Sometimes I fool myself into thinking that I will post a tutorial for some awesome project. I will take photos that not only capture what fun my family had completing the project but also demonstrate the project step-by-step. What a load of shit!

First of all, our projects never go smoothly. Second, rarely do they turn out as anticipated. And third, taking pictures while also overseeing (otherwise known as doing it all) a project with two seven-year olds totally sucks. It's not at all realistic to think that any child working on a project is enjoying the moment with a parent in his or her face demanding that the child hold that pose or recreate that action. I love a good tutorial and frequent a number of crafty mom blogs for ideas to co-op, but they're not fooling me. I know that it's all fake, fake, fake.

Of course, that doesn't stop me from occasionally trying my hand at a well-photographed project to share with my five readers (Hi Grandma). These failures are a necessary reminder that life is not about taking pretty pictures of your kids doing shit and you attempting to present yourself as a happy and crafty family. Nope, and these failures keep me grounded.

But whatever. I am still sharing our DIY duct tape wallet project! We started with some duct tape leftover from the boys' robot party.



Next we all watched this YouTube video.



And then we got down to work. Watch the video if you're curious about what the working bit entails because this is NOT a mother trucking tutorial (despite my original intention)!!



The tape was sticky (duh), sometimes difficult to cut, and we had to keep stopping to rewatch the actual tutorial. There were also a few distractions along the way.



But eventually I stopped snapping pictures and we were able to assemble two very awesome duct tape wallets just perfect for storing allowance money and library cards!



The next morning I both shamelessly and hopelessly tried to take some quick photos of the boys using their wallets as I was leaving for work. Except they weren't really using their wallets. They were just holding the wallets while watching cartoons, which of course meant they were unavailable to even make eye contact with me as I encouraged (or demanded, same difference) them to show off their wallets. Then I just ended up with really unflattering photos of my children watching TV.



So there you have it. Zombie children and a not DIY duct tape wallet tutorial. Enjoy!

I've never made any effort to hide my lack of humility in most all matters. When I know something to be true, I don't bother to pretend otherwise. For instance, if Stephen were to say to me, Hannah, you light up a room every time, I would not respond with a thank you. No, instead I would say, Yeah, I know.

The same holds true for my crafting accomplishments. When I am proud of myself, I will tell you! And I am super proud of the success of my most recent sewing project - mending jeans with patches!

I've attempted to patch the boys pants in the past but my efforts have all been half-assed because I've let myself be intimidated by the correct process of sewing patches. But not this time! This time I opted not to sloppily iron on some not-so sticky patches. Nope. This patch job is for real. I pulled each pant leg apart (six legs total) and actually sewed on patches I cut from last summer's shorts.

And not that I need to say it, but I am hella pleased with myself. It worked. The patches are holding up so far, plus they're super cute.



I should probably confess that the only reason I was able to throw caution to the wind this go round was because my mom just bought the boys new jeans. So if I totally and completely fucked up when taking the pant legs apart, my kids still had pants to wear. The stakes were much lower.

Also, I am not making any New Year's resolutions because I am tired of letting myself down - plus, shouldn't we all just be trying to be the best people we can be with the happiest lives ever because that's kind of point anyway? - but I am hoping that I make the time to try more sewing projects in the future because obviously, I've got potential. Here's to hoping!

Are you ready for the longest post ever? Actually, it's not that long and I'll go easy on the text.

Our Christmas was fantastic. My grandparents hosted dinner on Sunday. Everyone but Dylan was there. It was awesome. As we all (we meaning my cousins) grow older it becomes more difficult to get everyone in the same room but we managed to get it done this year - sans Dylan.

Tom has much better photos from that evening but these will do. After a delicious feast of prime rib, we opened gifts. The littler kids still get a handful of gifts to open. The older kids get a a big'ol wad of cash and this year my grandmother also bought fingerless gloves for all the boys and toe socks for all the girls. It was pretty silly.

 

Not pictured are the photo calendars I made for each of my grandparents. I used pictures of all their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. They make memorable gifts - in my opinion - but if only I could remember the actual year my grandparents got married because this lapse in memory totally botched my thoughtful gift. The cover of the calendar reads: The Straubhars, est. 1953. Except that's not the year they got married - it was 1956!!!!!

I am now 0 for 2 when it comes to giving gifts with the est. date. Last year I made a print for my parents that read: The Mikesells, est. 1979. Except that's the year I was born not the year they were married! Pointless story, but worth telling on the off chance that someone finds my inability to count or remember dates entertaining.

We spent Christmas Eve with my parents and Jack. My grandparents stopped by for a bit as well on their way to a crab cook at my aunt and uncle's house. Stephen and Jack did a splendid job preparing rack of lamb and mussels - there is actually a disproportionate amount of food pictures from that evening. But we all know that if I love anything in this world it's a big'ol chunk of meat.

