Handmade Holidays: Project 6: Mother-in-Law Scrap Lap Quilt

I had grande plans to make handmade ornaments for the grandparents this year. Tiny handprints on glass ornaments with pictures of the children inside, maybe even a fingerful of fake snow to make it a bit more festive. But alas, I did not plan my time accordingly and did not manage to make the ornaments in time to send them in the mail to Pennsylvania, Albany and Ireland. Instead, I had to come up with a quick-like-a-bunny plan to be able to at least get the Irish present out in time to perhaps make it there by Christmas. Time to get creative!

I found a beautiful vintage-looking sheet at the thrift store with a yellow rose floral design that inspired me with a handful of fabric scraps that I had been hoarding. The patches were all fabrics that, when reorganizing my craft supplies, almost organized themselves in a pile together. I was initally going to do a strip quilt, to make it as quick as possible but the pieces that I had did not quite measure up to make it feasible. So instead five inch by five inch squares with the one fabric that was long enough, making strips to break up the pattern. I wanted to make a single large blanket but again the pieces didn't seem to work, so instead I made up two patterns. A smaller sized lap blanket, about four feet long by two feet wide and a larger couch blanket that is four fee wide but five foot long. I thought I had enough batting scraps to fill in the middle but none of them were big enough either so instead I grabbed some patterened flannel that I had bought on clearance. I had thought to maybe make a couple baby blankets with it, but FYI when you have a baby, you will have too many blankets, so I voted against that plan. Then it was sitting with the rest of my flannels for pajama pants but it was an awful green, brown and ickier green stripe that I had initially thought was masculine but ended up just being ugly. Perfect substitute for batting in a lightweight but still cuddly blanket. 

All in all the cutting both blankets out and sewing together the smaller lap blanket took me half of a day. It was wonderful and quick and homemade, exactly what I like to give for presents. I can't wait for the MIL to get the package. As I was sewing it, I imagined her sitting in her brisk little garden in Ireland having a cuppa and a smoke, slightly stereotypical and true. Exactly what I would love to do when I retire. 

I used to be terrified of the idea of quilting, let alone actually doing it, but last year I made simple blankets of a cotton front and flannel back, no quilting involved, then I made a patchwork wall hanging for my grandmother, not convinced enough of my skills to make a usable quilt, and finally this year I folded and made my little Cap his Harry Potter quilt and now two more quilts, it may very well become one of my things! (Don't tell anyone but I used to think the very idea of buying yards and yards of fabric to cut up into tiny pieces and then sew back together was ridiculous...now it's the best way to use up my fabric and I love it while I am doing it)

patches all squared out

Hubby modeling the finished lap blanket

Handmade Holidays: Project 5: Tissue Holders

For some reason, I am sure that it was a good one, I had bought a 12 pack of tiny pocket tissue packs. I never use these tissues so I am pretty sure I meant to make felt tissues holders originally as well but I never got around to it. As previously mentioned, I have a serious goal of destashing and reorganizing my crafting life this holiday season, so I need to use what I have. I love working with felt, its great for crafting, for kids and its cheap with no fray! For the kids, and potentially for a couple adults, I made/am making some tissue holders. 

Here are a couple that I found on Pinterest, my not-so-secret love affair:

Boogey Monster

Teddy Bear and Kitty Kat

Bunny and Robot

Here are the two that I have finished so far: 

For my niece, a little Monster High-esque maybe with a button closure

For my nephew, I love the tongue!

My nephews present, I have to get a photo in that tiny gingerbread man!!! Don't forget! I also added a tag in case he wanted to attach it to his bookbag

Handmade Holidays: Five Months old!

While I know this may not be part of a "Handmade Holiday," I did make him and it is the holidays, so here ya go my Little Captain America: 

Dear Baby Boy,

Happy Birthday Steven! I know you actually turned 5 months last Wednesday but Momma has been super busy getting ready for the holidays. I am so happy that you came into our lives, however unexpected you were. You make me smile every morning and exhausted every night but I wouldn't change it for the world. You let us sleep for at least three hours every night before you wake up hungry, then you spend the rest of the night cuddled into my arms, keeping me warm when Daddy steals all the blankets. You used to wake up crying because you were unsure of life, now you wake up smiling and the first hour you are awake, nothing could make you angry. 

