I make ugly cookies

Different shapes and sizes, kinda lumpy, sprinkles willy-nilly.....
Luckily, no one around here seems to mind. And at this rate, I am pretty sure they won't be around long enough for anyone else to witness!
Enjoy some sweetness this holiday season :-)

p.s. This is the simplest and most yummy recipe for whipped shortbread. Wanna try it? Mix 1 cup butter, 1.5 cups flour and 0.5 cup confection/icing sugar with a mixer for 10 minutes, then bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Makes 2-3 dozen.

Nutcrackers

So glad these are done. Not nearly as cute as the Santa costumes, but when paired with black pants and a hat (made by another volunteer so not seen here), it should be okay. As you can see from the picture The Middle Child did, however, find her Santa hat, which she insisted on wearing here with the Nutcracker top.
I followed the suggestion of one reader and got a few more of the felt sacks and made the general body of the costume the same as the Santas. Then, used gold ribbon to accent. This was the bane of my existence- what a bugger to put on! Anyways, super slippery, liked to fray, but I got it in place, if not straight then so be it! I had hoped to add a fancy collar and some brass buttons but just did not have the time to go seek out some.... Sometimes you just have to go with DONE instead of PERFECT. Should do the trick. Can't wait to see all the cute little munchkins sing their hearts out at the concert on Sunday!

On to the next project!

By the way, be sure to check back Monday, I am participating in Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day!

best tree ever

One of our family Christmas traditions is to bring home a fresh Christmas tree. The first year we did this was 7 years ago, when I was pregnant with Big G, and we joined some friends having no intention of getting a tree for ourselves. Now this tradition is one of the favorite parts of our holiday. We go to a place just outside the city that has sleigh rides, bonfires and hot chocolate. Invariably, every year we leave saying, "This year we found the best tree ever!" So, inspired by these collective moments, I made this:

Can you see us? We are all tucked into the Monaluna minivan there, cold, tired and happy. My husband is feeling like Paul Bunyan after the kids cheered as he chopped down the biggest and best tree around. We are belting out Christmas carols as we drive. Our cheeks and noses are rosy, but our hearts are warm!
I am loving the hoop ornaments of late (have you noticed??). Blame it on pilli pilli and Three Red Apples. I have a bunch more I have been working on for holiday gifts, but those will have to wait to be revealed :-) Some are tree ornaments, 3" and 4", but this one is 6" for the wall, and is staying home with us! I appliqued the Monaluna fabric to some linen with Heat and Bond Lite, then hand stitched all the details using a combo of embroidery thread and Perle 8. My favorite detail is the red bow that holds the tree to the car!
I added a couple black buttons to serve as tires for our "minivan."
And again, those famous words.....
Here it is with our tree, which remains half decorated....I guess Mom's too busy sewing costumes!

And here we are in "real life," as we picked our tree this year. Life is good!

Santa's Sweatshop

My kids have gone to the best preschool in the world. Fantastic teachers with a can-do attitude who create an atmosphere of quality learning that is fun. Each year they put together an adorable Christmas concert, and this year they decided that the kids should be in costume.

Sixty-seven kids.

That's a lot of costumes, just to clarify. And we had 3 weeks to make it happen. And a budget of...as cheap as humanly possible.

Did I mention I was the only volunteer able to sew?

Luckily, many of the costumes were a simple "brown shirt + brown pants + dollar store antlers = reindeer" or elf, etc. Some things could also be done by glue gun. That left me 7 costumes that needed sewing.

The first mission, should I choose to accept it, was to create 4 pint-sized Santa costumes from this:
a red felt sack for the dollar store.

With a few buttons, some additional white, black and gold felt, and a little Christmas magic, I came up with this:
Modelled here by The Middle Child (who has been wearing a Santa hat all week but today of course it could not be found):
I basically hacked that bag into bits and put it back together to make pants and a top. Even the bag's drawstring was reused for the pants, and the lining in the bottom of the bag happened to be gold felt, so I didn't have to buy any. Total cost per costume: approx $4! Hats and beards were available at the dollar store and will be added.
(I can't fold. I need training at The Gap.)

Now, off to try and make 3 nutcracker costumes....any ideas? I was given red short-sleeved polo t-shirts to work with and I am not feelin' it. I need them done by Thursday!!

Cuties

I love to make things for other people. I feel like in this day and age, when life is so full and busy, spending time says "love" much more than spending money. Not everyone views "homemade" that way, and fair enough- I don't love every gift given to me, either. But it does warm my heart when a gift I have made is received with excitement.

My first set of twin quilts went to a very dear friend's boys. When she was pregnant, I asked if I could make quilts for them, and she was so excited! She was involved in the fabric selection, design and redesign (x3). She even modelled the entire nursery around the quilts, and hung them on the wall when they were complete.

They recently had professional photos done and decided to use the boys' quilts as a backdrop for the photo shoot. I was so touched! The photos are in-CRED-ible! They were taken by the extremely talented May Arason-Li. I will definitely be calling on her to photograph my children, so that I can pull out sweet pictures like this when they are driving me nuts in real life :-)





Aren't these boys the most precious things ever?? Or at least in close competition with their crazy-cute Big Sister!

In Review... Sew and Tell Friday Roundup!

I am linking up with my friends at Sew and Tell today, and since there hasn't been one for 2 weeks, I thought I would do a review of what I have been up to. Looking back, it seems I am on crack or something....cranking things out in my Santa Sweatshop!

1. Hand stitched snowflake ornaments. Want to read more? Click here.

2. Cute little Scottie dogs for Christmas gifts. More to share here.

3. A gift for my friend Kelli's wedding. See more here. And woo hoo! I just won her wedding giveaway!! I guess that is fabric karma :-)

4. Sweet tote bags for my little ballerinas for Christmas. Like 'em? Click here.

Phew! It's been a busy couple weeks. The Sweatshop pace continues....I need to crank out 7 costumes for my youngest daughter's preschool Christmas concert by early next week, and have also been continuing my fascination with embroidery hoops.... More to come :-) Happy Friday!

Stitched Snowflakes

I spent some time curled up on the couch, fireplace lit, hand stitching these little ornaments.

I used some off-white embroidery thread on linen, and included some crystal beads to add some sparkle. Framed in wooden embroidery hoops, with a little bit of lace to hang on the tree. Just nice, soft colors.

Guess you could say I have been a bit inspired in the snowflake department, lately!



Happy December!