 

After my grandparents snuck out we opened gifts. Tom came away with the biggest haul - Dana got him a new bike! I also think Tom and Dana were pleased with the homemade yet thoughtful and quality gifts we crafted for them. We had a good bit of fun opening gifts and chatting before everyone left around 8:30 pm.



Even though the boys got to bed by 9 pm they still slept in. I don't think we were up and out of bed before 8 am. It didn't help that Henry had a cold (maybe even the flu). Wyatt was up for nearly 45 minutes before we decided to wake Henry.

Opening gifts didn't take very long since we were adhering the read, want, need, wear trend. You know how I hate anything matchy-matchy but when it comes to gifts, we keep it pretty even. The boys each got a new bike from Santa. This was their need gift. I didn't snap a picture but these bikes are legit. And they'd better last a long time because Santa paid a lot of money for them!

To read they each got three Easy-Reader books from National Geographic. To wear, I sewed them each two pairs of pajama bottoms and made graphic tees with their personal spirit animals, a squirrel and a bald eagle respectively. As always, I was super pleased with my ability to be crafty and I was equally as pleased that the boys are still young enough to think my creations are cool. Also, I already had all the materials I needed for the wear gifts save two bottles of fabric paint costing about a buck fifty total!

Henry and Wyatt had to share their want gift, which I suppose is one of the burdens of being a twin. They have had to endure their fair share of shared gifts over the years and I imagine the sharing will only continue. Anyway, we gave them this crappy plastic Bey Blade dome thing that they've literally played with three times because it doesn't work well. But I was expecting this. It's the reason we only bought one!



Stephen and I don't exchange gifts but I wrapped up a pair of lounge pants he knew I was making for him - he selected the pattern and the print. We were both super pleased with the final product. Me because I made the pattern from scratch and the pants fit! Stephen because the pants are just his kind of hideous plus they're cozy!



Between opening gifts and hosting brunch with the Crumrines, we made a quick Skype call to Dylan who was enjoying Christmas in France with a buddy. Then we started pulling together yet another delicious holiday meal. But don't worry, we took a break to open gifts with Glenn, Stephanie, and Tia-D.

The boys scored some fun gifts, this Foosball table being one of them. Again, I think our homemade gifts went over well, although for a brief moment Diana thought we bought her pancake mix from Trader Joe's. Luckily for her I'd just run out of regular gift boxes.



PS. You can catch a glimpse of one of those awesome new bikes in the picture above. It also substitutes as a coat rack.

In addition to our homemade gifts, I gave Stephanie framed family photos taken by the photographer at Wes and Melissa's wedding in June. They were so amazing that Glenn and Tia-D felt compelled to ooh and aah over them!



And then it was time to eat! Stephen made a scrum diddly umptious crab souffle and Tia-D brought fresh fruit and scones. We also had scrapple - a classic Crumrine traditional Christmas brunch staple. If you don't know what scrapple is, you should really click that link. I will tell you that scrapple is some hella good shit and I look forward to the one morning a year that scrapple is placed on the table!

 

After brunch we high-tailed it out of there and headed up to Condo Town for a five-night stay in our snowy little haven - another post. Although don't hold your breath, I am way behind in my story telling!

Also, I lied. This post was heavy on the text. I guess I just had a lot to say after weeks of silence.

Hope you all had a nice holiday and are enjoying the New Year!

Thanksgiving Day started at 9:00 am for me. I leisurely rolled out of bed, drank some coffee and stayed in my pajamas until 1 in the afternoon! I didn't bake anything. I didn't prep anything. Nope. I didn't do a thing and let me tell you, it was awesome!

We did do a family craft project (printable project found here @ mer mag). We made headbands and then wore them all day. It was a nice way to spend the morning. I am thankful for those guys.



I also managed to squeeze in a quick craft project the night before Thanksgiving. I don't know what came over me, but on Wednesday afternoon I had an overwhelming urge to make things. It probably had something to do with not hosting or helping prepare for Thanksgiving in any way. So I made the boys turkey shirts late Wednesday night and forced them wear the shirts all day on Thursday.

Very often my craft projects turn out less than stellar, especially ideas that come to me on the fly. But I thought the shirts were a great success, although Wyatt and Henry might have felt differently. Wyatt hinted that he would only wear his shirt to Tia-D's house but not later in the evening when he would be seeing his cousins. Henry insisted that the turkey more closely resembled a peacock and was initially unsure as to why I made peacock shirts for Thanksgiving. Whatever. They don't know.

 

After everyone was properly dressed, we headed over to Tia-D's house for a Thanksgiving feast!



While we were waiting for all the fixins' to be ready, Stephen serenaded us with his version of the ever (and I mean ever) popular Wagon Wheel. Isn't he special!?


After dinner we took some family photos. They may or may not be a Christmas card photo material. The jury is still out.

 

We rounded out the evening with a game of Apples to Apples. Stephen won. And then we all headed out to share dessert with the other sides of our families. Stephen and I ended up at my aunt and uncle's house with the boys, my parents, and all my cousins. It was a lovely end to a great day filled with lots of family and food - just the way it should be.