10th Day of Christmas

Snapfish Book - Friendship

Last year I created a family photo book as a Christmas gift for Braden.  It had each individual family members name and photos of them with Braden.  Of course the family has grown since then, so will have to update it someday!  

This year a friend in the mom group created a friendship book based on the story Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  Each page has a picture of one of the friends asking them what they see and they respond with another friends name/picture.  I decided to order the book as a Christmas gift for Braden this year.

Any type of photo book is precious, memorable and becomes a cherished gift for any recipient.  

9th Day of Christmas

2013 Scrapbook

This particular craft I have actually been working on all year.  I decided at the beginning of January to start using Project Life for scrapbooking.  It actually worked out really well, and I was able to keep up. My hope is that I will be able to continue this and it will be a memorable Christmas gift for the family every year.  

Here are a few of the highlights from this years album!

4th Day of Christmas

A Mason Jar Cookie Recipe

I have found so many great ideas for mason jar gifts, which are perfect for any occasion.  Around the holidays there are always plenty of freshly baked treats available.  This is a great alternative, because the recipient can choose to bake or use the gift when it is needed most.  Then the jar can be reused for something! 

There are so many different delicious cookie recipes available here, but you could also incorporate pancake mixes, smores, and other food items.

There are also some great ideas for non-food mason jar gifts.  

I decided to make cookie mixes in my mason jars, and I will be using a few for Christmas gifts and a few for baby shower prizes.  The recipe I used is available here. 

First Braden helped me mix up the flour, baking soda, and sugar.

I went to start filling the jars and realized the ones I had were too small.  So, we had to pick up some bigger ones (I think next time I would go with something a little smaller).  

Too Small

The website I used had labels that could be printed and used. I of course, didn't buy the wide mouthed jars, so I had to play around with creating my own labels and getting the sizing just right.

Also for the holiday version I had planned on using red & green M&M's, which I also thought we had in the cupboard.  So, I will have to wait to make those mason jars later.  Lesson learned - make sure you have all of the CORRECT supplies in hand before starting this project!  

2nd Day of Christmas

A Family Christmas Tree Skirt

A few months ago my cousin Heather asked me if I would be interested in trying to make a burlap tree skirt for her family.  The basic idea was burlap with a ruffle around the outside and incorporating red or green chevron fabric.  She sent me a few pictures to give me an idea.

I followed most instructions from this tutorial but found a few other sites were helpful as well.  Now even though she mentioned this in August/September I didn't get around to actually cutting the burlap until November.  Then I gave it to her so they could put their handprints on first, that way the paint did not go through the backing of the final skirt.

 While I was waiting to get the skirt back I cut the red chevron into 6 inch wide strips and used the full length of the fabric.  I ended up having to match up the chevron pattern and attaching the strips until it was around 220 inches long.  Then I used the ruffler foot to create the ruffled look.  Then once I had the burlap piece back I sewed the ruffled chevron on to the outside edge and also attached a red chevron S.  

Finally I laid a large piece of muslin fabric down and put the burlap piece on top.  Then I cut out another circular shape, which would serve as the backing of the tree skirt.  I made sure that the right sides were together and pinned the pieces in place.  

This was the most difficult part to sew, because there was so much fabric and I didn't want it to slide or bunch up in places.  I left a small space to turn the tree skirt right side out and then finished off the edging.  I was pleasantly surprised with how well it turned out.  If I were to do it again I might have bought a bit more chevron and made the ruffle a little wider.  I also decided not to add velcro closures, because  thought it would easily wrap around itself when under the tree.  

More Christmas Projects

As promised here is my "13th Day of Christmas" post.  I didn't want to ruin the surprise, so I waited to share this one.  This particular gift would also work great for Valentine's Day, anniversaries, or birthdays for those of you planning ahead.  

My final handmade gift was for Mike. I pre-planned 12 date nights, one for each month of the year.  I gave him a sealed manila envelope with each month labeled on the front.  Inside each envelope there is a location for the date, an explanation and any other necessary items (gift cards, money, directions, etc).  On the outside I wrote little notes as to whether it would work best day or night and if a babysitter is required.  Some dates are planned as "a night in" so a babysitter is not necessary.  

I came upon this idea through the blog The Dating Divas and that is also where I found some fun, creative ideas for dates.  I was trying to think outside the box, instead of going with the typical dinner & a movie.  Another great resource for date night ideas is the blog Love, Actually.  