Almost every morning we wake up, you spend a little time in bed with Daddy while I take out the dogs and make coffee. Then Daddy gets ready for work while we make his lunch and we wave to him from the front window when he leaves. Then we have breakfast. You have oatmeal, strawberries, bananas, pears and/or applesauce while I have my coffee and yogurt. Then we fill the day with various chores, playing with the dogs, playing piano, practicing crawling, sewing and watching Doctor Who. You were taking a three hour nap everyday for a week but you seem to have given up on naps all together at this point. You will take two or three twenty minute sleeps, just long enough for me to use the bathroom or switch laundry, barely. 

I am astounded every day how big you have grown. Seventeen pounds already! Over twice your birth weight! You are eating tons of baby food, handmade by your loving momma, with no known allergies, high five! You like to help me sew but want to touch the needle, so you don't help too often. You might be starting to teeth since you put everything in you mouth now but I have thought that since you were 3 months old. You love eating paper and your socks. You like it when the dogs lick your feet and face and hands and legs and arms and hair. You laugh when I nibble on your baby fat neck and chubby little thighs. You prefer when Daddy changes your diaper because he made up the Diaper Song that I can never remember and when I try, it sounds lame with no rhythm at all. 

Thank you Steven, for helping me find a life that makes me the happiest, for being happy even though I have no idea what I am doing and for helping Daddy and I continue building our family together. We love you a googolplex!!!

- Momma

using our newly found arm muscles, but mostly getting angry at being on our belly!

Wearing a tux to Brother's winter concert!

the happiest baby and the best thing to wake up to every morning (sorry Hubby but it's true)

Handmade Holidays: Holiday Party #1

Hubby had a company holiday party this past Sunday so there was minimal crafting done, with all the pumping and prepping and showering that I had to do prior to leaving Steven with his grandfather. This was really the first time that I have left him alone. I have left him once before, for an hour for a drink with friends but he stayed home with his Dadda. This time, Hubby and I were both out from 6:45pm until 11:21pm. Not that I kept track of the time or anything.  

It was tons of fun, James even bought me a new outfit and I got to wear shoes that we bought two winters ago for the first time. I absolutely love the top that we bought (thank you Target), it was light and airy, glittery and just drapey enough to cover the baby belly without being frumpy. James insisted on wearing my Van Gogh- Doctor Who skirt from Hot Topic, very cute and not something that I would have bought without him, but it turned out to be really comfortable. 

The food was awesome, the people he worked with (he just transferred to another store so we have another party next week!) are awesome and fun, we danced and other then a sore on my toe the night was awesome. Halfway through, my best friend (since fifth grade) went over to the house and dressed the baby up for bed and she finally put him to sleep, after my dad tried twice! They both said that it wasn't too bad so I am hopeful for next week. On the other side of that, Steven might have been horrible and they are nicely lying to me. James' mom told me when she was over that James was four before she left him with anyone else. They left James with his grandmother and she swore that he was happy and perfect the whole time, while his aunt tattled and told his mother how he wailed the entire time they were gone. I imagine that it was somewhere in between. My friend also bought Steven two new pajama sets and she sent me a picture of him in it, which made me cry in front of a table of James' coworkers, embarrassing but I missed him!!!

very blurry because of the poor lighting, but yey us!

Terrified face on my little reindeer baby!

One of my favorite ever pictures of us

Handmade Holidays: Project 4: Soap and Candles

Another super easy project that I wanted to do this year was to make soap and candles. I do not make soap or candles completely from scratch, at least not yet, but the craft stores have easy and pretty kits that are great for beginners, or for those of us that are making them with an infant attached to the hip. I was going to try and make these with the kids, but at this point in the game, if I have the time, energy, supplies and infant cooperation, I do it. I had made soap last year to presents (and made way too many of them) so I had some left over for this year, which was good considering the 24 people that will be at dinner, plus presents for those that won't be at the meal. I also wanted to de-stash some of my crafting supplies, so I ended up using up all of my candle and soap making supplies, all I have left are some wicks which I am going to hold onto and maybe make crayon candles with the kids this winter. 

