{sewing} holiday skirts for the wee ones

The first of many years of coordinating outfits, I'm sure.

Simple tube + casing skirt for the littlest one.

And a slightly (by a smidgen) more refined version for the bigger little one.  This one has a reinforced wide flat waistband in the front and a wide elastic casing in the back. 

I've had this shiny fabric forever; in fact I think my mom gave it to me a couple years ago.  Not bad for a stash+nap project. I think I'm also going to make a tulle petticoat-esque thing for Fidge to wear under hers.  In pink or black, probably. 

I love sewing for girls. 

(That's babygirl's dresser in pink.  Yes, I know I owe a nursery recap.  Yikes, I'm behind.  Waiting for some paper lanterns for the corner.  I don't have an Ikea nearby, but anyone have ideas for where I can find some for cheap? xoxo)

Merry Christmas, my friends!

{ home } christmas lights

(This is for my sister, who won't make it up to KC this year.  She wanted to see her brother-in-law's handiwork.)

We had a dusting of snow here the other night and I ran outside to take a photo of our house, all lit up.

(Painting the front door red this summer was totally, totally, the right way to go!  )  I'm going to be sad to take down all of these lights after the New Year. They are just so darned pretty.  Hubs did a great job, didn't he?  :)

Those windows to the left of the front door?  That's the playroom.  You can almost see the mini-tree that is standing atop the little fridge in there.  I think it's hilarious that the playroom is the first room you see when you come in our house.  It is a mess 99.99% of the time.  We're certainly not hiding the fact that we have kids.  

Hmmm.  Looking at this, I see I need to add three more wreaths next year to the top windows.  

christmas prepping

Lots of behind-the-scenes crafting going on these days.  Gifts, of course.

Trouble is, I really can't post them here.  Peekers, you know.  ;)

I've got some cape-making on my list, for some little friends of the boyish persuasion. And some special monogrammed thingies for some friends of the grown-up persuasion. And a princess dress.

And. And. And... It's laughable, how much I think I can get done in the next few days.  Here's to optimism!  :)

I did point hubs in the direction of etsy last week and am crossing my fingers because the seller has closed shop for the holidays already.  Don't forget  -- if you can't make something yourself, you might still be able to support handmade if you order asap!  I like this. And this.  And this.  There is so much good stuff out there.

{ crafting with kids } go-cup wreath

About two years ago, I asked my ever-so-patient mother in law to teach me how to crochet, with the delusion of making my own ripple quilt.  I would throw it over my sofa and my children would snuggle under it.  I would use it to keep warm while I read.  The candy colors would be ageless and my girls would fight over who got to keep it someday.  Ever the enthusiastic pupil, I ran out and bought a LOT of yarn. 

I did not count on two things. 

1. I have tendinitis in my hands and wrists. This doesn't mix well with yarnwork.
2. The tendinitis as a really good excuse for the fact my attempts at the doomed quilt created nothing but a gigantic ruffle -- not a ripple in sight. It really was hilarious.

And it is ok.  Now I can just appreciate the work of others and get on with my own stuff.  However, I still have a lot of yarn at my house. It's so pretty and soft. I like to look at it and imagine someday I will make something with it.  So it struck me as funny when I went out last week and bought yet ANOTHER skein of yarn with no plans of weaving it into something useful.

Instead, this is what Fidge and I did today while the littlest girl was napping (it is happening these days!  finally!!!) and it kept our fingers busy for about 20 minutes.

We used discarded plastic 32-oz to-go cup lids and cut circles out of the middle.  (It's easy to do if you use the straw hole to start your cutting.)  Then we wrapped some extra thick yarn around and around to create a wintery wreath.  This wrapping part kept her almost-four year old fingers busy for a while, which is always nice.

Fidget's is not done, or so she says.  She has started putting sequins on it, and we know how long that can take. 

It reminds me of the kind of country-craft that I would have done back in second grade in the late 70s and am still taking out of my ornament boxes every year.  However, the fun thing about having small kids in the house is that you don't have to explain the prominent display of cutesy art projects.  Even if you made them.  Am I right??  :)

Next up, pom-poms and braided barrettes.  I'm kidding.  Sorta.

{ crafts } easy-peasy candy houses

Saturday night, while hubs and a friend watched some football (and, might I say, even as a Mizzou Tiger fan, I was felt awful for the Huskers... ouch) the kids and I decorated graham cracker houses with some friends of our own.

The fun part is decorating them, right?? Last year we spent a lot of time trying to get the houses to stick together with mortar alone... but this time I took the advice from an article in the December issue of BHG and made right angles with the squares beforehand.

I melted some sugar in a pan and, when it turned brown, I dipped one side of a square in it and used it like glue to attach another. I let them cool off on a sheet of waxed paper.  Putting the houses together from that point was super fast and easy.

Because it's really all about the decorating, right?

We had some leftover peices of foam core that worked out just fine for the bases.

And lots and LOTS of candy.  Yum. 

Babygirl and I had a few minutes to kill the other day before we had to run to preschool and get Fidget.  So we had a photoshoot with a tripod and a remote.  Happy Monday!!

december already?

Hello, December.  You're lovely.

You were yesterday anyway.  Gorgeous and 65 and sunny and glowy.  Yes, I'll take that weather for the remainder of the month if you don't mind.  The blowy and coldish stuff that showed up today kind of put a damper on my outdoor decorating to-do list.  Harrumph.  Off to find my mittens.

Here is a glimpse of my living room, which is now mostly decked for the holidays.  Greens and golds and blues, oh my.  I think I'm loving it.