The dates are kept a secret until the first of each month, so I will only be sharing my idea for our January date.  The plan I made was based on the Bookworm Date, which was found on the Dating Divas site.  Now we just have to pick a date and enjoy our time together!  

Bonus: here are a few other handmade things that I created for Braden last week!  

A Felt Board

I stapled a large piece of blue felt into a bulletin board.

Then cut out some shapes to create a snowman!

 Bean Bags!

Braden helped me fill them.

Then I used a cardboard box and cut out three holes to create a bean bag toss game!

On the 6th Day of Christmas

my true love made for me the cutest Santa tutu. 

On Pinterst (surprise, surprise) I found the most adorable Santa outfit for a little girl.  I pinned it thinking that I would make it someday for my own little girl (fingers crossed for the future).  But someday came sooner than expected, because I made one for Miss McKinli.  

The picture was found on Etsy for sale at $89.99 (regularly $115.00) - YIKES!  So, Heather and I brainstormed ideas for the materials and then I tried different things to create my own version.  

Materials:

5 yards of red tulle

white feather boa

felted ribbon

buckle 

1" elastic

thread

Tutorial:

There are so many tutorials out there on how to make a tutu.  I had Heather measure McKinli just under her armpits and cut the elastic to be 1 inch shorter.  Then I sewed the two ends together to create a circle.  

Next I cut the tulle to be 5-6 inches wide & the length needed to be 12 inches, so I cut it at 24-26 inches.  Once everything was cut I put the elastic around my leg and began the tying process.  

The finished tutu

The next step was to figure out how to attache a feather boa to the top.  I originally thought I would have to hot glue it.  But, instead I decided to tie a piece of thread around the tutu and then continuously wrap it around to keep the boa in place.  I ended up going around the top of the tutu twice.  Then I cut the excess feather boa pieces off.  

Finally, I used McKinli's measurements again and cut the black felt ribbon to that length.  Then I sewed the ends together to create a circular belt.  If using a real buckle be sure to secure it on the ribbon before sewing it.  

I also wanted to make sure it would actually fit around her, so I made a second belt that tied around her (just incase).  Then instead of using a buckle, Heather was going to add a little bling in a square shape to create the look of one.  

The complete Santa tutu (without the bling)

I can't wait to see pictures of how Miss McKinli looks in the completed outfit!  

On the 1st Day of Christmas

my true love made for me, a Felted Christmas Tree!

As a Christmas present to Braden I have been thinking of making him a felt board.  I would like to create different scenes (car, house, store, seasonal themes, etc) that can be changed through out the year.

So, I found this cute Christmas tree idea on Pinterest to try first and see how much he would enjoy it.  He certainly has fun taking them off the tree or swiping at it so they all fall to the floor.  We are slowly working on picking them up and decorating the tree again.  He has a hard time getting the pieces to "stick".  But, I think it is a great start in helping him learn to clean things up when he is finished.  

Here is my tutorial:

Materials:

36x36 green felt (found at ACMOORE)

Various colored felt (8x11 pages)

Command Strips

Pictures/Stencils of Christmas decorations

Heat n Bond 

Scissors

First I spread out the green felt and used a marker to create my tree outline.  That way I could get the tree shape just the way I wanted and the marker side would be on the back.  Braden helped a little with this process.

Ready to Draw the Tree

Cutting The Tree Shape

I'm All Done Mom!

Next I used the command strips to hang the tree on the wall.  Then looked for various Christmas decoration outlines online that could be printed and used as stencils.  I found a candy cane, gingerbread man, and a few different ornaments.  This blog has downloadable instructions with ornament outlines.  The presents I created free hand  and then using the stencils I cut the other pieces out individually.  

Any details that I wanted to put on top of the ornaments or to add stripes on the candy cane I used heat n bond.  I ironed the colored felt to the heat n bond, cut out the shapes I needed and then ironed them on to the Christmas decorations.  

I love the final product and so does Braden!

The Tree All Decorated

Little Man Posing with the Tree

{This holiday season I have decided to try some new crafts & home made gift ideas.  From December 1st-12th I will be posting the tutorials for things I have tried - "12 Days of Christmas Crafts"  I would love to see/hear about other ideas.}  

I was even successful in creating my own blog button - so please share!