Funny Ornament

I made this ornament today. It was fast and easy to make, and the finished product makes me smile!



The pattern and instructions for him can be found here.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Yesterday, a big snowflake showed up in our window (these are so easy and fun to make - tutorial here):



And yesterday I also finished making a Kusudama using the tutorial found at Folding Trees. Here are all the petals waiting to be assembled:



I wish I had some paper that was printed on both sides so the insides of the petals didn't show white, but I couldn't find any in my paper stash. I guess I could have colored the white part, but I didn't really know if the thing was going to turn out, so I didn't want to put too much extra effort into it. As it is, it took me 3 days of working on it off and on to get it done. Here is the result:



My son had a great time rummaging through my button bowl when I pulled it to find some buttons to put on the ribbon. He found two buttons he really liked - they are round, clear and shiny. He showed them to my husband who said they look like disco balls and should reflect light really well. He and my son strung each one on a length of ribbon and hung one in the kitchen window and one in the office window. Now, these buttons are little so I'm not sure what they are hoping to accomplish, but they seemed happy with their effort. If you look real close at the snowflake picture you can see the little button behind it:



I can deal with the one hanging behind the snowflake, but I'm not sure how long I am going to be able to stand a button dangling from a blue ribbon in my kitchen window, so I'm hoping the excitment of them fades quickly.

The Christmas tree also came upstairs last night, and my husband, son and daughter all helped put it together. It took a long time to assemble so the only decoration that made it on was the angel at the top.



Tonight it will be on to lights and decoration. My job today will be to keep my daughter out of all the boxes of ornaments that also came upstairs last night and are so tempting to her. Should be quite a challenge!

It Is All About the Shoes

Last night I bought two pair of shoes for my daughter while I was out shopping by myself (what a rare experience that was!) My intention was to decide which pair I liked best with the holiday dress I made her and keep that pair and take the other pair back to the store.

Well, that idea just didn't work as my daughter REALLY likes both pair. Her favorite, though were the gold ones covered in sparkly glitter. I actually thought that would be the pair I took back, and I only bought them because they were on sale and the dress fabric does have touches of gold running through it (that are really not very noticeable). The other pair I bought were red velvet, and I thought the red would be perfect with the green dress for a real Christmas feel.

The red ones went on first, and she protested when we took them off, but only until she was the gold ones - it was love at first sight. We had quite a struggle getting them off of her for bedtime.

Today, she got to wear her gold shoes with her holiday dress, and I took a quick picture while we were waiting to have her portrait made. The picture doesn't do the shoes justice - they are very shiny and glittery. She was more than happy to lift up the bottom of her dress to show them off - for her, it is all about the shoes!

Oh, and can you tell from her droopy eyes that she has been sick? She and I and her brother have been fighting a nasty cold and she has just not been feeling very good.

Some Dancing Fun

I bet you did not know that we are a family of great dancers, did you? Well, neither did I, but take a look:

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

A Holiday Dress

Today I finished a holiday dress for my daughter to wear in some pictures we will have taken on Saturday. The dress has a simple bodice with a pleated skirt, not exactly made for twirling, but she decided that twirl was exactly what she was going to do!

A Vest and Hat of Fleece

Yesterday I used a piece of fleece I recently bought at a yard sale and made a hat and vest for my daughter. She likes them so much that she wore them around the house all morning long.

Below are some action shots I took while she was playing in my son's room this morning. Can you tell that the hat is really too small? I should have made the band at the bottom wider and the body of the hat a little longer as it doesn't cover her ears like I wanted, but she doesn't seem to mind.

Fast, Simple, and Oh So Cute!

I made the Oliver + S Lazy Days Skirt yesterday for my daughter. It was so fast and easy to make and turned out really cute. I will definately be making some more of this pattern.

Life Among the Leaves

I am very happy to report that I was able to figure out how to reduce the size of the neck on the "heart shirt" to make it fit my daughter! Here is a picture of her checking out its twirling functionality:



Notice that our yard is a bit leaf littered at the moment? Normally by this time in the Fall I have gotten out the rake and am trying to keep up with the leaves as they fall. This year, though, I haven't been near the rake. Actually, I found a good reason to procrastinate the leaf raking this year - in a couple weeks the curriculum for our 3 and 4 year olds at church calls for a skit involving leaf raking. The curriculum suggests you to bring in a rake and pin fake leaves to work clothes so you look like you've been busy raking leaves. Fake leaves indeed! That just won't do.

I've decided that since my husband is the one who usually performs the skits, we can put together a leaf raking skit on video. I'm going to be the videographer, and he can actually go out in the leaves and perform the skit - very authentic! And, as an added bonus I'm hoping that once he gets started raking he will be inspired to rake the whole yard - a girl can dream can't she?

I finished the shirt, but...

...it's too big! I got the shirt finished this morning, but the neck is way too big for my daughter.

So, I have two choices - either put it away until she grows into it (at which time the sleeves will be too short), or try to alter the neck. Probably an easy choice for most sewers, but I don't have a clue how to alter clothes. Nevermind that, though, I'm going to give it a try. In case the attempt goes very bad, here is a picture of the shirt as it looks now - sweet and adorable:



I am hoping the next picture I post of the shirt will be of my daughter wearing it, looking even sweeter and more adorable. Wish me luck!

Simplicity 9296

Do you remember the picture of the outfit that I fell in love with and clipped from a magazine recently?


Well, my Mom didn't even know I was trying to find a pattern to make the shirt, and look what she got for me at the ministry center/thrift store where she volunteers:



WOO HOO!!! I've even got the white fabric with hearts on it to use.



I can't wait to get started!