Every year I make christmas cards for everyone and I usually enjoy it. Last year it was one more annoying thing to do and just went out and bought them. Then I bought some more on sale after Christmas to stash away in the box for this Christmas--knowing my future self wouldn't have her shit together come December. But haha, past self, I gots it together this year! How did I do it? I had my kids make them for me.

My husband resized the christmas coloring pages I drew, my kids colored them (above are some of my favorites) and I sent them out. Done! Well, no I actually have a few more to get in the mail, but almost done!

This is what was once a closet. The closet never worked all that well for clothes storage (name me one kid who puts their clothes on hangers).  Luckily it was deep enough that we could make a workable art studio in the space. The deal was that my son would get the loft bed and my daughter would get her own desk.  Obviously they share this space, but my daughter is the prolific artist in the family.

My brother built the desk and shelves with leftovers from the cloud bed and whatever wood he scrounged up in our basement.  The top shelf is for coloring books and work books. The other two shelves are my older kids' special shelves. All the pretty rocks, weird bits of plastic, pieces of string, cards from grandma, and whatever else ends up in their pockets goes here.

The art supply wall idea came from Pinterest (it's originally from HGTV, but I can't seem to find the link).  I called up a sheet metal shop in town and asked if they could cut a piece of metal to size for me. "No problem!" they said.  They were the nicest guys--made sure there were no sharp edges, drilled holes so I could hang it easily, chatted me up about the weather, and charged me 20 bucks. I glued 2 super strong magnets to the back of each tin (though some could use 3, I think) and filled them up with pencils, markers, glue, tape, and all that other good stuff. This art studio is one of the best parts of the room--it gets used every single day.

Here is an overview of the room. You can really see how small it is from this angle.  It looks so clean and uncluttered, but wait, what is all that stuff under those beds:

There is a bunch of hidden storage in this room and it works out really well. Under the crib (on the left in the photo) is a box of linens for all the beds, a cradle full of babies, and a puzzle box. The ottoman with hairpin legs (thank you, craiglist!) is also a toy box. Under my daughter's bed is the giant box of dress up stuff (which was a curbside find) and a wooden box for their pajamas. Not bad, right?

It's taken us 9 months (really?!) to finish this room. Whew! All of that  for a few before & after shots:

This room was a nursery, then two toddlers' bedroom and now three happy sibling share it! So here is a little bonus before & after with a before-the-before photo  in there:

Thanks for coming along with me as we made this room. Here are all the posts about this little room in one place:

• nursery tour on ohdeedoh
• before post
• during
• still during
• still still during
• after post 1
• after post 2 (that's this one silly)

We live in a small (1000 square feet) house that has two very small bedrooms and there are 5 of us. When we had our third baby I was sure my husband and I would have to share our bedroom with him for a very long time.  Then I came across this bedroom on Ohdeedoh one day. The room is small and not only does it fit three kids comfortably, there is room for a desk and a dresser and toys. I thought if they can do it, we could too. Only we had to do it for a 6 year old girl, a 4 year old boy, and the 2 year old boy.

The first thing we did, or rather the first thing I asked my brother to do, was build a loft bed. The room is 10x10, so there was no way we were going to fit two beds and a crib in there. I hate bunk beds--changing the sheets on bunk beds is the worst, but they can look pretty awful too.  We designed this cloud loft bed (for the 4 year old) so it would almost disappear into the background. The clouds act as a guard rail and I painted them the same white as the walls, but I couldn't resist one stripey cloud (inspired by this coat rack).

Underneath the clouds is my daughter's bed--the iron number by ikea that everyone loves. We strung christmas lights to the bottom of the loft bed so she has a light. Also because we had to put the cloud bed right in the window. The way the room is set up there was no other place for the loft to go.  I was worried about it, but it turned out just fine--the window and the shade still work and it barely even blocks any light.

The baby's bed is across from the clouds. Above the crib is a map of our neighborhood that I painted. It still needs street names and the railroad track and the bike path painted in, but it's a work in progress--mostly because  I can't do while the baby is sleeping! I picked up the the masks at our local art supply shop and they work for dress up and decoration (a twofer). There are wooden boxes under the crib for storage (that I talked about here) and the hamper was a lucky thrift store find.

On the neighboring wall is the dresser/changing table and the storage/display shelves. We keep diapers in the wooden box up on the shelf and the red cross thing is actually a nightlight!  The dresser caused a bit of problems when I was redoing the room. I really thought it would look good gray, but it ended up looking like a big gray blob in this all white room. So I had to paint it white again (and again and again--it takes lots of coats to cover up dark gray).

But even though it's boring white on the outside, the inside is super awesome! I fell in love with the idea of painting the inside of drawers when I saw it on pinterest. It took four cans of spray paint: safety orange, farm equipment yellow, lagoon blue, and fluorescent pink (all rustoleum brand). After spraying a few coats of color, I finished them all with a coat of clear shellac. The dresser is the only clothes storage we have for the kids, so they each get their own color drawer and they all share the undie/sock drawer on top.  What happened to the closet, you ask? Stay tune for tomorrow and I'll show you!

three kids in a room: part two

Here is the xeroxed tree all decorated! The kids had a blast making ornaments for it.  They did have a hard time coming up with christmasy things, hence the orange octopus. And what is that giant purple thing, you ask? A whale shark, silly. Don't you have one on your tree?

