Moxie Monday is here!

I am so excited to announce that I am cohosting Moxie Mondays this week! Moxie Mondays are a fun 24 hours of awesome flash giveaways on Instagram. It's easy to enter and you get to meet a new community of friends to add some creativity and spice to your Instagram feed. Plus, hello, the chance to win handmade prizes, crafting supplies and gift certificates. You don't need a blog to play, just Instagram on your phone!



Here's how to play:



1. Follow this week's hosts on Instagram:

@monkeypie

@bailjane

@casakelley

@thatmoxiegirl



2. Leave a comment on each host's giveaway image. (Tag a friend for an extra entry!)



3. Repost this week's Moxie Monday graphic on your Instagram with the hastag #moxiemondays and tag @thatmoxiegirl to enter the Mystery Moxie Giveaway.



On Tuesday morning, your hosts will randomly select winners and tag them in a comment.



It's that easy. Mondays just got so much more awesome!




Interested in cohosting a Moxie Monday? Shoot an email to Jill at thatmoxiegirl@gmail.com

Micah-isms

One of my favorite things to read are the posts from Young House Love about funny things their daughter Clara says. She is a few months older than Micah and they both say really similar things. I bet if they ever met in person they would get along famously, since they are both talkers and movers. Plus Clara is seriously hilarious.

So because I have been having a hard time coming up with things to blog about (being so violently ill with this pregnancy has really been a buzzkill for my sewing), I thought I would begin a Friday blog post about Micah with all the awesome things he says or does every week. I am always meaning to write these down someplace and never get around to it, so this will be a great way to log them. Once the new baby arrives and starts talking, we can add him/her to the post. I can hardly wait to hear them chatting together.

Micah reaches out and very gently pokes right above my belly button with a sly grin.
Me: What was that for?
Micah: I was just poking the baby.
(The sibling rivalry is starting already?!)

Micah, talking about my Dad: He used to be a policeman, but then he grew up to be a Tata!

Micah: When you put on headphones to listen to music, it goes down to your heart. And it stops beating, and starts dancing.

Me: What do you think mommy is having?
Micah: A boy. Or a girl.
He gets an amazed look on his face and his eyes get all big.
Micah: It could be ANYBODY in there!

That last one still cracks me up.

It was a very merry Christmas!

The year is almost at an end. I still can't believe an entire year has just blown by. How did it go by so fast?

We have had a great year, all things considered. And the month of December was especially nice, with all the family gatherings, special photos and good sales for some preliminary items in Sunshine Stars.I could not have asked for more...well, except one thing.



I made this after finding a version on Pinterest but discovered the shop that made them was now closed. I couldn't track down the owner so I am hoping she doesn't mind that I made this just for my husband.

And yes, it does mean we are expecting baby #2! We are super excited! Just like with my son, we had been talking about it and trying to decide when, and suddenly I'm pregnant. We obviously have no choice in the matter! I wasn't sewing when my son was born so I am really excited to make baby clothes. I am already picturing the footie pajamas and onesies in fun colors. We won't find out what we are having for at least three more months.

When we told my family, I made Micah this shirt and walked him into the room and let them all figure it out. Not everyone got it right away, but my mom read it once and yelled, "You're pregnant?!" She's probably more excited than we are.


Only Child, expiring August 2014.

This year, we got a couple of fun photo shoots in for both us and Micah. I actually won a little photoshoot from the talented Hartsock Photography and Micah got some seriously fantastic Santa photos as a result. I am really hoping they do this every year, because the Santa they chose was amazing (a real beard!) and they got me the photos within minutes. I absolutely loved it.


I'm THREE, Santa!



And just for family photos, I asked around to see if any local photographers wanted to do a trade - I get photos of their family, they get photos of mine. It couldn't have worked out better, because one of them is absolutely fantastic. Micah is even wearing two handmade things by me - his hat and duffle coat.



Our wedding anniversary was also on the 14th, so I made my husband this.



My little fledging attempt at Sunshine Stars also made a whopping 30 sales just in December alone, for hats with ears and scoodies with ears and pockets, as well as simple cotton and lace scarves. To say I was busy would be an understatement!



But I did have time to make Micah some fun Christmas pajamas!



December has been busy, fun, and exceptionally wonderful this year. I can't wait to see what 2014 has in store!

How was your Christmas?

DIY Christmas ornaments for kids

Can you believe that Christmas is 16 days away? I always feel like it sneaks up on me. I had every intention of making an advent calendar this year, and completely spaced it thanks to all the business I've gotten at my shop. (More on that in another post.)

I put up our little tree, which is just a tabletop version. It's white with pre-strung white lights and I wrapped two blue garlands around it. Simple and easy, which is what we wanted when we had a busy baby and cats in the house. Now that all the cats have been rehomed and Micah is going to four in four months (WHAT!?), I should probably make some ornaments for it. I like the idea of making making ornaments to add every year, so I decided to make a little collection of fun ideas from my beloved Pinterest of ornament ideas for kids to make.

