Our Home For The Holidays - And Free Printable!

 

I Love my home this time of year! Even sitting in the evening watching TV feels special when the only light in the room comes from the tree. Here is a few pictures of our budget friendly holiday decorations...

 

 I needed new printables for my side table this Christmas and this is what I came up with...

 

 

The printables are cute but I especially love my little 8$ white tree from Target! 

You can find a link to these printables of mine at the end of this post. Enjoy!

 

I love to hang our stockings on the stairs (since we don't have a mantle) so it's the first thing the kids see as they head down Christmas morning. Seeing there stockings stuffed with goodies will only highten the excitement for when they turn the corner and see the real jackpot... under the Tree!

 

 

Just a little shelf in the bathroom. My mom painted this adorable little Santa and we have it up somewhere in the house every year.

 

 

The countdown calendar is all stuffed and ready to go for this Saturday, the 1st of December. Each pockets filled with 3 treats, so we don't fight.

 

 

And this special corner...

 

 

Suprise suprise, my husband can play the piano! I really had no idea. I haven't heard him play before. I was practing my "Jolly Old Saint Nick" song when he came over to show me how it's really done. He was gracious enough to tell me how good I was doing for only 2 days worth of practice, but I admit I'm a little embarrassed to play in front of him anymore. I'll just have to get him to teach me what he knows. 

 

Deer Printable

 

Merry Little Christmas Printable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Santa's Little Helper Child's Apron Tutorial

Merry Christmas! No?... Yeah, me either. It's going to be a beautiful 85 degrees here at home today, thanks to some rain we've had lately to cool us down from 100+ temperatures. Me and the kids are headed out to enjoy to the day!

I do have to say though, there is something pleasant about getting some Christmas sewing done in July. Very little stress that I won't finish it in time. This apron was fun and easy to make too, perfect for lazy summer days. Switch out the snowflakes and change the stripes to checks and it would look very cute as a barbecue apron as well. It reminds me a little of a watermelon with the green chevron print and the curved pockets.

Head on over to the Pine Needles blog today and check out my tutorial for this Santa's Li'l Helper Child's Apron. And if you've arrived from Pine Needles blog, here is the promised picture of my daughters lovely outfit. Such a silly girl! I actually let her run outside to play dressed like this, apron and all... hey it's summer, relax! :)

Printing on fabric

*Don't use your printed fabric on anything washable, unless you use a colorfast ink in your printer, the ink will bleed. *

Using my cheap ink jet printer I printed these sweet little labels to use as gift tags. The first time I tried it I backed my fabric with freezer paper, but the fabric didn't adhere well and it slipped off, causing a bunchy mess of fabric jammed inside my printer (shh... don't tell the husband). I don't recommend that method. The second time I used Heat n Bond Ultrahold and they turned out great. Of course now my fabric is fusible, which could be a plus I guess, depending on the project.

All you have to do is cut a piece of Heat n Bond the size of a piece of paper ( 8.5 X 11). If you have an extra fancy printer I suppose you can do it larger. Whatever size your printer will hold. You then iron that to piece of fabric roughly the same size. I like to cut my fabric just a little larger than the Heat n Bond and then trim the extra. It's easier than trying to get it perfect and you don't gunk up your iron if you are off a little bit.

After that you just run it through your printer like a regular piece of paper.

A sheet of cute little labels...

Cut them out...

And iron on (after the ink has dried completely)...

*Please excuse the Christmas stocking pictures, I know Christmas is the very LAST thing we are all thinking of right now. Personally I am dreaming of the hot hot sunshine on my shoulders and flip flops. Trust me, I'm not being extra prepared by getting my Christmas already done for next year... these were supposed to be finished last Christmas. *

To be honest I tried this method because I didn't want to bother with embroidering everyone's name onto their stocking. In the end I think it turned out cute, and much quicker.

So be good for GOODNESS SAKE!

Is it just my kids who go a little nuts this time of year? I thought not. The "Santa's watching" thing only lasts for a moment and then they are back to WILD delight about the coming holiday.



So this year, in hopes of positive reinforcement, we are counting up the times the kids have been good. Santa will see our paper chain on Christmas Eve and is sure to be impressed!



The kids are super excited that it's almost reached to ground already, but I'm hoping by the 24th we'll have it wrapped around the kitchen. Every little good deed, from eating all their dinner, to letting mom and dad sleep in Saturday morning, to an A on a spelling test, gets an added chain.

Mushroom Christmas Tree Ornament

Pretty cute, huh? It was actually made to be a pin cushion way back in the spring, but it never made it to the blog. It sat there looking sweet on my self in the office for a few months, then the girls got ahold of it and played with it for awhile. Now I've taken it back, hung it on a bit of mini rick rack and plan to make a few more to hang on the Christmas tree this year.

