ahead. The witch is one of those sun catcher things that I painted when I was in junior high, I tied her to an empty frame and stuck her on top of some books for height.

This sweet little spider is a pom-pom made from leftover yarn I used for the spider web and pipe cleaners, but don't tell her that, she thinks she's a diva! I curled some orange ribbon for her to rest on and stuck her in a martini glass. (I don't know why I have these martini glasses, but I found a box of them when I was cleaning my craft room! Who knows what I was thinking when I bought them ;)

What do you think? Want to see more? Well...okay, since you asked so nicely.

This is the shelf above our tv. Nothing really to explain here, just cuteness!

The candle holder is a glass vase glued onto a candle stick from the dollar store. I added some faux leaves to the bottom and tied a scrap of fabric around it.

Finally the coffee table and end table. Don't you love my orange silk scarf? It was my grandma's and I just can't bear to keep it in the closet, so she moves around alot!

That's about it, Happy Tuesday!

Taylor Funnies

Here are a few conversations Taylor and I have had over the past few days. It's hard to believe that little lady is only two and half sometimes! She's too smart for her own good!

Me: "Taylor, what do you want to be for Halloween?"
T: "I don't know mom."
Me: "How about a princess?"
T: "No, I want to be a black man."
Me: "Batman??"
T: "No Mom, a black man!"
Me: "Ooookaaaayyy?!?!"
(After a few minutes of hysterical laughter, I had a plan :)
Me: "How about a black cat?"
T: "Well....okay....I guess."
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Taylor: "I want some chocolate milk, please."
Me: "We don't have chocolate, Daddy is bringing some home after work."
Taylor: "Can I have pink chocolate?" (strawberry)
Me: "Yes you can."
T: "I want to put the lid on my cup."
Me: "Ok."
(I made her milk, handed her the lid and held her cup down for her.)
Taylor: "Is that pink chocolate milk?"
Me: "Yes."
Taylor: "Oh, isn't that just too precious?"
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Taylor: "Kitty cat, do you have a boo-boo?"
Cat: "Meow"
T: "What happened to your foot, kitty cat?"
Cat: silence
T: "Were you being ugly?"
Cat: more silence
T: "Oh well, your fine. Walk it off kitty cat, your tough."
(She patted him on the back and ran off on her way!)

Oh boy, she is such a nut!

In other Taylor news:

We have been having "Taylor School" the past few weeks. She is really enjoying it and it is great quality time for us to have when Jaxon is napping. We focus on one letter, color, and number each week. I will do a more detailed post about this later, but basically we practice the sounds of the "weekly letter" and words that start with that letter. She practices writing the letter and number. We also do crafts each day, which would work out alot better if the girl wasn't so darn independant! But she has so much fun, and announces to everyone we see what letter she is learning and what sound it makes! And when her Dad gets home from work she always drags him to her latest project and says "Look Dad, look what I made!"

Taylor already knows her ABC's and recognizes the letters. She can count to twenty, and knows her colors. So most of these activities and lessons focus on writing and recognizing that letters make words. As far as colors go, we focus on which ones are primary and secondary. And which colors mix to make other colors. We are having lots of fun, I will try to get some pictures and keep you all updated on our progress!

Lovin' my little big girl,

2 Month Update

Jaxon went to the doctor last week to get his first set of shots :( but he handled them like a champ! The little guy weighed 12lbs and was 23.5in...yep, he's a growin' boy! The lil guy has been such a good baby, he is so happy and such a good sleeper. He recently found his feet and thought they were quite hilarious, he also found his voice and uses it often! We love to make him laugh (his big sis is the best at this) because he gets to laughing so hard he starts snorting and I find it completely adorable, but I'm biased.

Here are a few pictures Aunt Bekah took of Jaxon last weekend...

Lovin' our bald little boy,

The (little) Man

Jaxon is fitting in quite nicely to our little family! He just turned 2 months old, but doesn't go to the pediatrician until next week. I will be sure and update you on all his stats as soon as we know! The little nugget is such a good baby! He has put himself on a nice 3-4 hour schedule. And....drumroll please....is sleeping all night! You heard me...He sleeps all night!! He eats about 10, then I rock him and he sleeps until 7:30-8! He's been doing this for about 2weeks, and has only had one night when he woke up to eat. We all love him so much and Big Sister is super proud!

Happy Thursday!

Chelsy

Guess who's here?!

JAXON HAP PHILLIPS!!

Jaxon was born on July 13 at 12:43p.m., he came in weighing a whopping 8lbs. 2oz. and was 21 inches long! According to my doctor, if he had been full term, Jaxon would have weighed over 10 pounds, YIKES! He was 2 weeks early, but healthy as horse!

Big Sister is very proud of her Little Brother! She has been so good, and it has been such a blessing. She loves to hold him, and help with diaper changes. And kisses him goodnight and goodmorning everyday:)

 

Jaxon is proving to be a very laid back and easy baby, yay! He has put himself on a 3.5-4 hour eating schedule, and goes 5 or 6 hours at night. I know, lucky me! He rarely cries, and so far the only thing that gets him truly upset is a cold wipe on his hieney!

Jaxon's 2-day checkup after leaving the hospital went great, except for the fact that he peed all over everything! His 2-day stats were 7lbs. 15oz. And we are still waiting for his two week checkup, even though he will be three weeks tomorrow...I'm a little frustrated! We are going to be seeing a new pediatrician, who comes highly reccommended and is apparently very busy!

So, we are loving our new little boy and think he fits perfectly into our now family of four! Although, we decided that boys are definately harder to change and clean, and they poop and pee on EVERYTHING!!

1 Day Old

Going Home!! Yay!

And I can't forget about this Little Lady!

Miss Taylor is a talking machine! She wakes up talking or singing and doesn't stop until she goes to bed, seriously! But like I said before, she has been so good with Jaxon and hasn't showed any signs of jealousy, which is something I was really concerned about. Taylor is now counting to 25, saying her ABC's and recognizing all of the letters and sounds they make. She is talking in more complete sentences and asking a MILLION questions! Her current love intrest is Buzz Lightyear and she is really into VeggieTales! We love her so much and are pretty sure she's a keeper!

Happy Monday,