A Witch, A Storybook Princess, & Some Weasleys.....

The Witch and The Princess:
Some Weasleys:
And, of course the pumpkins... left out of the title, but just as important.

1st Day Of Christmas

Well... they days got away from me and I never finished up my 12 days of Christmas posts. So, I've decided to finish them all up in one post.

On the 1st Day Of Christmas I finally finished knitting...
My hubbies comfy wool socks.

On the 2nd Day Of Christmas I used some leftover fleece...
To make 2 pairs of fleecy pants for the girls. I did make two pairs, but the other pair is in the wash.

On the 3rd Day of Christmas I crocheted...
All three characters from the "Bone" graphic novel series. (I'll be doing a single post about this one later on.)

On the 4th Day of Christmas I ordered...
4 Family calendars for the grandparents.

On the 5th Day of Christmas I made for my Ray...
Kitty cat accessories. My youngest is all about cats lately. She must have at least a dozen of them on her bed right now.

On the 6th Day of Christmas I used up lots of holiday flannel...
To sew up 6 pairs of warm nightgowns. All the fabrics co-ordinated together, so I made them each 3 pairs. (on x-mas eve the girls put them on and all of them are to small around the armpits... insert silent tear here... I'll be fixing these sometime soon. Also, just to note - I actually followed the instructions on the sewing pattern.)

On the 7th Day of Christmas.... I got totally sidetracked
It snowed like crazy on this day and I couldn't find anything that I had been working on that had to do with 7... It kept snowing for over a week and we ended up with more snow than we had seen in in a very very long time.

8th Day Of Christmas

On the 8th Day Of Christmas I finished sewing...

8 more new felt foods.
Churo cinnamon sticks, Meatloaf & Gravy, Pear, Baked Potato, Roast Beef Lunch Meat, Turkey Lunch Meat, Crackers, Cheese Slices (for on top of crackers).

9th Day Of Christmas

On the 9th day of Christmas I finished sewing...

9 Sets of polar fleece socks.
Each person will be getting 3 pairs of socks. For a grand total of 27 pairs!!

10th Day Of Christmas

On the 10th day of Christmas I knit and crocheted...

10 Sets of dishcloths.
Each person will be receiving two dishcloths. (unless I can manage to get more done before then :P)

11th Day Of Christmas

On the 11th day of Christmas I made for my girls...

11 Brand new felt foods.
Orange, Apple, Eggplant, Orange Bell Pepper, Corn On The Cob (has removable husk), Mushrooms, Broccoli & Cauliflower, Fish Fillet (raw on one side & cooked on the other), Whole Fish, and Waffle.

12th Day Of Christmas

On the 12th day of Christmas the gifts I made are these....

12 Jars of Laundry Soap.




They will be packaged with a nice little bow, the recipe, and some dishcloths (to come on a later day). We will be handing these out to family friends and relatives.

12 Days Of Christmas

In celebration of the busy holiday and crafting season I have decided to do a post every day for the next 12 days. Each day will showcase one (or many) of the items that I have been busy making over the past month or so. I won't be posting to many specifics about the items. Mostly just eye candy and a brief description. If you have any questions though, just leave a comment and I will try and answer your question.

* As a side note, I do realize that my 12 days will end one day short of Christmas. But, Christmas day will be crazy and I know I won't get a chance to blog. Also, I'm doing the 12 days backwards just like when you sing the last part of the song.

Annual Christmas Pins

Every year my mom and her best friend go on an all day shopping spree at the local mall. They have been doing this for at least the past 15 years. Since having my first daughter, I have been invited to go along as well. As part of the tradition they wear a new Christmas pin ever year. Sometimes my mother has made them, and other times they have been bought. This year mom and I made them together. We wanted to make something with supplies that I have in house. And, I knew that I wanted to use felt. We weren't sure what we were going to do. I wanted to do something that meant something to us. Finally... inspiration struck me.

But, first a little back story. When I was very little my mom and her best friend made these awesome felt advent calendars. Her boys and my brother and I hung ornaments on our advent trees since before I can remember. And, now my girls are using it. So, I suggested that we use the pattern to re-make some of those beloved ornaments into brooches. My mom loved the idea and we set about making 8 pins.