My sister said I should get lights for it and I do want to. These look like they would be perfect, but they are on back order. poo.

There was an overwhelming response to showing you the kids' room now rather than later--you guys have no patience :) So I'll have a few post for you next week (there are a lot of pictures for a such a small room). Here is a little sneak peek.

Have a good weekend!

Panforte is usually described as the Italian fruitcake, but that would lead you to believe it sucks, which it most definitely does not.  Panforte is indeed a mix of fruit and nuts, but the similarity to weird American fruitcake ends there.

Panforte isn't really a cake at all or a bread, as its name implies. It's more like candy--a lovely piece of grown up christmas candy. Sliced very thin and eaten with a glass of red wine or a strong cup of coffee, it's delicious.

The recipe is staggeringly simple and ridiculously adaptable. My mom has perfected it over many, many christmases (all failed attempts were also delicious).  Take whatever dried fruit and nuts strike your fancy and mix them up with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, cocoa, black pepper and a bit of flour.

On the stove bring some sugar and a bit of honey to a boil and pour it over everything. Mixing is probably the most difficult part, but your bicepts will thank you for it.  At some point I ditched the spoon and just used my hands to get everything together. Then it goes in whatever round pan you've jammed parchment paper into and into the oven.

That's it. Panforte keeps for weeks. Before you serve it, sprinkle powdered sugar mixed with some spices on top for a snowy christmas look. Small ones make lovely gifts. Or you can do like I do and cut a big one in quarters--makes it easier to keep a bit for yourself. Last year we had panforte with oranges as our pre-dessert (or maybe post-dessert dessert? I can't remember, but I know there were multiple desserts and cookies and pies were in there somewhere).

Panforte

(recipe provided by my lovely mother--thanks mom!)

note: I made a double batch, so the amounts you see in the pictures will be different than yours. Also, this recipe doubles easily :)

• 1 lb mixed dried fruit (you have to have a lot of figs, but other than that most everything is fair game. I used black mission figs, calamata figs, apricots, dates, cherries, and candied orange peel.)
• 1 lb mixed nuts (about 1/2 lb should be almonds and then, again, anything goes. I used almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons cardamom (freshly ground if possible)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspooon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cloves (freshly ground if possible)
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 Tablespoon cocoa
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1. Toast nuts at 300 degrees for about 10 minutes.  Use a different pan for each kind of nut because they all toast at different rates. Check them often. When they are toasty throughout, they're done!

2. Mix nuts and fruit together. Do not chop! Everything is kept whole.

3. In a bowl mix together cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.  Take 1 Tablespoon of the mix out and reserve for sprinkling on top.

4. Add flour, cocoa, and black pepper to spice mix.

5. Add flour/spice mixture to fruit/nut mixture. Mix well.

6. In a saucepan bring sugar and honey to a boil. Boil for one minute.

7. Pour over fruit and nuts. Mix well. All the flour must be hydrated--make sure there are no little floury bits at the bottom.

8. Put parchment in a round pan (a 9 or 10 in springform pan works really well, but anything will work) and butter well.

9. Press the panforte into the pan. It should be no more than 1 to 2  inches thick.

10. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Let cool completely.

11. Mix powdered sugar with the reserved spices. Sift over the top.

12. To eat the panforte slice into 1/4 inch (or thinner even!) slices. Enjoy!

Instead of one big tree last year, we had two little trees: one for the living room and one for the kids room. They loved falling asleep by the tree glowing with twinkle lights (and I did too). But this year the baby moved in and now there are three kids sleeping in this little room. So instead of a real tree, I went to Kinko's printed one out.

I found a copyright free image of a tree on pinterest and emailed it to kinko's (I know it's fedex now, but it'll always be kinkos to me). They printed out a 36 x48 black and white copy on their plotter (i.e. big ass printer). It cost me all of 9 bucks! It turned out even better than I had hoped, which I was kind of disappointed about.

See I wanted something super low quality and grainy--when I tried to explain this to my local print shop, they could not understand it (hence kinkos). I think the image I used was too big. Next time I'll blow up something smaller. Or blow an image up even bigger! I think this print would make a pretty fantastic temporary tree. Say, if you are going to grandma's for christmas and don't want to spend 50 bucks on a real tree.

We put the tree up yesterday and the kids and I colored it. Today we're planning on making ornaments. I think I'll let the kids go crazy with construction paper, then tape them to the tree. I'll be sure to take a picture when it's done. I'm guessing you won't be able to see the tree anymore.

**oh while I was in the kids' room the light was good, so I took a bunch of photos. The room isn't done, done, but it's as done as it's going to be for a while. So would you like the big before/after thing now or should I wait until January?

