Homemade Christmas

Time has really flown and I can't believe that it's the end of the year already. Connor turned one earlier in December and Emily turned 3 yesterday. Both kids really really enjoyed christmas. Emily is such a wonderful present opener. Even when she was opening Connor's gifts she would squeal with delight and state "OH WOW." Below are some of the gifts I made for the kids. Three pairs of new jammies for Connor, one gown for Emily along with a dress with leggings and a new purse. The purse is probably her favorite gift since before we leave the house, everything that is important to her at the time goes into the purse!





The pajamas are a pattern from Ottobre 6/2009 book. I'd never worked with ribbing before but love how they turned out...so did Connor and Emily. The dress and leggings I couldn't find a pattern I liked so I sketched out a quick bodice and added a skirt to it and the leggings were super simple to just draw out, cut, and sew.

The purse is reversible with a coordinating pocket on both sides. I also made some grocery totes but didn't get a picture before they were all given as gifts.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

It snowed!!! It is absolutely beautiful outside. Actually it's still snowing this morning. Schools are canceled and that really freed up our day. This afternoon we had an appointment at the school to write Emily IEP, a meeting with our pastor regarding Connor's baptism and the kids birthday pictures. The meeting has been rescheduled along with the pictures. Will have to call Pastor to see if he's still coming into town today. That gives me an entire morning to sew...at least in between refereeing the kids!

I really need to get Christmas sewing finished. Still have jammies to finish for the kids, Emily's new dress and gift bags for everything to be put into. Yesterday I finished a pair of jammies for Connor and am not sure what I was doing while putting on the ribbing around the collar but it is really stretched out and curly. So I will get to spend a while this morning pulling out all of those stitches...NOT fun to do on knit material.

Connor's baptism is also this weekend and I need to make his baptism gown...nothing like waiting until the last minute! I had hoped he could wear Emily's but my little bambino is quite the big little boy and is a little bigger than his sister was.

Blessing to all and I hope everyone (at least in our area) is enjoying the snow!

Winter is just around the corner...

I am really looking forward to snow. The tans and browns of fall need to be covered!

Last week I ordered several books. The first one I've been reading is Handmade Home - Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures by Amanda Blake Soule. I originally ordered the book because I'm always looking for fun and neat things to make and since our family loves sustainable living, it seemed like it would be a good fit for us. The book was so much more than craft projects. It reminded me of why we live green, that our frugalness is not just about saving money but preserving our earth and a simpler way of life, a more traditional, or even old-fashioned, way to life.