Christmas Blocks

J* made these blocks last week and I think they are so fun & cute!

{so I'm posting them so you can see them too}

Pajamas for Christmas

Put the finishing touches on these pajamas tonight (hence the not so great lighting for pictures).  I've never made pajamas for the kids before.   I hope they aren't way too big when they open them up tomorrow night(Christmas Eve) as their new Christmas pajamas. 

Pajama pants are very easy to make.  I seriously don't know why I haven't ever made any before.  The kimono top was fairly easy too.  And the button up top wasn't too hard, but it required taking my time and patience.  The flannel for K*'s pajamas is so soft.  And I'm loving the stripes for S*'s.  I have the same stripe pattern in red & blue for another pair of pj pants.

Fabric: Ruby by Bonnie & Camille; Cream Quirky flannel and Sherbet dot for trim

Pattern: Bedtime story by Oliver + S

I used snaps with a decorative bow instead of the ties called for in the pattern after reading some ideas online

Fabric: Green Racer Stripe from Children at Play by Sarah Jane for Michael Miller

Pattern: New Look 6746

Got the idea after looking at Sarah Jane's blog

Pencil Rolls

I decided to make pencil rolls for some of my neices and nephew this Christmas.  It's a fairly easy sewing project to finish several in a couple of hours. 

I had to get this one in the mail, so I finished it up first.

Fabrics are: Amelia for the two pink and purple florals & stripes w/turquoise by Me & My Sister Designs.  Hoo's in the forest by Riley Blake (made with the leftover pieces from making K* one for her birthday).  And Boys at work multi stripe by Northcott with Beatle Boy.

Framed Crayon Monograms

K* and I made these for her and S*'s teachers as a Christmas gift this year.  We used hot glue instead of the tacky glue I used last time.  Don't know which is better, but this time the glue was dry.  I used the font Leftovers for their names.

See my first crayon monogram post here.

Pintucked Corduroy

Whipped this up last night after the kids were in bed.  I saw a post on probably actually with a corduroy skirt a few weeks ago and started thinking I'd like to make one for K*.  Then, I saw this post on Craftiness is not Optional this week with pintucks and knew that's what I wanted to do.  So, 21" of fabric later, this is what I have.  I had a cute polar bear shirt from last year that still fits this year (yeah!) in mind when making it, but I can see it working for V-day and July and all sorts of other times too.  This is the easiest skirt I've made yet.  No gathering.  Not that I mind gathering, it seems most things I make for K* involve gathering though.  Sewing some seams and inserting elastic is just quicker.  I think I'll have to make some more in the near future. I also have some other things nearly finished, oliver +s bedtime story pj's for K* and  pj pants for S*.

Framed Christmas Countdown

I made this based on a framed countdown I saw in a JoAnn holiday flyer.  I happened to already have the super cute Christmas paper and embellishments from last year (I believe by My Minds Eye).  I came across them while organizing my craft "mess" a few weeks ago.  And this was major organizing, like pull everything out, dejunk, sort, reorganize.  We don't have any spare rooms not even an office, so it all lives in our bedroom or closet and it had reached a point where things were scattered in various areas making it hard to stay on top of what was where and what I really had and I needed to get rid of a few things.  I actually didn't remember I had the cute embellishments, just the paper.  There is subtle glitter on some of the red on the paper and the embellishments.  So all I needed was a black frame on sale.  I used a square 10"x10" frame from Michaels.  Once I sat down to make it, it was fast & easy.  I wasn't sure whether to use red or white vinyl for the "days til Christmas" wording.  Still not sure.  I guess I can always change it, I did cut the white out too while I was cutting the red.  I think the font is leftovers.  I finally got to use some of the chalkboard vinyl I bought earlier this year for the circle.  So far, it seems to erase nicely each day. The paper is under the glass and everything else is on top of the glass.

Merry & Bright block

I made four of these Merry & Bright blocks at our church craft night in the beginning of November.  Two red (alizarin crimson) and two green (forest green).  I gave the green away already before snapping a shot of one.  It was hard to decide what color to keep for myself.   I also can't decided if I want to sand the edges of mine, but I think I will then I won't care if it gets dings in it in the future.
Used Silhouette to design and cut it out of white vinyl.  The font is century.  The tree is a silhouette shape artsy_christmas_tree_pyramid box_C01085_19210. It measures 5 1/4"h by 6"w.
I was excited we made this as a craft at our craft night, because I had already started designing it to make my own, but by making it at the craft night, I actually didn't have to cut out the wood or the vinyl, pick out paint colors, or run around buying anything, the sweet friend in charge did all the hard work.
I originally saw the idea at The House of Smith Designs.