I started with herbal soaps, making oatmeal, patchouli and lavender bars for a grown up option. I still had more soap left, as well as coloring and scents that came in the kits that I had bought last year. I made super-saturated colored ones for the teens on my list, in my heart shaped silicone mold. I most definitely recommend using silicone molds for soap and candle making, they say that you can use metal pans but, in my experience, the ease of the silicone molds is incomparable. I let the soaps sit for maybe an hour, in the fridge, and they were completely set and ready for wrapping up. I just wrapped them in cling-wrap, since that is what I had in the house and we never use it for food (I couldn't even figure out why we had bought it in the first place, although I may make sugar cookies later this month and I may use it then). 

my messy workspace, aka my kitchen counter

After making all the soap, which really consists of just melting the soap in the microwave, adding color, scent and pouring it into the mold, I started on the candles. This I had never done before so it was a little bit of trial and error but I think that they turned out nicely.  I didn't use the molds for these because they were all filled with soap, instead I reused jars and glasses from spent candles. I bought white wax, no coloring and no scents. For the first bunch, I coloured them with three green crayons and scented them with the leftover bits of pine scented candles, they smell slightly but not as over-powering as the originals, which I actually ended up liking. I had enough of that to make five of the green and still have a fair amount of wax left. I crushed up dried lavendar and grabbed two purple crayons to color the wax, hoping that they purple overpowered the green, which it did. The second batch made a large candle, a tiny jar candle and three tiny jarred candles from the scents I had used in the soap. I don't know how well any of these will burn, but they look really pretty and I will probably test them out soon. I managed to do this entire project with Steven in his bouncy seat or on my hip, so it wasn't difficult at all and I really enjoyed it. The smells were amazing!

I used chopsticks to keep the wicks centered and upright

My five pine tree scented candles sitting while the lavender wax melted on the stove

this was the final result. 50 soaps and 10 candles (notice the adorable R2D2 soaps? I have a huge Star Wars fan on my list)

My little Holiday Helper! Thanks Granmichelle for the owl pillow!!

Handmade Holidays: Project 3: Birdseed Ornaments

I have been looking for a couple of presents that I can include the kids on so I have been stalking Pinterest (again!) for a couple ideas. I found one, here , but of course I decided that this was the exact project that I wanted to do and then realized that I did not have all the ingredients. So we had to improvise a little and they did not come out as beautiful as the ones in the pictures. But the kids had fun making them, although next time I will use two separate bowls and separate molds so they each can have their own space, sharing became a little bit of a problem. Maybe even invited their cousins over and make a little buffet of different kinds of seeds and mixtures that they can add. We could also collect seeds throughout next summer and fall, throw them in the freezer and use them as well.  

We ended up using raspberry gelatin which turned it red and I have since found a few other recipes that may be a little easier to use. Overall it was fun, it took about forty minutes to make but we let them dry for a whole 24 hours. We may end up making more after the holidays since we have tons of bird seed, lots of hungry birds, and cold weather activities will be in demand. It was fun and will make a cute little present for family and their feathered friends on Christmas day. 

 

bits of bird treats and one to hang on the tree in a little tin foil cookie package 

while Brother and Sister were making bird treats (and let's be honest, squirrel and deer treats) Steven ate some sweet potatoes 

Handmade Holidays: Project 2: Ornament Exchange

 This year I joined an ornament exchange, somewhat foolishly perhaps, considering I have in infant and household to run, but I joined nonetheless. During the Thankful Project sponsored by the Chasing Happy blog, she also hosted the Merry Mail ornament exchancge. I had four other women that I needed to make ornaments for. I wanted to make something small, cute, handsewn and, honestly, with supplies that I already had (remember I am on a destashing kick). I have a fair amount of felt, ribbon and tons of buttons. You know how you buy a pack of buttons and really only needed two? Those buttons, and the old-school cookies tins from my mother and grandmother, although those didn't come into play for his project.  I love handsewing, I am not great at it, but I love doing it, so I definitely wanted to incorporate that as well. To Pinterest I went!!! 

