What I made this Christmas

I feel like I spent the entire month of December crafting! Here I am to share the results.

Here we go… starting with….

The 'symbols of Christmas' box. I grew up with this story, but my mom's was filled with itty-bitty pieces. I wanted mine to be a bigger. I found THIS blog and got used a lot of her ideas. I lined the box with felt to make it look a little fancier.

Ties. We all know how to make these, thanks to Jen (which, by the way, I still feel weird about copying your pattern from). But, I thought they turned out cute, so I'm sharing.

Cooking accessories for Reagan's kitchen. I used THIS pattern for the hat, THIS for the oven mitts, and THIS tutorial for the apron

I snagged this doll bed from a garage sale this summer, but the bedding was a flimsy piece of cotton. I bought some foam and made the mattress, a couple fitted sheets and quilts. I used THIS tutorial for the pillow and pillowcase, but adjusted the dimensions for the bed. I hate changing my own bed, but I'm a little obsessed with changing the sheets and pillow case on this bed….. over and over.

Inspired by the tee pee Jen made for preschool last year, I made this one for the kids (they think it's from Santa). I used THIS tutorial. It was surprisingly quick to make.

I saw THIS idea on Red Envelope and thought my mom and mother-in-law would appreciate it…. but not for $60. So, I bought the little pots and seed packs and we made our own. My kids painted the pots, colored all the flowers, and wrote the flower names. What did I do? Not much…. I just mod podged them and put the seed into envelopes.

Watches for the boys. Using dollar store watches and THIS tutorial.

Oh my goodness, I just about died when I found this ironing board at Goodwill….. DIED! I couldn't decide which fabric to use on the cover, so I made it reversible. I found the iron HERE on Etsy.

Leg warmers, leg warmers, and more leg warmers. There are tutorials all over the internet, but I used THIS one.

Muffin Tin match for my niece. These were fun to make, and Reagan had fun playing with them. I used THIS tutorial. Instead of painting matching colors, I glued the fabric to the bottom of the tin.

Here's my finished USA quilt, well almost finished, I just have to bind ½ more. Did I already post about this? I can't remember. It's all made of fabric and batting I already had… so it's a free quilt. Of course, I at one point had to buy the fabric, but it was so long ago, I'll call it free!

And to finish up this extremely long post, I will show a sneak peek of my work-in-progress. (I just realized I have yet to finish my last 'work-in-progress' string quilt). I finally cut up my stash of jeans I've saved for 2 years. This is what I have so far….

Anyways, ladies, I'm outta here. It's the New Year in just over 1 hour. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I can't wait to see everyone's Christmas projects... hint hint.

Kristina

December Craftiness

So I was crafty in November, just in time to get these hung for December.

So before I go any further, Kristina, your crafts were freeking awesome! Thank you for posting them. I, for whatever reason, cannot leave a comment. The cursor won't appear in the box...I am not sure why, but I wanted to tell you K that I LOVED EVERYTHING you made! You rock! I am totally sending those flower pots next year! Genius!

And Jen, LOVE The little rocker! I soooooo LOVE the color!

Ok moving on to the craft: I made all new stocking! Yay for me! Well, in the spirit of FULL disclosure, I did only part of the work. Shannon would kill me if he knew...He helped me a ton! I found the idea here. I would pin the ric rac and he would sew, Oh and I did cut out the stockings... I think Shannon finally started to feel bad for me. So he crafted with me. He Rocks!

This is Miles stocking in the making:

This is Hawkley's stocking in the making:

This is Hattie's stocking in the making:

I found the flowers here. Don't let the tutorial on Martha fool you. These are much more difficult to make than you would think! These puppies took me like 8 hours and I am not even kidding! I think they were worth it and once I figured out how to make them, I was golden. But they are hard. Also Martha says to use floral pips for the center of the flowers. Those are expensive, and if you look at your pin cushion like i did you would see hundreds of free floral pips. Maybe they aren't expensive, but I wanted to get them done. so I just snipped the heads off a few pin and voila:

This is the makings of our NEW tree skirt:

I also found it here. This link will send you to ALL of Martha's tree skirts... I wish I would have looked at all of them before. I LOVE the one with all the cut outs.... maybe next year. I do have to say, that the one we chose, was so easy. She has the pattern for it and everything. We did enlarge the pattern--we--I mean Shannon enlarged the pattern. We were much happier with the bigger piece. We wanted a fuller tree skirt.

Here is the finished product:

You like?

So this is the only picture I could find of the tree skirt... I am lame i know. I have pics of the tree, but we put the presents under them...so you can't see the tree skirt... ah well you get the idea. How do you like Hawkley's runny nose, and no shirt?

October Craftiness

October was a busy month for us. I made invitations, decorations, and cleaned cleaned cleaned! Here is a picture of my table the day of the party:

Here is the invitation:

I found it here

Here is a picture of the party room the day of:

Here is a picure of my rat garland:

I found the idea here

The idea was neat and i tried to tape them to my stairs, but Hattie and Hawkley just had a blast taking them off...so I sewed them together. I also thought it would be fun to make a bat banner as well. That one is hanging over the fireplace in the photo above.

could not delete this...how embarassing...

Here are the little face hanging from the tree on the table.

Was inspired by this. I made mine smaller, and they took hours to complete. I always think that Martha's crafts are do-able and easy, but alas, for me they are not...

Found this in our basement and asked our landlord for it. She was more than happy it found a new home. I spray painted the bird black and.... ta da:

So I want both of you to know how sorry I am that it has taken sooooooooooo long for me to get this stuff up! You both inspire me to be better at everything! Love and hugs to you both!

