Introducing our Semi-Annual Family Christmas Music Video!

Hey Blog buddies! I have a special gift for you today: The semi-annual Paulson-Beaubien Family Christmas music video! (That's me and my crew, just in case that's not clear). I'll spare you the details until after you watch it (but knitters and embroiderers should watch for some handmade offerings):




Our family got the best early Christmas present earlier this month: a full-time job for my husband, thus completing his career change and ending our year of self-sacrifice. (Can I get a "WOOHOO!"?)

That said, it doesn't start until January, so we'll be enjoying another lean Christmas this year. But I didn't want to forgo giving completely (I know what you're thinking: make stuff, dummy! But the cost of shipping adds up to more than we can afford; we both live far from our families and closest friends, and I've learned that even a nice batch of homemade caramels can end up costing you a fair amount when they all have to travel 2,000 miles).

A video seemed like something we could share widely to bring joy to our family and friends, without spending any money. And I knew grandparents especially would love to see Lucy. (We did it once before, in 2009, when Lucy was just one. I still love watching that video, even if my drumming was pretty poor.)

The concept was mine, but Ryan and I wrote the song together (a super fun thing to do with a bottle of wine on a Saturday night). I did nearly everything else, including video editing, making embroidered titles AND a knitting project gone wrong (purposefully, I swear). Lucy was quite obliging, though somehow she manages to yawn in the middle of a good take, making it look like she's just so over it. Four-year-olds. What are you gonna do?

I hope you enjoy the video. Feel free to share if you do (like the song says, it's easy to re-gift this Christmas song!).

Merry Christmas!

Ornament Exchange 2012!

When the lovely and talented Kelli of True Bias asked me to participate in an ornament exchange this holiday season with a bunch of other bloggers, I didn't have to consider it for long before saying yes. After all, the darkest days of the year are definitely easier to take with a little extra glitz. (I consider the lights on my Christmas tree a sort of S.A.D.-preventing device).

Plus the thought of receiving a tiny package from each of the eight other bloggers involved, each containing a completely unique handmade ornament, throughout the month of December? My kid might just lose it from the excitement. (And me too). 

Brainstorming ornament ideas, I tried to think of what aspects of Christmas decor I loved most. And I kept coming back to tiny details. Stuff like Bergdorf Goodman's Christmas window displays, the Metropolitan Museum of Art Baroque Creche and Christmas Tree, and the Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Garden really floats my boat. (We haven't been yet but became NYBG members this year just so we could go see the intricate models of iconic NYC buildings and landmarks made completely from natural materials like acorns, bark, twigs and fungus.) And though I'm not Christian, I still adore nativity scenes for the miniature lambs, camels and fancily attired Three Wise Men. Dioramas, obviously, are also up my alley. Searching for and appreciating tiny details on Christmas ornaments is just so magical to me. 

Part of the deal here is providing readers with a tutorial to make whatever ornament we came up with. And I was trying to work with materials I already have on hand — that way I would keep the costs low for me, and also insure that readers can try their hand at making it possibly without having to spend any money themselves. (I care about your budgets, people!). I wanted something simple and fast to make, but infinitely customizable, so readers could add their own details if they have the time, materials and crazy will to make something weird this holiday season. 

The starting point is a simple corduroy and muslin mouse with button eyes, an embroidered nose and whiskers made from a few strands of thread:

The pattern I created is terribly simple — so simple I hesitate to call it a pattern. (It can be downloaded by clicking the image below):

But the details are what make it special. Consider this mouse, who I call "Craft Blogger Mouse" for her balls of yarn and on-trend chevron-printed dress:

Or this one, who is clearly from Brooklyn:

If there was ever a time to stage a craft intervention, now's the time:

Gangnam Style Mouse

OK, back to simpler, actual Christmas-themed ornaments. The Mouse King (from The Nutcracker, another of my holiday favorites), made with a muslin crown painted with gold fabric paint:

And the Sugar Plum Fairy, wearing a wee tutu and toting a fabric-wrapped button for good measure:

Poor dear is a little cockeyed, no?

Using the pattern posted above, cut two body pieces, one each from your two fabrics, and four ear pieces — two from each fabric. I used muslin and brown corduroy, but feel free to use whatever you have on hand. (Save your fabric money for a nice dress instead and make this from your scraps. The tiniest pieces will do!).

