Christmas Inspiration: Tutorials & Crafts ♥ Inspiracion Navideña: Tutoriales y Manualidades

I'm sure you are wondering what happened to me.  I've been gone from this oh so lovely space of mine since October.  That's a pretty darn long time, isn't it?  Well, I haven't been...well.  Which is why as much as I love this space of mine I have been in a great need of a break and healing.  I don't know when I will fully be back on track to share with you crafting goodness, but do know that while I am gone I will be missing you all dearly.  

Me imagino que han de estar pensando que mentados a pasado con migo, pues he estado lejos de este mi lindo espacio desde Octubre.  Mucho tiempo ¿No  crees? Les cuento que...no me he sentido bien.  Por lo cual me he mantenido lejos de este querido espacio.  No se cuando regresare para poder compartir con ustedes mas manualidades y creatividad, pero se que por el momento necesito descansar y recuperarme.  Sepan que durante mi ausencia los extrañare mucho.

For now I leave you with a little round up of Holiday ideas & tutorials I've shared in the past.  I hope it helps you get inspired to be a little creative this Christmas.

Por lo tanto hoy los dejo con una lista de manualidades navideñas que he compartido con ustedes en mi blog.  Espero te inspire a crear un poco esta Navidad.

GET INSPIRED  ♥ INSPIRA TE

 Get you're little ones crafting with this Cotton Ball Wreath ♥ Inspira a tus pequeños a crear esta Coronita de algodon:

Make your own Wooden Traveling Nativity ♥ Has tu propio Nacimento de Madera:

Felt Dove ornament ♥ Paloma de feltro un adorno Navideño:

Advent Calendar Tutorial....It's never too late to start one ♥ Nunca es muy tarde para empezar un Calendario de Adviento:
 

Wishing you and your loved ones a blessed and magical Holiday season.

Deseándote a ti y a tus seres queridos unos días festivos llenos de bendiciones y magia.

holiday crafting: two tutorials just for you

 and...

As you know I've been keeping myself pretty busy these last few weeks.  Some of that business includes two Holiday Craft tutorials I've created.  One for New Latina and the other for Mommy Maestra.  

Pay them a visit, take a look around and stop by to see my tutorials.  Who knows?  You might find one to be the perfect gift for someone you love, or that last minute decoration you needed for your tree!

For Miniature Traveling Nacimiento (Nativity) tutorial visit Mommy Maestra (here).

For Handcrafted Felt Ornament Tutorial visit New Latina (here).

Happy Crafting!

enjoying life: one moment at a time

After the craziness of all the crafting and selling at two craft shows back to back this past week, this weekend, we found some moments to take it all in and slow down.  On Sunday I stopped my self from doing more, put everything on hold and let time slow down.  How wonderful that was.  The kids and I enjoyed each other. I made some yummy German pancakes for the first time (you can find the recipe here) and topped them with our deliciously homemade jams and sauces.  We watched some classic black and white Christmas movies and ate some popcorn topped with chile (claro que si!)  I even slowed down to take some photos of our decorated home.  Yes, it feels good to slow down.  Don't you agree?

And this weekend I continued to be amazed by my little guy's creativity.  "Mami, I made you a puppet!"  Yes, you did, in deed.


Now time to start the rushing!

countdown to Christmas: advent calendar roundup and Christmas book list

I know, I know, the countdown started five days ago.  Yes?  But with all the decorating, the re-organizing of my studio to fit a new serger machine and the daily goings, well we haven't started our countdown just yet.  Not until today!  So let's pretend today is #1, shall we? (Okay,  you we can start with #5. )

In case you've not started your countdown either here  is a small round up of some easy advent calendars you can whip up in one, two, three!:

How about...Pretty paper bags, felt envelopes, frame it, pyramids, cone forest, simple envelopes, fridge magnets, on the door, box it up.  You can find more in my Pinterest Advent Calendar Board.

Not sure if you like any of those.  Well then, how about making one of my past advent calendars?

You can find the tutorial here. 

This is the calendar I made last year, which for some odd reason I did not blog about.  I got the idea from one I saw in the Goosenberry Patch Christmas 2010 magazine.  But instead of using peppermints like they did, I decided to add a small scroll of paper with a book written in each one.  The kids loved it so much they asked for it back this year.  Ah yes, make mami's life much easier my sweet ones.  

Wondering what books we are using for our advent calendar this year?

(this photo is of our book basket last year)

1. How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

2. The Legend Of The Poinsettia by Tomie de Paola

3. You Can Do It Sam by Amy Hest

4. Mooseltoe by Margie Palatini

5. What Star Is This? by Joseph Slate (We also like to read this on Jan. 6th for the Three Wise Men Latin American celebration.)