I've been holding out...

So, honestly, I've been taking pictures of everything I make in order to post on this blog, but never put them on here. So, tonight I will overload you with all of my projects dating back to....

Halloween

Okay, first up is the table runner I made. It came to a grand total of about $4 with the fabric I got. Can't beat that! It still has all those pins in it ready for me to quilt. But alas, I am lazy and have put it away with my holiday stuff still pinned.Saw this embroidery pattern HERE. I found the frame at Goodwill for $.99 and painted it black. Isn't is PERFECTLY spider-like? I love it. This was my first time embroidering and I have to say, 'why have I never done this before'? It is the easiest thing to do on the face of the Earth (well, the craft earth)Okay, then I gathered up a ton of glass jars and printed ghoulish labels for them from HERE

I hot glued a bunch of candy corn to a wreath and viola! I stole the idea from a Women's Day magazine cover.Now Halloween is over and I'm decorating for Thanksgiving. I saw THIS idea a year ago and just finally got around to making it. Should I paint the frame? hmmm... Man, that heater dial and phone plug are NASTY! I made these felt (yes, felt) flower thingies. I've seen them on several blogs. Sorry, I can't link you to one, I don't remember where. But, I put mine on my lamp. Shawn hates it. I haven't decided if I like it or not. I was originally going to make a headband with it. Maybe I still will.

I just finished this quilted advent calendar for my brother and sister-in-law. I'm shipping it off tomorrow (they're in England, so I have to send it early). I would shed a tear for it's departure, except I'm already making one for myself. I copied THIS pattern from Oh Fransson who lives in Portland, so naturally I love her!

It has 24 of these little pockets that will be filled with candy at 'my' house.

Here it is hung on the wall... right where mine will go if I ever finish it. Appliqueing those little numbers takes FOREVER!Last, but not least is the upgrade on Reagan's rocking chair. I didn't like the plain pink seat cover it had, so I made it a new one. Of course I asked my Mom's permission first, since she made the original. I made a little pillow for it too.

We're all into rocking chairs around here. Now we just need to see a rocking chair from Molly... no pressure!

Anyways ladies, that's all I have to share for now. Although you may be relieved. I can be long-winded.

I miss our craft nights desperately!

Sofia?

So, here's the rockin' Rocking Chair Carter discovered for me at Goodwill...

Sadly, I do not have a child named "Sofia" so the chair needed a bit of a makeover.

Before:

After:

I told you I've been diggin' on grey (or is it gray) and turquoise! They make such a SWEET combo.

Um...I don't Know if we can be friends anymore....

Ladies....we need to have a conversation...

I don't know if we can still be friends. Kristina, you craft like some people check their email... I am just trying to say that you make it look really easy, and its not! I would never have tried that barn! You are just straight up AMAZING!

And Jen, You make up quilting patterns? what?! um... I feel silly... the sewing machine in my house has been put away for two months now... save hemming trousers, and repairing a lovely bumper... You get the point. I think the answer is for one or all of you to please move next door to me where we can bounce between each other's houses again, stealing (me) the ideas out of your living rooms... I can barely get my house cleaned laundry done, dinner made, children cared for, exersizing done, calling fulfilled, not to mention crafting... which brings me to my point. I wasn't made of the same stuff you ladies were! I admire you both and am so glad you are still making things for your children to enjoy! IF I accomplish half nay a quarter of what you do I would jump up and down with joy! Thanks for the inspiration and consider the fire lit under my sewing behind!

I’ve been crafting

Okay, I'm here to share a few projects I've been working on…. Some finished, some not…

The baby quilt I made Reagan got dyed pink in the wash. I always wanted to remake it anyways because it wasn't as perfect as I liked. Dying it (unintentionally, I promise) gave me the perfect excuse to make another. I used the same pattern, but different fabric. I love it (can I say that about my own work?)… it's not the work I love though, it's the fabric. I am seriously considering making one for my own bed, we'll see.

This is a fold up chalk board I made for the kids to bring to church… and one for Carson's birthday. I found the tutorial HERE. It's super easy, with genius pockets for the chalk and sponge to wipe it off. I didn't even know they had chalkboard fabric???

And it folds up cute, like a baby changing mat… just funner!

This is the barn I made Reagan. I got the tutorial HERE. I honestly thought it would be bigger. Doesn't it look big in picture on the tutorial? I foolishly thought so. Not that I regret making it. If you ever choose to make one I have to warn you that the instructions were a PAIN to follow. I didn't understand a thing, but it turned out, so all is well. Someday I plan on appliquéing a barn door.

Okay, then there's Grant's I SPY quilt. I waited in anticipation for weeks to get the fabric squares from the swap…. Total disappointment. I got some of the ugliest fabrics I have ever seen in my whole life… and I'm not exaggerating! I threw out the ugly ones, added some more from my own stash… and I was left with these.

I haven't quilted it yet. This picture is before I pinned it to the backing (which is adorable, I'll have to show a picture of it when I'm finished). I am happy with how it turned out. I was complaining the whole time… first the fabric, then I didn't like the way I was sewing them together, then this and that, and you guys know me, I like to complain….. but, I'm finally happy with it.

I have to show you my work-in-progress too. I'm using up all my bright scraps to make a string quilt. I love using scraps! And I like the way this quilt is turning out, even if I've only done 6 blocks. It's a little too much on my eyes, but I think the kids will love it!

Anyways, that's what I've been working on. Did I ever say I was taking a break from sewing? When was that? I don't think it lasted for more than a week.

It's good therapy though!