Personalized name mugs

I'm sure you've seen those Sharpie mugs all over Pinterest. In case you haven't, here is the one that I liked the best.



I kept looking at them, wondering if I should make one for my parents for Christmas. Half of the pins on Pinterest have comments on them about how the Sharpie didn't work though - they would wash them, and the Sharpie would just wipe off. The heat of the oven was often pointed to as a culprit, but also the quality of your mug. Cheap mugs worked better because the glaze was more permeable. Or maybe you should use a certain type of Sharpie, the kind meant for porcelain. Or maybe you should glaze them after, just on the part that's painted so they are still safe to drink from. So many opinions!

So instead of trying the Sharpie at all, I went to Michael's and bought a six pack of paint pens, the kind you shake up like spray paint and then press the tip to get the paint flowing. Then I bought five mugs, also at Michael's, that were meant to be painted and even came with a tiny brush and a few paint pots. At $1.99 for each mug and $5.99 for the pens, a pack of stickers in letter shapes, and a 40% off coupon at the register, I spent less than $16 on the whole lot. Not bad for knocking out five Christmas gifts at once! And they hold up in the wash and the microwave, too.

And they came together super fast. I stuck on a name, tapped around the letters with a different color paint pen, and in less than five minutes they were dry and completed. The stickers I chose were not the best choice - they were 3D, which I thought would make them easier to trace around, but it also kept them from laying flat enough so the paint bled underneath. I just went in with a white paint pen (thankfully already in the pack) and colored over the bleeds a bit. It didn't make the edges sharp and crisp like I wanted, but it did give them a pretty marbled look I had hard time capturing on camera. And best of all? My recipients loved them. We had an early Christmas with my moms family since they were in town from Kansas and wouldn't be back for awhile.



Have you ever tried this particular project? How did it go?

Eight DIY snowflake tutorials

In the last two years at my desk job, someone has organized a day at the beginning of December when we get to make some kind of decoration for our cube land. When you are in a tiny box for so many hours a day, you're kind of limited when it comes to decoration. And this year, we are moving to a new building at the very end of December, so no one is really feeling the holiday magic this time around. So I decided I would look for something small, easy and pretty that I could make for each desk that no one would feel bad about tossing when we move.

Enter, paper snowflakes! I have collected a mix of the some of the best paper snowflake tutorials out there, ranging from easy enough to do with your kids to true works of art.




This is what I did last year, in a previous department. I think this year I may do it in a fun paper. So easy!


A twist on the previous snowflake, but still in the realm of possibility for kids, maybe just a little older.


A little fancier, but still do-able for kids.


I like that this one is not the typical 8-point star.


Out of toilet paper!


Using pipe cleaners. So fun, and double sided wrapping paper would be gorgeous.


For the inner nerd - Star Wars snowflakes! I'm thinking you need an Exacto blade for these. But I won't lie - I plan on trying them!


And for the truly talented - a quilled snowflake! I can't imagine how long this took.

Are you making any snowflakes this year?

Easy DIY boy gifts

Every year for Christmas and his birthday, I try to come up with some fun ideas for Micah that I can make myself. Last year I made him a play mat with roads he could drive his little cars around on. I expected it to be a big hit and it sort of wasn't. Thankfully it was a cheap dud, but still, kind of disappointing.

So this year, I have been showing Micah the things I come across that I thought he would like, to get kid approval. I know how hard it is to make things for boys, when it is so easy for girls (or maybe it's just that there are more DIY options out there for girls), so I thought I would pick out the things Micah showed the most interest and excitement for and share a list!





This is something I was looking at for ages. The pediatrician I take Micah to has a HUGE white board that is magnetic, covered with fun letter and shape magnets, at a lower height from the floor so the kids can play with it. He absolutely adores that wall. I think for this project, the most expensive part would be the magnets you add to the board. Maybe thrift shops or Craigslist could help there!



This one is best if you know you will reliably get snow at some point this winter. Since we live in the desert, I don't think this will be a gift, but just something I make one day if it snows.



This is a big favorite, and I am definitely making Micah some of these. Little stuffed fish with a magnet in the "nose" area (do fish have a nose?), and a corresponding magnet on a string attached to a stick. Tons of fun, plus a bonus way to get rid of scraps!



What kid doesn't like play dough? And this is an easy way to color them exactly how you want, without the mess of food coloring dying things you didn't intend on dying. Plus, it smells pretty good.



This would be fantastic for cold days when you make living room forts! Added bonus - if your kid goes to daycare, perfect for naptime. Micah hasn't napped in almost two years, but I know other lucky moms get the occasional nap!



For the truly adventurous - a marshmallow shooter! Maybe just add the caveat that it has to be used outdoors.



Micah really liked this idea. I was thinking I could start working on money with him. He gets a quarter every time someone says a bad word, and loses a quarter if he says a bad word. Thankfully there isn't much money passing back and forth, but it was a good way for him to see money. Maybe we can start talking about how four quarters equals a dollar this way.

What do you plan to make for gifts for Christmas this year?