6. Oliver's Red Toboggan by Paul Korteper

7. If You Take A Mouse To The Movies by Laura Numeroff

8. O Little Town Of Bethlehem: A Pageant Of Lights by David Mead

9. Noah's Mittens by Lise Lunge-Larsen

10. One Winter's Night by Leo & Diane Dillan

11. Que Monton De Tamales by Gary Soto

12. The Twelve Day's Of Christmas by Hillary Knight and/or The Twelve Days of Christmas by Jack Kent (this was mine when I was little.)

13. The Nutcracker by Susan Jeffers

14. You Are My Miracle by Maryann Cusimano & Santomi Ichikawa

15. Merry Christmas Curious George by Margret & H.A. Rey

16. Nine Days To Christmas by Marie Hall ETS & Aurora Labastida

17. The Night Of The Posadas by Maria Dolores Campazano Valiente

18. Christmas Magic by Michael Garland

19. The Mitten by Jan Brett

20. Cricket At The Manger by Edith Hope Fine

21. A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles M. Schulz

22. The Gift Of Nothing by Patric McDonnell

23. The Story Of Christmas by Patricia A. Pingry

24. The Night Before Christmas by Tom Browning

You can find all the Amazon links to this list here. Or by clicking on the tab Books We Love below the blog banner (above.)

Do you have any other books you recommend?  

Now let's officially start that countdown! (kay?)

pipe-cleaners, cotton balls and bows! (kids christmas craft)

What do you get when you put together pipe-cleaners, cotton balls, and a bow?  A festive Christmas wreath, of course!

It is super simple to make.  My little guy made it pretty much on his own.  I just guided him a bit and the rest was up to him.

Don't be afraid now, call on your little ones and have fun making your own Christmas Wreath!

After gathering all your materials the first thing you'll need to do (if your little one can't cut very well yet) is cut out the center part of the paper plate.  See photo above.  It needs not be perfect because the cotton balls will hide the lovely imperfections.

Now for the fun part:

Start off by twisting each pipe-cleaner into round twirls. Set them aside for later.

Then begin to glue on your cotton balls onto the paper plate.  Our cotton balls were rather large so my chiquito (little guy) pulled them apart two make two.

Keep your cotton balls close to each other, leaving no gaps. 

Now start to glue on the fun twirls leaving a nice space in between each one.  Creating a pattern (I had to say that, my little guy is really into pattern making.  Note how perfect his spacing is between each twirl.)

Make sure to leave a rather large gap between the last two for your bow.

Let dry overnight.  Then hang up in a nice spot in your home (to show off to all of your familia and friends) or give as a gift.

Have fun crafting with your little ones!

Christmas in our home :: Navidad en casa

 

Our Christmas was simple, small and wonderful. 

Nustra Navidad fue algo sencilla, simple y maravillosa.

I made tamales for the third year in a row.  This time with the help of my mother-in-law, a new experience for her.  She really enjoyed it and I enjoyed her company and all the help.  It is never fun making tamales a alone.  But because I really want my kids to experience part of my culture, it is worth it even if it means making them all a alone (plus it really helps that R really likes Tamales- who am I kidding-  ALL MEXICAN FOOD!) And to accompany the yummy tamales (made three different types) I also made some Mexican rice and frijoles puercos, a very flavorful type of beans.  Any of you ever had any?  They were a hit.

Por tercer año, prepare tamales para nochebuena, pero esta ves me ayudo mi suegra.  Fue una nueva experiencia para ella, y muchísima ayuda para mi.  (Normalmente los preparo sola, pues mi familia vive lejos.  Pero con tal de que mis hijos disfruten de las tradiciones de mami, si sola los tengo que prepara- sola los preparo, claro que me ayuda muchísimo saber que a mi maridin le encantan los tamales, bueno TODO tipo de comida Mexicana.) Para acompañar los tamales (hice de tres tipos) también prepare arroz Mexicano y frijoles puercos.  Me quedaron deliciosos y a los invitados les encanto.  ¿Alguna ves los has probado? 

The kids and I baked some cookies, nothing fancy.  And I made some delicious Spicy Chocolate Cranberry Bark (the original recipe is from Maya, but I didn't have any pepitas so  I went ahead and made it without them anyway, and boy was it good.  My kids liked it too, chili and all.) 

Los niños y yo preparamos galletas, nada complicado.  Y luego hice un dulce picoso de chocolate con aderandos agrios, canela y chile pimienta cayane.  (La receta original es de Maya , pero yo no tenia pepitas, es que lo hice sin y de todos modos salio delicioso.  A los niños les gusto, chile y todo.)