Today is the first day of advent! Did you make your advent calendar yet? We are still using the string of lights advent calendar I made a few years ago. I put activities in each of the little bulbs and I love it. I write up the activity the night before (surprise your kids, not yourself!) and all the projects keep me on task for christmas.  If cookies need to be made, or christmas cards written, or gifts wrapped it's going to happen if it is in the advent calendar--the 4 and 6 year olds will demand it!

A friend of mine (hi Ellen!) asked me to write up a little list of activities she could use, so here they are! I divided them into effort needed, because sometimes you really need to drink some (spiked) eggnog while the kids watch a movie.

big projects

• make christmas cards
• pipe cleaner ornaments
• meringue snowmen
• bake cookies, cookies, cookies, and candy
• make a gingerbread house
• string cranberries and popcorn (or just cranberries, or dried cranberries and golden raisins, or whatever else is in your cupboard)
• borax snowflakes
• giant cardboard christmas trees
• make pine cone + peanut butter +bird seed feeders and watch the birds eat
• egg carton jingle bells

little projects

• make paper snowflakes (use coffee filters for easy cutting)
• write a letter to santa
• make gift tags
• make dried orange slices ornaments
• wrap presents
• deliver cookies to neighbors
• make jars of love
• make a gingerbread mobile (this is a quick project only if the cookies are already made, of course)
• make pomanders
• woven ornaments (these were a hit with my kids last year)

if it's cold and snowy projects

• make snow angels
• go sledding (or have a whole sledding party!)
• make ice wreathes
• build a snow fort or a snowman
• have a picnic outside (with a thermos of hot chocolate and some cookies)
• go ice skating
• blow ice bubbles

phoning it in projects

• hot chocolate with marshmallows
• call grandma and grandpa
• dress up like an elf/santa/wise man/christmas tree
• dance to christmas music
• camp out under the tree (this may or may not be an easy one)
• color christmasy pictures--oh look I have a bunch right here
• look at pictures from christmases past
• I think one year I actually wrote down "eat christmas cookies" for an activity

for the whole family

• drive around looking at chrismtas lights
• dress up in your fanciest for dinner
• make popcorn and watch a christmas movie
• go see the nutcracker/christmas carol/holiday concert
• cut down a christmas tree/ put up your christmas tree
• decorate the tree!
• put up lights outside
• go for a evening walk

This list is my no means exhaustive. Some of these we do every year, some are new ones I'd like to try. Do you have any christmas activities or projects for advent? I'm always on the look out for good ones.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving (thanks for asking). I mean look at that table--it's about as american as it gets! We stuffed ourselves with delicious food, went for a walk, then came back to eat some more. And now it's on to the next holiday!

December is going to be fantastic month here at elsie marley: christmas candies, and christmas cookies, and christmas cards, and maybe even a christmas tutorial or two.  So what do you say? How about sponsoring some holiday cheer? If you would like a sponsor spot for December ($25/month) please drop me a line at:

elsiemarleyblog@gmail.com

I welcome new (and of course returning) sponsors! Happy Holidays!

Getting ready for tomorrow:  a little pumpkin pot de creme in my grandmother's china.

an army of them!

I hope you have a lovely weekend. Happy Thanksgiving!

It's hard for me to get full on christmas crazy until after thanksgiving, but that time is just a 12 lb turkey away. I do have a few christmasy things made already, thanks to the fabulous Betz White. Betz asked me to take a look at her online course: A Fab Felt Holiday, do a project or two, and tell you all about it (and offer you, dear readers, $10 off)

I've never taken an online crafts course before, which is ridiculous because they are super awesome. You can sit at your kitchen table with some coffee and bits of felt and Betz will sit right there next to you and tell you how to make an adorable gingerbread houses and humongous snowflakes and poinsettia brooches (and lots more).

Betz's course is from Craftsy, which I hadn't heard of before, which is also ridiculous because it is fantastic.  Craftsy's focus is on well produced video classes and tutorials. And they are very well done. Fab Felt Holiday course has 7 projects with a video tutorial for each that you can watch and pause and skip ahead and use however you like. You can also ask Betz questions while you watch and take notes too--Craftsy has got it all covered.

I chose to make the poinsettia brooches (obviously). I printed out the template at 100%, 75% and 50%. The 50% was a frustratingly small, but everything tiny is adorable.  I like the original size, but not everyone is crazy for a big, big brooch--75% is the way to go for those people. All these felt flowers have a pin back so you can put them on your winter coat, but you can also slip a ribbon through the closed pin and use them as gift toppers: 2 gifts in one! Put one on top of a little box of cookies and you have a pretty fantastic teacher gift.

To see more fabulous felt holiday projects, check out all of the stops on the Fab Felt Holiday tour. Or just go buy the course and make your own!

Week of October 3rd: A Sewing Journal
Week of October 10th: House on Hill Road
Week of October 31st: Maureen Cracknell Handmade
Week of November 7th and 14th: Stumbles & Stitches
Week of November 21st: Elsie Marley