At minimum, the only other supplies you will need are two buttons for eyes, and some black embroidery floss. This is what you will start with (plus a handful of polyfill):

Then, right sides together, machine stitch (or hand sew, if that's how you roll!),  3/8-inch from the edge most of the way around the body and the ears, leaving an opening along the bottom of each to turn right side out: 

Then turn the body right side out, using a chopstick or some other pointy object to get those little corners pressed out:

And do the same with the two ears, setting them aside for the moment:

Now sew on your two buttons for eyes, using a couple strands of black thread, keeping them level with the widest point of the mouse's face:

Thread an embroidery needle with black floss, and stitch your nose at the bottom point of the face. I used just four stitches to make my nose, starting with a small horizontal stitch, and then a couple slightly longer stitches above it:

Thread your embroidery needle again and knot the end. Poke the needle through the underside of your mouse face, pulling the thread all the way through. Snip the thread so it's about 3/4-inch long. That's one whisker. Repeat this process three more times. From the underside it will look a little messy, but don't worry; it won't show: 

Tired of hand stitching yet? If so, warm up your hot glue gun...and then glue down the mouse's face. (You can also stitch it, if you're anti-glue).

Stuff the mouse's body with some poly fill, using a chopstick to pack it in nice and tight:

Thread a needle with some brown thread (or whatever color works best depending on what fabric you chose), and make gathering stitches all around the bottom open end of your mouse:

Pull the thread tight, closing the opening, and then make a few stitches to secure it shut:

Now it's time for the ears. Using a dab of hot glue (or a couple stitches, if you prefer), fold your ear in half at the open end, securing it in place. Then glue or stitch the ears to the back of the mouse's head:

The last step (minus any embellishments) is securing an ornament hanger to the top of the mouse's head, using a few stitches:

All that's left is adding some details. Like Reindeer Mouse:

Or Angel Mouse:

To celebrate, do your best Gangnam Style Dance:

Not into adding rodents to your tree this Christmas? That's cool. I get it. Check out tutorials today from the eight other bloggers who took part in our little ornament exchange. I can't wait to see what these other ladies have cooked up for the holiday!

Sonja of http://gingermakes.wordpress.com/
Mika of http://savorystitches.blogspot.com/
Miranda of http://www.onelittleminuteblog.com/
Megan of http://blog.megannielsen.com/
Jen of http://grainlinestudio.com/
Dixie of http://dixiediy.blogspot.com/
Madalynne of http://www.madalynne.com/
Kelli of http://www.truebias.com/

Living Within Our Means This Christmas — and Hoodie-in-progress

This newly created "Cyber-Monday" shopping event has me so rankled this week. Maybe it's because our family doesn't have money to burn again this year, so it's just easier for me to take the moral high ground than dwell on all the things I wish we could have. But it's also because it seems Occupy Wall Street and its brethren have taught us nothing this year.

The day after the day on which we are supposed to be thankful for all that we have, we are encouraged to head out, elbows up, and spend our money on new shit, which I guess we will be thankful for next year on the third Thursday in November (if it's not broken by then or we can even remember it). And now on the Monday after that, we're expected to ignore the work that piled up over a four-day weekend and shop online too. Blah, blah, online sales on Cyber Monday are up 33 per cent over 2010. That apparently means .... what? That the recession is over? That it's not over so people are desperate to save money as they strive to provide a Christmas experience commensurate with non-recession years, which means shopping only sales?

If we spend beyond our means and end up paying interest on credit card purchases, the banks have won. If we do our alleged civic duty and "stimulate the economy," rather than save money for our futures (albeit in an economic climate that favours spending over saving: hello, interest rates?), then the banks have won. If you pepper spray other shoppers so you can get your desperate mitts on a discount Wii, then the banks have won.

I can empathize a little with the pepper spray lady. I have recession fatigue too, and could really use a break. I obviously don't know that all the people jostling for cheap electronics are struggling financially, but I bet most people with the cash to pay full price for the latest Nintendo product aren't willing to jeopardize their own safety for the sake of saving a few bucks. Don't hate the players, hate the game.

We've been so good about not buying new things unless we truly needed them over the past three years. But after a while it catches up to you. Everyone needs new boots eventually, and there are some things you just can't make yourself. And I can't help but feel guilty when someone gives me a gift and I can't afford to return the sentiment in a tangible way. Even handmade gifts require you to spend money on supplies. And for us, with both our families so far away, the cost of shipping is a major added expense.

My plan this year is to make candy and chocolates for everyone to whom we would like to send gifts. My daughter will get one toy from us, plus I'm hoping to illustrate a story I wrote and have it printed for her as a book. And, of course, I'm still working on this gray wool hoodie for my husband (sewn from vintage Simplicity 8360):

Front of hoodie-in-progress

I'm kicking myself right now for buying the wrong length separating zipper, which means I will have to hit the Garment District sometime soon.

Anyway, tell me how you're saving money this Christmas? Has recession fatigue turned you into a cheapskate Scrooge, too?