My hubby's parents and some friends joined us for Christmas eve dinner.   Then after dinner the kids made some reindeer food (cooking oats and glitter) and sprinkled it all over the front lawn.  You know, you gotta keep the reindeer entertained while Santa delivers the presents (plus he gets to eat cookies, so why not the reindeer?) 

Los papas de mi marido y unos amigos no acompañaron durante Noche Buena.  Despues de la cena los niños prepararon comida para los venados (cual consite de avena seca y brillantina.  (Es necesario entretener a los venados mientras Santa deja los regalos, ¿que no? Ademas, si a Santa le tocan galletas ¿por que no darles algo de comer a ellos?)

The next morning we sang to baby Jesus Happy Birthday and Las Mañanitas (a traditional Mexican birthday song).  Opened gifts.  (That lovely stamped feather you see above- well my lovelies made one for each of the family members as a gift.  Ri's idea.  The best gift I received this Christmas.  Love it.) Then ate pancakes and bacon for breakfast, had some simple fun with our new gifts and then headed out for dinner with the grandparents. 

Al día siguiente le cantamos el Happy Birthday y las Mañanitas al niñito Jesús, abrimos regalos.  (¿Ves el la pluma en la ultima foto? Pues ese fue el regalos que los niños nos dieron a mi marido y a mi y entre ellos mismos.  La idea de estamparla fue de mi pequeño Ri.  ¿Linda idea, no?  ¡El mejor regalo que recibi!) Después salimos a cenar a casa de los abuelos.

A lovely Christmas indeed.  (Just wish I could have seen my family too. I especially miss them during this time of the year. sigh.)   

Definitivamente una linda Navidad.  (Solo que me hubiese gustado ver a mi familia también.  Es durante estas fechas que mas se me hace difícil vivir tan lejos.) 

How was your Christmas?

¿Como te la pasaste tu?

celebrations :: celebraciones

(The Rosca- kings bread, I baked this year :: La rosca que hice este año.)

Celebrations and traditions play a great part in our home. With every year that has passed since R and I got married (and especially since our kids were born) we have learned to combine our traditions and create new ones. The winter holiday's are a great example.
Las celebraciones y tradiciones toman una gran parte en nuestra casa. Desde que R y yo nos casamos (y en especial desde que los nenes nacieron) hemos aprendido a combinar nuestras tradiciones y crear nuevas. Los días festivos de fin de año son un buen ejemplo.

For R, Thanksgiving is his favorite Holiday. He loves that family gets together, no presents, no fuss, just the wonderful gathering and visiting of far away family. Though I do love Thanksgiving (and agree with R), I on the other hand prefer Christmas. To me Christmas is all of what R describes and more.
El día festivo favorito de R es Thanksgiving- Día de Gracias. Lo que mas le gusta es que toda la familia se junta, vemos a parientes que viven lejos, convivimos y sobretodo no tiene nada que ver con los regalos. A mi tambien me gusta, pero para mi el dia festivo que mas me gusta y disfruto es la Navidad. Por lo mismas razones a las cuales a R le gusta Thanksgiving y mas.

When I was a child, Christmas was the holiday where we traveled to visit family. It was the time we got together, shared stories and exchanged gifts. It was the time we always spent together, no matter what. It was the time where we would dress up during Christmas eve, have a huge dinner (and if we were vising family in Mexico-break a piñata and attended posadas) and then waited impatiently (and very tired) for midnight to arrive so we could go to the Misa de Gallo- midnight mass. And if we were lucky enough to stay awake on the drive back home, then we could open our gifts (even the ones Santa had dropped off while we were gone). And that was not the end of it, oh no! after Christmas came the Dia de los Reyes Magos- the twelfth day of Christmas or Kings Day. Where we would celebrate their arrival to see baby Jesus in the manger. We would make a Rosca, eat, sing and sometimes leave a shoe out to see what the wise men would leave us. The Christmas tree went up after the 12th of December and didn't come down until after the 6th of January. Ah, yes the memories...
Cuendo era niña durante el tiempo de Navidad era cuando viajavamos a visitar a la familia. El tiempo de compartir risas, historias y claro regalos. El tiempo cuando todos nos juntabamov pasara lo quepasara. Era el timepo donde nos vestiamos con nuestros mejores trajes y cenabamos una rica cena en noche buena (y si hivamos a Mexico- rompiamos piñatas y asistiamos posadas). Donde con ansias (y super cansados) esperabamos que llegaran las doce de la noche para ir a misa de gallo. Y si aguantavamos despiertos el regreso a casa, podiamos abrir lor regalos que nos esperaban (incluyendo los que dejo Santa). Y ahi no terminaba la celebracion, claro que no! Pues despues llegaba el Dia de los Reyes magos, donde comiamos una rica roca, cantabamos, celebravamos y de vez en cuando dejabamos un sapato debajo del arbol para ver si los Reyes nos dejaban algo. Decorabamos el arbol y las casa despues del dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe (el doce de Diciembre) y no lo guardavamos hasta despues de el dia de los Reyes. Hay que lindos recuerdos...