No, my Christmas tree is not up yet... we actually LIKE Thanksgiving around here. I had to dig out this mini tree from the basement to showcase what it will look like, in a few weeks, hanging on a Christmas tree.

I have a tutorial put together for you. I've also copied a pattern sheet to scribd that I'll link to. I have only recently discovered that scribd charges to download things unless you upload something yourself. I wasn't aware of this (probably because I am always uploading its never been a problem for me to download) and I apologize. I am on the hunt for someone new to use in the future who doesn't charge. I actually already downloaded this pattern a few months ago on scribd, so it's there now for those of you who can download it. I'll have my hubby (he's the one who knows how to work all that for me) download it to a better site ASAP.

But here's a few pictures to help you put it together. You'll want to first cut out 5 mushroom cap pieces out of polka dot fabric (The fabric in the picture is pink. I made a cute pink one too, but I'm going to let the girls hang on to that one. Pink doesn't match my current Christmas decor).
You'll then sew these pieces together, like I've shown below...
Once you have the mushroom cap pieces all sewn together, you'll sew that to the mushroom cap BASE. I cut my base and stem from felt. It is stiffer and you don't need to worry about fraying.
Here's a picture of me sewing the cap to the cap base...
I then cut a little hole at the bottom of the cap base. The stem of the mushroom will cover the hole so you don't need to worry about sewing it up. Just make sure you don't cut the hole to big that it won't be covered up by the stem. Now stuff the cap through the hole with a bit of fiberfill stuffing.
Now hand stitch the two short ends of the stem piece together...
and then hand stitch the stem base to the bottom of the stem...

Ugh... ugly, ugly stitches there, but you get the idea. Now stuff your stem with some fiberfill stuffing. You'll then hand sew the cap to the base with a whip stitch and sew a bit of rick rack to the top to hang your ornament. I also added a couple little felt leaves to the top... that's just because I wanted to hide my imperfections where the cap pieces came together at the top. You can do that do if you like the way it looks, or leave it off if you are better at stitching than I am :)

Mushroom Pattern

Christmas in July

I am much more in the mood to think about our upcoming vacation to the cabin and laying out in the sun while the kids splash in the river. But if you want the best fabric selection you'd better start thinking about your Christmas projects in June and July, because that's when the fabric hits the selves. By the time November rolls around, it will be all gone.

Do you follow NanaCompany? I am in love with everything she does! I love all the sweet romantic fabric she uses. Recently she posted an adorable little story about having cookies and milk every night before bed with her little children and she made these too cute little cookie mats.




I wanted to make 5 (one for each of us) but I didn't know how much use they would get in our household. While working one night and staring at the Christmas fabric wondering how long it will be before it's all sold and thinking about buying some, I remembered the cookie mats. How about a little mat for Santa... Perfect! I pictured my children setting out Santa's special little mat with his homemade cookies and milk and I knew I had a darling project on my hands.

Looking through these pictures I think I still want to make some everyday cookie mats. Wouldn't they look cute all hung on a hook in the kitchen?!

NanaCompany's Cookie and Milk Snack Mat Tutorial



Most of the fabric I used is Sweetwaters new fabric line, Countdown To Christmas, except the black for the plate... I can't remember :( sorry.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Well, I didn't do it all this year. Here's a few projects that sat waiting, hoping to get finished. Now I'm out of time.
But I was able to get all the neighbor gifts out. Famous Franson Carmel Popcorn and wrapped candy bars with a free printable tag.

And finish my first Christmas quilt! I think it turned out great. I did the quilting by myself, used a free pattern (you can find HERE!) and used a bright red sheet on the back that I bought at Target for 7$. I love saving money!

p.s. That plain red is wonderfully soft minkie pieced into the quilt. I love to pet it.

And lastly, I have to admit I didn't actually finish these hobby horse reindeer this year, but I thought you might like to see them anyway. One of my (and they kids) favorite Christmas decorations/toys in our home.

Christmas Eve is tomorrow so I doubt I'll get anymore done before the 25th (except the laundry, I'm trying really hard to get it finished up so I don't have to think about it this weekend). I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season!

Counting down till Christmas

I bought these adorable iron on labels last January from Sweetwater Designs. I'm so excited to have actually finished something on time! I'll fill it up tomorrow with little treats and prizes for the kids, and will start the count down December 1st!

Sweetwater has a wonderful blog that I check far too often.

Here's the link to their ETSY site, where I bought the labels.