Why I love freecycle (Hint: it's not the free stuff)

This is not the actual free cake

I love freecycle for two reasons:
1) to clean your closets and your conscience at the same time by handing off that which you don't need to someone who will use it, keeping those items out of the landfill for a little longer. How it works: when you have something you want to get rid of, you post it and your location so 20 people can reply that they want it, and then 19 of them don't show up when they say they will. Eventually, you get rid of that thing you no longer need.

2) to see all the weird things that New York wackjobs think others may actually spend the $2.50 on a subway ride to pick up. It's a like a little window into a world of crazy.

For example, this:

OFFER: 3/4 flourless cake (Chelsea) From: kamtress17

A partially eaten cake? You think someone is going to come to your apartment to pick up a Trader Joe's cake that's missing a couple slices? Wait, this sounds familiar....oh yes:

OFFER: 1/2 chocolate bar (Chelsea) From: kamtress17

It's the same person!! Someone should intervene because kamtress17 totally has a problem. She impulse buys junkfood and then tries to give it away after she's had her share. Don't ask freecycle to do what any good roommate could!

Also, someone should tell her there are some things you just shouldn't get from strangers. See also:

Wanted: Bris Pillow (UWS) From: stanvin22

I'm not Jewish, but I've lived in New York long enough to know you should buy your kid his own damn Bris pillow.

Moving on, I also love looking at the hopeful WANTED postings. Some requests are very reasonable:

WANTED: bridal/wedding magazines From: silygoosp

Others are kind of spooky:

WANTED: Matches/Lighters: U.E.S.

(I don't know about you, but I would feel really bad when some nine-year-old arsonist shows up at my door to collect his free matches.)

But there are a lot of people in this city who apparently believe if they just tell everyone they really want a laptop, someone will send them one. Good luck with that. See also:

WANTED: ELLIPTICAL MACHINE OR TREADMILL-11209 From: dny_bklyn

WANTED: Mini DV VIDEO CAMERA (ANYWHERE) From: Marie

WANTED: Serger From: PEACH

Wanted: Size 6 Dress Form From: PEACH

Keep dreaming. Maybe you could settle for something more realistic, like:

OFFER: Yankees Knapsack filled with older issues of ESPN magazine - S From: trooblue2u

Offer: About 40 Empty CD Cases (Upper West Side)

or 

OFFER: Script of the Cosby Show (East Village)

And finally here is my favourite. These five freebies were all posted within minutes of each other by the same person :

Offer:  Leopard Jacket in size XL/1x ( Manhattan-10018) From: smartisneverinnocent

Offer:  Books of Spirituality and New Age Philosophy ( Manhattan - 1 From: smartisneverinnocent

Offer: LIKE NEW / Thigh high black boots in ladies  7.5  ( 10018 Man From: smartisneverinnocent

Offer: 2 bottles of Hair Remover ( unopened) ( Manhattan - 10018) From: smartisneverinnocent

Offer: Cordless HP mouse in Green ( unopened box) ( Manhattan - 1001 From: smartisneverinnocent

My best guess is smartisneverinnocent was put out of business when Craigslist pulled its adult listings last year. Anyone care to hazard an explanation? Remember, the thigh-high boots are LIKE NEW and the hair remover is unopened.

DIY "Bundleme"

When I'm able to figure out a way to make something for free or cheap instead of buying something new, I feel a little like I'm sticking it to the man. I get that from my dad. He was, at times, embarassing as a kid for his relentless commitment to making everything himself.

I remember one Christmas when our block decided on candles as the unifying theme for our street's holiday decorations (there was a competition of sorts, which we actually won. The prize was a barbecue party for all the families the following summer). Everyone else bought those jumbo plastic red and yellow candles that plug in and glow. Meanwhile my dad spraypainted blue a piece of plywood, used tinfoil to make a "candleholder" and drilled holes through which he strung white lights. He then attached it to the side of our house -- much to our family's horror.

His ethos was, "Why would I buy it when I can make it myself?"

I feel that way about those expensive, but brilliant Bundlemes, which are a nessesary evil of living in New York City: when it's Eastern-Seaboard-cold outside, how do you keep your kid warm in her stroller? Barely anyone I know has a car, and taking your baby out in sub-zero temps is unavoidable. (It's against the law, apparently, to just leave your kid at home while you go to the store for milk). Last winter we just carried her, which made it easy to keep our little bear warm. But now she's 25 pounds and much too tall to zip into my jacket with me. Wearing your one-year-old in winter is no easy feat.

Anyway, back to the Bundleme. They're amazing in their simplicity -- essentially a short sleeping bag that attaches to your stroller. You zip your baby in, keeping them toasty warm while they're shuttled about the city. They're totally awesome. They're over $100. And everyone has one. Someone out there is so rich. I hope it was a smartypants mom who had the idea.