So how have we done it? How have we combined our traditions? Here are some ways:
Como celebramos? Como hemos combinado nuestras tradiciones? Aqui comparto unas cuantas maneras:

* We definitely celebrate Thanksgiving the traditional way- turkey and all! This is the time we travel, mostly to see R's family who lives a lot closer than mine. And that is okay with me, since (like I mentioned before) Christmas is the holiday I most connect with my family.
Para empezar definitivamente celebramos Thanksgiving (Dia de Gracias) la manera tradicional de por aca- con pavo y toda la cosa! Este tambien es en el dia festivo en el cuan viajamos a visitar a la familia de R, pues vivien mas cerca. Y la verdad que no tego problema con esto, pues como les havia dicho antes el dia festivo mas importante para mi es Navidad.
* We decorate and put our Christmas tree up way before the 12th of December. Yup, right after Thanksgiving (I can't help it, I looooove to decorate!) and we don't take it down until after the 6th. (There are plenty of neighbors that think we're a bit crazy, since most of the homes around us take theirs down right after New Years.)
Decoramos el arbol y la casa mucho antes del 12 de Diciembre. Sip, exactamente despues de celebrar Thanksgiving. Lo siento, pero a mi me encanta decorar! Y no lo volvemos a guardar todo hasta despues del dia de los Reyes. (Hay muchos vecinos por aca que se les hace raro, pues casi todos guardan sus decoracions desupues de que pasa el año nuevo.)
* We follow an advent calendar. And we read lots and lots of Christmas books (both in English and in Spanish).
Seguimos un calendario de adviento. Y leemos muchos pero muchos libros de Navidad en ambos idiomas.
* We sing to both Christmas carols and Villancicos (Spanish Christmas carols).
Cantamos Christmas Carols (canciones navideñas en Ingles) y villancicos.
* For the past two years I have made tamales (all by my self- that is a lot of work) for
Christmas eve.
Los ultimos dos años he echo tamales (solita- hijole, como dan trabajo!) para noche buena. Pues por donde vivo es muy dificil encontrar unos buenos tamales. Les cuento que no vivo en una area muy diversa que digamos.
* And because R usually works late on Christmas eve (and it is very cold where we live) we go to Christmas mass on Christmas day. On Christmas Eve we go to bed early, wake up early the next day and sing Happy Birthday and Las Mañanitas to baby Jesus. Then we open gifts, get ready and head out to church.
Y porque R usualmente tiene que trabajar en noche buena ( y tambien hace mucho frio donde vivimos), mejor vamos a misa el dia de Navidad y no en noche buena. En noche buena nos vamos a dormir temprano y nos depertamos a primera hora el dia siguiente para cantarle Happy Birthday y las mañanitas el niñito Jesus. Y duespues abrir los regalos, nos alistamos y nos vamos a misa.
* Because we both grew up getting way to many gifts and because we really want to focus on what the true meaning of Chrismas is, we only buy a gift for each child and each other and ask Santa to only give the kids one as well. (They get more than plenty from family and friends- though this is something we are constantly working on. We are trying to come up with a better plan so the kids don't get so much. There really is just no need.)
Porque de niños los dos R y yo, recibimos mas regalos de los necesario, y porque quermos enfocarnos mas que nada en el significado verdadero de Navidad, solo les compramos un relalo a cada nene de parte de nosotros, y Santa tmabien solo les trea uno a cada uno. (La verdad que con todo lo que reciben de familia y amigos es mas que suficiente. Todavia seguimos buscando la mejor manera para que los nenes no reciban tantod, pues la verdad no necesitan tantos.)
* On Jan. the 6th I bake a Rosca, make hot cohocolate abuelita (a traditional Mexican hot chocolate, made with a chocolate bar, cinnamon stick and milk. Yum!) and invite family and friends to join us in the celebrations.
El 6 de Enero preparo una Rosca y chocolate abuelita e invitamos a familia y amigos a celebrar con cosotros.