We used the original pattern which is a Vogue pattern from the early 80's. To spice them up from the originals, we did hand embroidery stitches and added seed beads to sparkle them up. I'm sooo pleased with how these turned out. I'll be wearing the white and gray owl this year, and my mom is going to wear the angel one. (she calls my oldest daughter her "angel" and the pin has my daughters looks) I'm not sure which on my mom's best friend will choose, but odds are that she will be crying when she picks. Ahhh... memories....

Here is the pattern we used as well as the original advent calendar. It's quite large and hangs on the wall.

It's Begining To Look A Lot Like Christmas

This last Saturday we put up the Christmas decorations. I'ts looking very festive around here. Here are a few pictuers of some of my favorite things that we but up every year.

Happy Happy Turkey Day

Were keeping things simple this year. 6 people total for dinner with a few more coming for dessert. I set the table very simply with my everyday dinner plates and some special linens. And, of course no Thanksgiving dinner would be complete without my grandmothers turkey salt and pepper shakers. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Today Is The Day To...

Halloween

Halloween started out in a flurry of activity. I prepared the house and most of the food for our annual Halloween party in the morning before I took my youngest to school for her “Halloween Ho-Down” party. I spent the afternoon at the elementary school going between the two girls classrooms helping out and enjoying the festivities. When we got home I finished getting ready for the party and began cooking waaaay to much food. Family started showing up and we ate, and ate, and ate until it was time go trick-or-treating.

The girls costumes were sooo cute. My youngest was Super Girl. I found her costume at Wal-Mart. My oldest wanted to be a pirate, but I couldn't find one in the stores that fit into the budget and looked nice. So, I set about making her costume. I made her shirt and vest from Simplicity 3644. I didn't like the vest pattern, so I used the jacket and altered it into a vest. I basically just left off the sleeves and slimmed down the shoulders. For fabric I used some of my grandmothers vintage navy polyester. For the shirt I used a white sheet that I no longer needed. I added embroidery around the collar for a custom look. I didn't have any buttons that matched, plus I needed over a dozen. I choose to pick out some brown plastic buttons from my stash that were all close to the same size. Then I used a product called “Rub & Buff” to make them all an antique bronze color. The pattern made up fast and easy. My only gripe about this pattern was the back slit in the vest. It looked horrible after I finished it so, I ended up taking it out and making it my way. I put in a real pleated vent. It looked much better. She wore brown sweats, brown boots, and pirate hat. I found a great wide black belt at the thrift store and put a pouch for all her pirate booty on the belt. And, no pirate could be complete without a pistol. (she didn't take this to school)

We had so much fun trick-or-treating with friends. The girls made it through almost the whole neighborhood before they were done. When we go back the “trading” began. They dumped out their haul and all four kids started shouting and passing candy back and forth.

One holiday down and three more to go. I've already started working on Christmas gifts. 90% of our gifts this year will be handmade. Lots of posts to come on those projects.

Fall Is Here

Fall seamed to have come quickly this year. The leaves turned color and began to fall in just a matter of days. With fall comes the usually hustle and bustle of the upcoming holiday season. Our first order of business was the local pumpkin patch. We had a great day. The weather was clear but slightly crisp. My girlfriend came with her hubby and kids. So, together the kids frolicked through the pumpkin fields in a search for that perfect pumpkin. Some of the other activities that we did there was a hay maze and petting farm. My oldest had a blast taking pictures of the animals with my camera.

Tonight we'll be carving our pumpkins and preparing for our annual Halloween party. I'll post pictures of that this weekend.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day today. Before school the girls opened up their present. I made them each a pullover fleece hoodie and 3 felt heart shaped sugar cookies. They loved them. My hubby had left some Lilies on the dining table for me as well as a beautiful chocolate mug filled with cake and cream. It looked to beautiful to eat, so I put it in the fridge to share with him when he gets home. I made him a bookmark and a heart shaped chocolate chip cookie sandwich.

I used See&Sew pattern #4894 to make the hoodies for my girls. I altered it to be a pullover style and added a front pouch to each sweater. The jackets took me about 4 hours to make both sweaters. They were very easy to sew up, so I'll definitely be making more in the future. Next time though, I will lengthen the body and slim up the sleeves a bit. I made up the size 5 which was huge. It fit my 4 year old as well as my 7 year old. Pattern sizing is so weird....