While $100 is not an enormous sum to ask for keeping your darling baby snugly warm the whole winter through, we don't have $100 to burn. What we did have is a down-filled sleeping bag that has been used once in the past four years. Chopping it up for Lucy's sake seemed like a no-brainer.

So here's how I did it:

Materials:
-sleeping bag
-a few yards of seam binding

1. Lay the open sleeping bag along the length of your stroller, positioning the bottom end on the foot rest, and use a piece of chalk or some masking tape to mark the curve along the top of the seat, and the height of the front of the bag. I then pinned my seam binding tape along that line:

2. Straight-stitch along the bottom edge of the seam binding tape. You are sewing BEFORE you cut the sleeping bag to size to avoid an explosion of down in your home. There will be some down flying around no matter what you do, but to keep it to a minimum, straight-stitch ANOTHER line following the curve of your binding tape an inch higher. This will keep the down contained in both halves of the bag before you cut it.


3. Then grab your scissors and cut 1/2-inch seam allowance along your strip of binding tape. Reserve the other half of the bag for making a carrier cover or something else useful. Pull out any excess down that may have been exposed, and fold your seam binding tape over the cut edge and pin:

4. Straight-stitch down the seam binding tape, which will hide the cut edge and reinforce the seam:

5. Lay your sleeping bag along the length of your stroller again, and use pins or some masking tape to mark where the shoulder straps, waist straps and crotch strap will need to go. Essentially, you will make big buttonholes for the five-point harness to go through. That way you can use your new "Bundleme" while your child is safely strapped in.

6. Use the zig-zag stitch on your sewing machine to make 2-inch buttonholes, and cut the hole. Pull the straps through and fasten:
I think we could take Lucy out naked in this thing, it's so warm. Not that we would. I'm just sayin'...if we HAD to, we could.

Now if only I could get the girl's finger out of her nose:

Extremely frugal and Extreme Frugality

So I was listening to the WNYC today as I often do when feeding the baby, and Leonard Lopate was talking to a writer from Maine who is blogging for Gourmet magazine on the topic of Extreme Frugality — a topic to which I can relate. I know, I was like, "Wah? This topic seems incongruous with Gourmet magazine," but a big part of being extremely frugal is feeding your family on the cheap so I guess it fits.

Anyway, the writer, W. Hodding Carter, says he decided it was time for his family to start living within their means (after years of accruing credit card debt to live a lifestyle which they could not afford). And with humble means that means shopping at discount food stores, baking all their own bread and no eating out.

I'm hoping a book deal is in the works for him, in the vein of A Year of Living Biblically. I'm not sure which is harder: following the hundreds of wacky tenets in the Bible, or trying to feed, clothe and house a family of six on $41,000 a year while trying to pay off significant credit card debt. Hmmm...makes me feel a little bit better about our situation.

So among the things we have done to kickstart our extreme frugality — begun last summer after Lucienne's birth, which coincided unfortunately with the recession — are:
-We switched to store-brand everything. Whole Foods' brand is really cheap and still good. Target brand diapers are way cheap. (Sorry environment, but we share our laundry with a couple hundred other people and I just can't put poopy diapers in there. Bad karma.)
-I box-die my hair now.
-And get my hair cut by an apprentice stylist. (He's so awesome though I have to tip like I'm paying much more for my cut.)
-No eating out. Ever.
-I drink Cafe Bustelo. The best and cheapest espresso at $2 a can.
-We started eating greens after my friend Marcy showed me how to cook them. I can't believe it took me 30 years to get into kale, collard greens and chard. Greens are cheap yet so nutritious.
-Blogspot blog = free!
-We got baby photos at Olan Mills photography studio for free with coupon!
-I make soup to use up every last piece of fresh produce we buy. I like to play it like a game called The Mother Hubbard Challenge: Use up everything, all of it, in some dish.
-No more magazine subscriptions.
-No more Netflix.
-No more new clothes, shoes or anything we already have one of.
-We joined a listserve for neighbourhood parents who swap baby stuff.
-A purse works fine as a diaper bag.
-A blanket works well as a changing pad.
-Baby socks do double-duty as mittens.
-And "Dry-clean only" really means hand wash and hang to dry.

Our biggest extravagance is DVR. I don't know if I could go back to watching normal TV — even upon threat of starvation.

In his radio interview, Carter mentioned a NY Times recipe for No-Knead bread, which he makes every day (I guess with four kids you go through a loaf a day). I found the recipe here, where one blogger proved a four-year-old can make it. The secret is time — lots of it — and you don't have to get your hands dirty. There's not much I hate more than kneading, so I am going to give this a try.