(Now remember that these traditions of ours are ever changing, some we have celebrated since we got married, others we have just included. That is the beauty of making our own traditions- we can barrow a little bit from here and a little bit from there!)
(Recuerden que nuestras tradiciones cambian constantemente. Algunas las hemos celebradod desde el dia que nos casamos y otras apenas las empezamos a incluir. Eso es lo bonito de crear nuestras propias tradiciones- podemos tomar las que nos gustan y dejar las que no tanto.)

(Stirring the hot chocolate with the molinillo. :: Batiendo el chocolate

abuelita. Note: photo taken by my sweet friend Molly.)

And so there you have it...a little bit of how we celebrate. I really would love to tell you more, but don't want to bore you with a HUGE post. So I figured, later this year as the holidays approach a can share a little bit more. (I know, I know we have a long time till they get here, but hey, I can't help it I love the winter holidays). And in case you are wonering, it has been very hard for us to get together with my family since I've been married and live completely on the opposite side of the country. Plus R's schedule rarely allows us to travel during that time of year. In fact, the one year that R finally was able to get time off for Christmas to spend it with my family, I got pregnant and had A that November. There went those plans (but happy little me had a beautiful baby girl to make up for it!) So my one wish for this year is to be able to celebrate Christmas with them. I know the kids would love it and it would make me very, very happy!
Y estas ha sido poco de como celebramos. Me gustaria contarles mas detalladamente, pero no quisiera aburrirlos con tan grande post. Esque creo que mejor sera que mientras se ballan acercando los dias festivos (si ya se falta mucho!) ire compartiendo con ustedes. Y por si querian saber, se nos ha echo muy dificil poder celebrar con mi lado de la familia (cual me pone muy triste cuando se hacercan los dias festivos) pero es muy dificil cuando vivimos en lados contrarios del paiz. Y con al horario de R, es muy difil poder viajar durante esa temporada. Con decirles que el año que por fin le dieron vacciones navideñas a R , e ivamos a pasarnosla con mi familia...sali embarazada! Si y di a luz ese Noviembre! Fuera con los planes de viaje, jaja. Gracias a Dios que tenia una linda bebe entre mis brazos para hacerme sentir mejor!!! Ea que unos de mis deseos este año, es poder pasarnos la navidada con mis papas y hemanas. Se que a los nenes les encantaria y a mi me haria super feliz!

...and I was trying to make my post short! Hahaha! (Sorry.)
...segun yo estaba tratando de escribir esto post corto. Jajaja! (Perdon.)

more handmade gifts

Since my mother-in-law requested for some hand towels, I decided most of the family ladies would get handmade Christmas towels. And that is exactly what I made. They were a hit. Now I need to pick up a little more of that diaper fabric (what I used for the bottom part of the towels- nice and sturdy and it can really take lots of washes) and make my self a few.
Con eso de que mi suegra me pidió que le hiciera unas toallas navideñas para la cocina, decidí precisamente regalarles lo mismo a todas las demás mujeres de la familia. Les encantaron. Ahora solo falta comprar un poco mas de la tela para pañales que compre (pues es mas resistente) para poderme hacer unas cuantas para mi.

For my sweet friend Lucia who loves to write (and I am trying to convince to start her own blog), I made a journal cover with her initial embroidered. She loved it.
Para mi linda amiga Lucia a quien le gusta escribir mucho (y la cual estoy tratando de convencer de que escriba su propio blog), le hice un forro para sus diarios. Le encanto.

I realized I still have one more gift to make...a Jedi costume requested by my sweet nephew, who loved the one he borrowed from Ri this past Halloween. So, I still have a little more sewing to finish up and we are already on 2010! Ha! Here is a picture of the one I made Ri and A two Halloweens ago.
Me he dado cuenta que todavía tengo un regalo por hacer...un disfraz de Jedi para mi querido sobrino. Me pidió que le hiciera uno después de usar el de Ri este Halloween pasado. Es que todavía a trabajar, y ya es el 2010! Ja! Aquí les muestro unas cuantas fotos del que les hice a mis nenes hace dos años.

They both liked them, but truly the happiest of all was my hubby. He's the one that insisted I dressed both kids as Jedi, he especially insisted for A to dress as one. (According to him, A will never be a princess. Nope. She will be a hard-butt-kicking Jedi. Ahem!) How could I resist.
A los dos les gusto, pero en verdad el que quedo encantado fue mi maridin. Pues el fue el que insistió en que disfrazara a los nenes de Jedis, en especial a A (pues según el, A nunca sera un princesa, no ella sera una gran Jedi. Hijole!) Como resistir.