I found inspiration here and here.

And here are the results! I also made very simple hand made cards to go along with them. (I really have got to figure out a better photo taking for this blog) I actually enjoyed them so much that I ended up making a few extra as presents for my own family!

Handmade Holidays: Project 1: Baby Quilt

My first project for Christmas ended up being a complete by chance sort of thing. I have a problem. A problem that I have heard many crafters have, and that there may be support groups for. I collect craft things, tons of craft things. Even before I was working in a craft store, I had tons of bits and bobbles. Then I worked in a fabric chain store for a year and goodness did the collection grow and spawn. It was/is a problem. Hubby gives me the "look" when he glances towards my corner/closet/room/pile of things that will become other things one day. With that look in mind, I am making in a serious focus this month to make as many presents as I can manage, thus eliminating a fair amount out of my stash and saving us money on shopping (kind of, considering I have already spent the money). 

I was in the middle of sewing super hero themed curtains for my nephew (there will be no photos because they were a ton of fabric and by the time I was done sewing, I was soooo done looking at them. Plus, they are wrapped already), and I found a pile of handkerchiefs that I had bought from evil WalMart, probably five years ago. They are the white fabric with gray owls and little stars on them. I imagine, when I bought them that I had a plan. What it was? I have no clue. But they were adorable, I have a thing for owls and considering Baby had a loosely Potter themed nursery, the print was actually kind of perfect. I had matching gray fabric left over from RenFaire costumes, yellow scraps from a box of my mother's fabric, white flannel that I had bought for burpcloths (before realizing that I never use them) and a package of crib sized batting that had been on clearance for 3.97. So I had everything except for binding. Hubby suggested an orange colour to match the little owl beaks, and I agreed.

When I made the two older children blankets last year, I just used sating ribbon folded over as binding so I figured that I would do that again for this blanket. Foolishly, I thought when I couldn't find sating ribbon, that acetate ribbon would work just as well. I was wrong. Very wrong. Don't ever do that! I washed it and it fell apart so horribly that I was very tempted to toss the entire blanket in the garbage. But I had already stitched in Steven's name and the date. So out came the seam ripper and two evenings wasted, then out to buy actual blanket binding and a night to sew that on correctly. Note to self: do it correct the first time, you cheapskate! We also went to the secondhand bookstore to pick up a copy of Harry Potter to go with the blanket for his first reading book. I can't wait to start reading my favorite series to him. I am secretly hoping that the older two kids cuddle up and listen too. So, after using four or five yards of fabric that I had laying about and a slightly stressful binding experience, Steven's first Momma-made blanket is all finished, folded and waiting to be wrapped. 

Piecing together the squares

Finished top

Hand stitched little message for Steven's first baby quilt. Hopefully, we will have many, many nights snuggled underneath, reading together

I also finished a handful of burpcloths, mostly I just use these when feeding Steven to wipe his face and hands. The fabric was a flannel flat sheet from the thrift store for $2 and it made 9 burpcloths. 

Holiday Season Starts!

     This past month I have not been a great blogger, but I have definitely been working on being a great momma. Steven and I spend every day together, lots of one on one time just hanging out with each other. I am trying to figure out how to put a baby on a schedule when I have no real schedule and no real solid reasons to stick to a schedule. But it is a work in progress. Here's hoping that I can figure it out in a reasonable amount of time *fingers crossed*
     So as of this past Sunday, December is finally here and the Christmas season really starts. We had 11 people for Thanksgiving dinner and are now planning a dinner for potentially 27 people on Christmas day. It is a very good thing that I enjoy hosting and prepping and decorating and setting a cute table! Tomorrow I will start the hand made holiday presents countdown and I am debating doing a Doctor Who month in January, with crafts, episode reviews, lots of pictures and maybe a cosplay or two.

I hope every one had a blessed and thankful Thanksgiving with loved ones and is looking forward to a love filled holiday season!