Jovial Table Runner

Wednesday night (Nov. 30) I decided it was time I started & finished this table runner.  I bought the fabric in like September intending to make a table runner for Christmas and just couldn't figure out for sure what I wanted to do with it.  I think I'm also one of those people who has a hard time working on a project for a holiday when it's not that holiday season yet.  My favorite by far is the white print used for the wide border.  The fabric is all from the Jovial line by Basic Grey.  I didn't have enough of the white print left for the backing, so Thursday I ran to the fabric store to get what I needed to finish (backing & binding).  They were out of my favorite print, so I picked out another nice poinsettia print.  I do have enough of the white print left to make another different table runner though, so I bought backing & binding for that future project too (might be next year though).  I'm even tempted to make a tree skirt out of a white dot print not seen here.....

It's about 43" x 23" and the strips are 3 1/2" with 5 1/4" border.

It makes me happy when I go in the kitchen and see it on my table.

Someday I'll learn how to do some simple machine quilting, for now I have to stick with straight lines.

Christmas Candy Skirt

Made with Riley Blake Christmas Candy fabric.  I was so excited to make/put the pink ruffle on the bottom.  It's just so fun!  And I haven't made a ruffle like that on anything for K* yet.  It won't be the last either.  I planned to make a gingerbread girl tee to go with it.  But, now I'm thinking it looks great with the pink tee plain (it's the same pink as the bottom ruffle).  If I do make an applique tee for it, I think I'll go with trees instead though.  I made the skirt to fit more than one year, so maybe I can just make a tee next year.  The pink and green are fun together.  I wasn't sure I liked the green ribbon after sewing it on at first, and thought it was either too thick or I should have left it off, but I'm liking it now.  K* is going to wear it to school tomorrow, so that will help me decide about the tee.  I laid out white leggings (it's actually cold here this week) and she came out and asked why she couldn't wear the bright pink leggings she has instead.  We'll see how things end up in the morning I guess....

Penguin Skirt

Penguin fabric from JoAnn's.  Black fabric from Riley Blake Trick or Treat.  There was some cute black swirly fabric at JoAnn's but I decided to be good and use up the black I had that I didn't use for Halloween.  I was on the ball and made this skirt (and another one) beforeThanksgiving.  I plan to make a pengiun tee shirt to go with it, but we'll see.  I'm eager to get on to other projects I hope to have done as Christmas presents.

Have a Thankful Heart

Made this thankful heart board for Thanksgiving based on an idea I saw here. I need to get over my worries when it comes to sanding boards.  I may take the sandpaper to this one some more when I figure out some good sanding techniques.  It looks a lot better too on my bar next to some small pumpkins and other Fall decor.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Thankful leaves banner

I saw the idea for this thankful leaves banner on Carina Gardner's site a few days ago.  Today, I sat down and made it with the kids before lunch after making Indian headbands with paper feathers.  I cut the leaves out by hand out of yellow, golden yellow, orange and red card stock using the template Carina provides.  It didn't take long to make. K* was taking her time writing on her first leaf and S* was busy in the living room, so I just cut them out myself.  And I just happened to have a stash of mini clothespins in my crafty supplies to use to hang the leaves up.  We decided to hang it in the window in the kitchen.  I figure we haven't been doing it all of November, but a few days the week of Thanksgiving break will still be fun.  I'm glad we sat down and did it this morning.

Some links to other fun thankful ideas I thought about doing, but never got around to.  A thankkful board. A thankful tree.  Another thankful tree. And another tree.  Some sort of thankful turkey would be a cute idea too!

Orange Polka dots & Turkey

Orange polka dots fabric from JoAnn's; Turkey shape from silhouette; Skirt pattern based on the pink fig girly skirt

I love how the white ribbon looks with the orange polkadots fabric.  Orange seemed to be the color of the week last week when I was sewing.  I love Autumn colors.  The turkey applique was quick & easy and I was able to sew it all on with my sewing machine (unlike the candy corns for Halloween last month). I had K*wear this outfit for some pictures I took of her & S* over the weekend.

AND, a peek at some of the latest fabrics to join my stash (as if I needed more....)  About half I hope to use before Christmas to make some things for my kids.

Fall Yard Stake

This fun Fall yard stake was a project option at our recent church craft night.  Since I didn't make one, I snapped a picture of the one my friend down the street made.

Polkadots & Summer in Orange

Pattern: Polkadots and Summer by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree & Co.
Fabric: White twill and Orange scrappy and happy baby #3530 by Jane Selck

It was my first time sew pleats in clothing.  They weren't too bad to iron & sew.  I'd put pleats in something again.  Actually, I hope to (someday) make some skirts for myself with pleats.  We'll see though.  I got the pattern earlier this year (or was it last....) as part of a kit.  I thought I'd try it out with some different fabric before cutting into the kit fabric.  You have to add the seam allowance yourself for this pattern, which I'm not a big fan of.  Especially when trying to do some minor alterations to length and such on a pattern I've never sewn before.  In the end it turned out though.  I don't understand why people make patterns without the seam allowances, there must be some reason for it, I just don't know what it is.  This is the first pattern I've run into that though.  I have some others that you need to add the seam allowance, but I'll just cut out the next size up and use the difference as my seam allowance, I hope that will work.  This pattern however, I was making the biggest size, so that wasn't an option.

