What's a Fairy Tale Christmas without some toadstools for some fairies to sit on?
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I had come across directions on how to put together these cute little toadstools not more than a week prior to the kids & I entering an Ornament Exchange thru The Crafty Crow.  And with the theme:  Fairy Tale Christmas...what better thing to make.

The kids all took part in making one & we decided any leftover we would either keep or use as gifts for someone so toadally special.  Ok, pardon my pun...but they are so toadally cute.  (Alright, I'm done).

For those of you who may be interested in making a toadstool ornament (or 2) for yourselves or perhaps one to tie on a gift...You can find the pattern/directions and a much better tutorial than mine over at My Little Mochi.  This is her design, not mine.  I'm not nearly as creative as her.  While you're there check out more of her creativity as she makes some reallly cute things.
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Cutting out the strips of white felt for the stem of the mushroom.
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Rolling the white felt up tight to make the stem. 
We also put a few stitches in them to hold them together.
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Cutting out the tops of the mushroom from red felt.
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 Cutting out a sturdy peice of cardboard to be placed within the mushroom's top.
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Sewing the mushroom tops.
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I programmed the felt circles with dots made with a fine tip black marker.  This seemed to help my kiddos know where to place their next stitch.
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Here we are pushing the needle back through the cardboard cirlce so we could later attach a ribbon for hanging. 
I ended up having to do the rest myself...this was hard even with the aid of a thimble.
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Hot glue to attach the stem to the mushroom's top.
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Sprinkling glitter on the white paint spots.
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After we attached the ribbon, we tied little bows at the tops.
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We will be mailing these cute little mushrooms/toadstools out a couple days late to our list of recipients in our group.  We hope they don't mind the delay.
I wonder what the mailman will be bringing us in exchange?
 
Remember this last post regarding the contest over on The Crafty Crow?  Well...I WON!!!
I am so excited!  This is the very first Blog Contest I have won...entered many...and have finally won one!  Yay!
Cassi from The Crafty Crow contacted me via email just yesterday with this news:
Hi DeAyn,

I just wanted to let you know that you won the giveaway sponsored by Imagine Childhood on The Crafty Crow!  I have forwarded your email address to the sponsor and they will get in touch with you with all the details. Thanks so much for visiting The Crafty Crow!

Take care,
Cassi


The Crafty Crow

Here is just a sneak peek to what I have won...the kids are gunna be SO EXCITED TOO!!!!
No more asking mom for more computer paper to draw with to satisfy their daily artistic desires.
I'm just wondering how long that 100' role of paper will withstand all 6 of my children's artistic creativity...?
Oh well, I'm sure Imagine Childhood won't mind me reordering paper roles to refill the paper holder often enough.
:)
Thanks again toThe Crafty Crow for holding this contest and introducing me to Imagine Childhood!
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The paper holder comes with a 100' long
roll of paper and can instantly make any
table into an art table! This is great any
time but especially for the long winter
days ahead of us.
(quote taken from The Crafty Crow)
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And look at these color crayons!
I've never seen anything like them. They
are made from plant color extracts and
beeswax and the description says they have
a crystalline effect that "shines with all the
subtlety and complexity of a beautiful
flower"! Doesn't that sound cool?!
(quote also taken from The Crafty Crow)
 
The Crafty Crow
Calling all crafty mommies (& daddies) out there...

Have you checked out The Crafty Crow yet?  Well, it's a must for those of you savvy creative beings out there dripping with creative juices & even for those of you who find yourselves (like me most often) sputtering around in circles trying to come up with some new and interesting crafts to occupy your children (or yourselves for that matter).

The Crafty Crow is doing a Book & Crafty Activity Advent for the Christmas season which is a MUST to check out!  Also, The Crafty Crow sends out some wonderful ideas straight to your email (once you subscribe as a reader)!  And something I am REALLY EXCITED about is their current GIVEAWAY from Imagine Childhood!

Go ck it out now!  Who knows...you could win!
 
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For all of you who know Dyxon...he is a tuff lil' guy!  But that is an understatement compared to what that boy went through these past few days. 

On Sunday evening, the evening we were to go to my sister's for Thanksgiving (you can read more here why we couldn't go), Dyxon was spinning with his stuffed puppy, fell and hit his left eye on the train table leaving a nice 1/2" laceration.  Well, it didn't bleed much but because it was so close to the eye we took him in to Urgent Care to check it and make sure he was ok.

Everything was ok.  He vision was not affected and he did not need stitches.  Apparently his Mommy (that's me) is getting pretty darn good at applying butterfly bandages.  They cleaned it and applied tape which should fall off in about 1-2 weeks.

But that's not all....just yesterday him and Dyson were playing in the bathroom.  Yes, I know what your thinking...'that's the most dangerous place to play'.  Well, I would have to agree with you on that one.  The thing is, I had no idea they were in there.  You see...they were in "stealth" mode.

It wasn't until I heard a huge low sounding bang and then a shattering crash that I sprung from where I was and sprinted into the main bathroom where when I opened the door I was greeted with screams of terror and a short wave of broken glass cascading out the doorway spilling into the hallway.

If you haven't guessed already...the huge 70's style mirror that practically covered the entire West wall of the bathroom fell and crashed into various sized shards of glass.
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An After Picture of the Missing Bathroom Mirror
As I frantically looked around I found Dyson safely positioned in the bathtub yet screaming wildly in fear and Dyxon located behind the door standing in a pile of broken glass dripping with blood from various parts of his body.

Once I located the cuts by cleaning off all the blood, I had assessed that the damage was not as bad as I had first feared...even though a cut on the inside of his lip bled SO MUCH that it had me worried that he had cut him self WORSE somewhere inside his mouth!

He only had a few cuts and only 1 was worth determining if it needed stitches... which was on his foot.  This was only because of the location that it seemed to keep popping open from his movement.  But, it did not continue to bleed...which was good.

He had a bump on his forehead (left side near the hairline) where it appears that the HUGE mirror struck him, leaving a couple cuts before cascading into a million pieces.  A slice above and inside his upper lip.  A tiny stab-like puncture and small nick on his chest where the glass penetrated through his shirt.  And the ominous slice on his left foot.

So that now all is said in done...I fear my baby boy looks like he has been through a battle field....yet is still happy as ever (except for when it comes time to clean and bandage his foot).
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Tuff Guy is an Understatment
 
Here I was ranting and raving about having Turkey for Thanksgiving and I ended up having to settle for a small scale Thanksgiving Dinner here at home with my family.

I'm not complaining...don't get me wrong.  I loved being able to spend Thanksgiving Day with my family (minus Devyn ~ he was with his dad) and enjoy the blessings it brought us.  The only thing I do have to complain about is this...
You see, my side of the family (i.e. my sister, my aunt, my uncle & cousins) were all to celebrate on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  That was the day we could all manage to be together.  Well, it just so happens that I was not feeling any better than "manageable" and to top it off...3 of my children were down with the congestion, runny noses & irritability too. 

There was no way I was going to subject my family to our germs.  And well, to be honest...those little ones & I really needed to rest and not have to endure countless hours of playing, laughing, eating great food, enjoying good conversation and numerous hugs from family...geesh.