Here’s the crafted gang from last year.  And here’s sweet Emily (and Jacob) last year:

We’ll probably be celebrating on another day due to health issues.  But I hope you all have a blessed Easter!

I forgot to take a before shot of this one, but it’s pretty obvious.  It was a simple, smocked top with spaghetti straps.  Nothing else, really.

Now it’s Emily’s Easter dress.

One thing I love about it is that she can easily wear a shirt under it if Easter proves to be a chilly day.

This was a simple refashion inspired by a Mini Boden dress I saw yesterday.  I cut about 2 1/2 inches off the top and then cut curvy armholes on the sides.  Then I added binding around the armholes.

To add a little whimsy, I crocheted circles for the ties.

Then I added pockets.

With reinforcement.

And a bunny. :)

Here’s last year’s refashioned Easter dress.

What 2009 looks like so far…

So I’ve resolved to figure out a better way to do this lino block cutting business.  I’ve also resolved to use Piknic if I please but use it with restraint.

And I’ve resolved to keep all markers away from the toddler.  If you could see all of her face, you’d see that she was merely putting on some lipstick.  With an overhead-projector pen.  To our credit, there were about 15 people in the house at the time.  We thought someone would notice.

As for real resolutions, I don’t really have them.  What I do plan to do is detox from the junk when I get back home (this is not a diet, I assure you) and put fresh batteries in the Wii Fit balance board.  If that sounds like every other American, then so be it.   I just need a fresh start.  Because 2 weeks of Christmas has left me feeling kinda grrrrross.

EDIT: I just wanted to share some info.  A Flickr friend told me that she warms her lino blocks on a hot plate before carving to make it easier.  Good to know!  Because those bandages… well… they were acquired on two separate occasions.

I’m just popping in from Blacksburg, Virginia to share a few Christmas goodies given

and received.

We’ve had a fantastic holiday so far - introducing family from all over the East Coast to two of our favorite little people.

I hope you had a lovely Christmas.

And I hope you have a fabulous New Year’s Eve!

EDIT: I got the idea for those hand-prints from plumpudding, a cute blog you should look into. :)

We’re on our way out the door this morning, and we’ll be gone for 2 weeks.

I’ll try to pop in and say hi from wherever I happen to be.  Which could be Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, or Virginia.  Or somewhereelsealongtheway.

Here are two of Emily’s Christmas presents.  Since she can’t yet be sneaky and doesn’t even know why she should be, I can actually show you what I’m working on.  So here’s a bear hand puppet in the spirit of her much-loved (ha!) Halloween costume and a dolly based on One Red Robin’s free Ruby pattern.  That pattern is fantastic, by the way.

If you have any more gift ideas for babies and toddlers, please tell me!  I have maybe 3 crafting days left before we exchange gifts.  So I’d better get to it!

P.S. I made these crackers, and I highly recommend them.  Add garlic salt & parmesan for extra yum factor. :)

We’re a little late this year, but typically I like to put up the Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving. I love Christmas decorations. And having a little family party of sorts while pulling out all the remnants of past Christmases warms my soul.

So we had a little pre-party involving candles and fudge brownies and attic boxes, and then we went to our Christmas tree nursery.

This is the only place we’ve ever bought a Christmas tree as a couple.   Sorry to get all sentimental on y’all.

With Jake-Jake crawling, nom-ing things, and pulling up on anything he can grab, we thought that a table-top tree would be best this year.

The nursery made no bones about it. All their little trees were appropriately labeled “Charlie Brown Christmas Trees.” Seriously.  Jammed into a tiny hole in the ground was our perfect evergreen shrub.

It was only $8. I mean.

That’s alright with me. Even if it is already starting to lean from the burden of ornament-holding. As long as it doesn’t snap in two, right?

Finally, it feels like Christmas around here. *happy sigh*

And I’d like to introduce you to my new (to me) Tuesday Towel.  Isn’t it great?  Mom Derrick told me yesterday that the set (complete with a “Rest on Sunday” towel) was indeed made by her grandmother.  She thought I would appreciate them, and rightly so as evidenced in this post last Spring.

Does anyone know the best way to wash these?

Evan got me a tripod for my camera.  Which is awesome.  I played with it some today, but I really need to have a date with my camera manual in order to fully appreciate my new accessory.  My first response to the tripod: “Hey!  I can make a cozy for it.”

To which Evan responded with a confused brow, “But you still haven’t made a cozy for the camera.”

To which I giggled and said, “I guess I needed accessories to inspire me!”

Surely he’s just thankful to hear my priorities.

So here’s a picture taken with the addition of the tripod.  Every photograph I took today involved it.  Which may have been unnecessary.  But I liked it.

I love how my birthday happens to fall at just the right time for cake to be totally revolting.  So I’m more likely to stick a candle in this and make a wish for all the “bad fat” in my body to magically disappear.  (Just kidding… sorta.)

I’m looking forward to a day of routine and quiet time with my babies.  We just arrived back in town late last night.  I waited until just after midnight (on Virginia time since the gift was from Mom Derrick) to open my first birthday present: a set of embroidered days-of-the-week tea towels.  Evan thinks they were made by a great or great-great grandmother.  They’re absolutely perfect.
I’ll definitely share them soon.

But right now, I’m going to take a Birthday Shower and eat some Birthday Oatmeal. ;)