Batty Wreaths & Thistle Spiders

I'm so glad I made the time to make my batty wreath, I LOVE it!  I came across the idea on Carina Gardner's site.

I cut bats out of various Halloween papers with my silhouette, glued them onto a vine wreath from Hobby Lobby with hot glue (my hot glue gun is getting a lot of use lately), attached a ribbon and bow and hung it up on my front door.  I already had the supplies and bats cut out, so when I finally sat down to make it, it was 45 minutes tops.

I also made a mini one for my pantry door with smaller black bats and orange ribbon.  I like it, but I like the big one better.   Maybe it needs more color?  I think I'll leave it alone for now, but I can always go at it again next Halloween.

Today after school, we made thistle spiders, 15 of them.  My sister in Utah, mailed me some thistles last week and I was so excited to get these made.  We made them as kids with my mom, so it was  fun to make them with/for my own kids.  I had forgotten about thistle spiders until coming across them in blogland last year, so this year we were ready with the supplies needed.

I pretty much made them how she does in this tutorial on Every Creative Endeavor.  I tried to coat mine really well with the black spray paint, I wanted them nice and black. The kids each picked one out to have in their rooms, one even "watched" S* do his homework, several are going with DH to work tomorrow, the kids want to give them to their teachers and I guess we'll scatter the rest around the house.  We may need to make more next year.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Rapunzel {and her hair}

This costume was fun to make.  It mostly turned out how I envisioned, which isn't something that always happens.  At first I was worried.  They no longer had the fabric I originally wanted at Jo Ann's so I had to pick something else, which I like better anyway.  Then I wasn't sure the sleeves I added to the pattern (the original pattern doesn't have sleeves) were going to look right, but they seem to have turned out fine.  I have never added sleeves to something that didn't already have them before.  I used a pattern I bought a few years ago, and it was perfect for this year.  McCall's 5153.  I think it's out of print now.  I have noticed a crisscross ribbon trend in my costume making.  I have unintentionally used patterns with crisscross ribbons for three costumes (rapunzel, bo peep, and a princess). The dark purple fabric is luna blooms by Sue Zipkin for Clothworks. 

After posing for a picture, she twirled.....

 

and twirled some more.....

 

then she rested.....

 

before twirling some more.....

 

and some more.

 

I'm so glad that she loves to wear it and twirl around.  Makes having spent the time to sew it even better.

The hair of all things actually gave me more trouble than expected. I started off following the instructions from the Simplicity Disney Tangled pattern, but the measurements were off and I had to mess around with it a bit.  I ended up cutting the yarn for the head band part 34 inches long (the pattern said to cut the yarn 18 inches long, no way that was going to fit her head after it was braided, maybe not even a baby's).  I had a second attempt after the 18 inch failure, which after braiding it, it ended up being an inch or two too short to go around her head.  Rats!  Third time (yarn cut at 34 inches) worked out just about right.  In the pictures above, the second attempt for the headband was loosely attached as the longer braided part to see how it would look.  K* asked if I could make it longer though.  At first I didn't want to waste more yarn to make a longer braid, but on Friday before she came home from school, I decided to make a longer one.  And since she wasn't there to measure, it ended up plenty long, almost touching the ground.  I cut the yarn strands 48 inches long.  After braiding and attaching it, I hot glued flowers onto it and it was ready for the trunk or treat that night.  Maybe next time she wears it, I can snap some better pictures to show the back where it's attached together.  Nothing like a carnival a week and a half  before Halloween to help keep me on top of getting the costume made so I'm not finishing it up last minute on Halloween.  Yay!! I put a picture from that night at the end of this post that shows the finished hair.

I used Carron simply soft yarn in Autumn Maize (hobby lobby).  I'm into my third 6 oz. skein because of mess ups, but you'd probably only need one skein, two tops to be "safe".  I also used light pink offray ribbon and purple & pink rose like fake flowers from Hobby Lobby.  Each section of the braid has 60+ strands.  You could do each 60+ strand section separately and then tie them together to braid (what I did for the head band part) or just divide 180+ strands into three sections to braid (what I did for the long braided part that hangs down).   I nailed two nails onto a long board and looped the yarn around them to make things faster and easier.  I then tied the top off with a piece of yarn and cut the bottom loops before braiding.  I left the tops uncut & looped. I slipped the headband part through the loop of the long braided part to help things seem more secure and to hide where the two ends meet on the headband part.  I don't know if any of this makes sense, but I hope it might help someone out rather than going through some of the trial and errors I encountered when making one.