Elf Slippers Pattern and Fabric Kit

Every holiday season at Pine Needles the employees come up with some "quick gifts" to sell at the store. We create a one of a kind pattern and make up a whole bunch of kits to go along with it. Here's one of my creations... ELF SLIPPERS! They were SO fun to make, each of my kids will be getting a pair with their Christmas PJ's on Christmas Eve.

Pine Needles is selling the fabric kits (which include the pattern for a 3 to 8 year old and the cute little pom poms!) for only $9.40. There are still a few patterns and fabric kits left. You can purchase them HERE and they will ship it out to you! The slippers are made from green felt on the outside and super soft flannel by Riley Blake on the inside.

P.S. Just to let you know, I also made the stocking and gift certificate holder as well :)

Christmas Eve Pajama Pants tutorial- size infant to 8 years

Christmas scares me to death. I have nightmares about forgetting to buy Christmas presents and having to rush out on Christmas Eve and buy presents at the gas station. There is so much stress on me as a mom to not only make Christmas special for my children, but MAGICAL! How the heck am I supposed to do that without totally blowing the budget!? That is why I start planning, sewing, and even buying in July. When December finally does roll around, I can relax and enjoy the season. Plus I just had to have this super cute flannel when it arrived at my shop the other day!

Pajama pants are the easiest thing to sew in the entire world! So if you do wait till December 24th to start your Christmas sewing, no worries, these come together in no time at all.

The first thing is picking out your fabric. I chose this darling flannel fabric by Riley Blake Designs called Colorful Christmas. This tutorial is for up to a size 8 kids, any bigger than that and you'll need to buy a lot more fabric. But for little kids you can get away with just buying the length of their legs. So measure your child's legs, add 4 inches for your waist band and bottom seam, and buy that much fabric. For my 6 year old daughter I bought 3/4 of a yard, and for my 8 year old son I bought 1 yard. For my 3 year old (pants not shown, because they are not sewn yet) I bought just 2/3 of a yard!

Next, you'll need to get some pajama pants your child already has. These will be your template for your new pants, so pick some that fit pretty well. If you're like me and you are using last year's Christmas pajamas, just add a couple inches to the bottom so they will fit next year.

Open up your fabric (as you can see, my salvage end is now running along the right hand side), lay it right side down, and then fold the sides in till they meet in the middle.

So it looks like this...

Take the pajama pants you already have and fold them in half, nice and straight, and pull the crotch out into a nice point in the back. Make sure you fold it smoothly, you may want to pin to get it just right and so they don't move around on you.

Line up the long straight edge of your pant leg with the FOLDED side of your fabric. Then cut, giving yourself at least a half inch (as you can see here I gave myself about an inch) along the other side of the pants. I cut the pants a few inches longer in the leg knowing by Christmas he'll grow quite a bit. Also, be sure and give yourself at least 2 inches extra on the top for your waist band.

I then set my template pajama pants aside, took the leg I just cut and flipped it to the other side of the fabric, lined up the folded edges nice and straight, and cut out my other leg....

Once you have the legs cut out, open them up....

set them on top of eachother, right side together....

and sew just along that curved edge on the top. Start at the top of the curve and follow it down and off the side. Do not sew along the straight edge of the pant legs yet!

Hopefully you can kind of see in this picture, I just sewed along that curved edge and stopped.

Repeat it with the other side, just that curved edge on both sides.

After you have that part sewn, open them up and refold them like in the picture below. Line up your two sewn seams on the top of the pants, making sure they are centered. So basically, instead of those two curved edges you just sewed being on the sides, they are now the front and back seams of your pants.

**Note** if you are making the girls pants with the ruffle edge, now is a good time to sew that ruffle to the bottom, BEFORE you sew up the pant legs. Skip down to the ruffle instructions on the bottom of this post to learn how to create the ruffle. **

Now you are going to sew up the legs and the crotch. Start at the bottom of one of the legs, sew up the leg, around the curve of the crotch (see picture below) and down the other leg.

Now they are starting to look like pants, huh?! All you have left to do is sew your waist band and bottom cuffs. Turn your waist band down 1 inch, twice. Press your seam. You can pin if you like.

Sew with a 1/4 inch seam allowance around the bottom of the waist band (see picture) and leave a gap about 2 inches wide to feed the elastic through. I used 3/4 inch elastic. Measure how much elastic you need for your childs waist by wrapping the elastic around their waist before you insert it into the pants.

An easy way to feed that elastic through is to use a safety pin on one end. That way you can feel it as it goes under the fabric and around your pants. Keep feeding it through, inch by inch, till you come out the other end. Make sure you don't lose the end of the elastic inside the pants. You may want to safety pin that to the outside of the pant leg so it doesn't get lost inside.

Sew the two ends of elastic together...

Insert the elastic all the way into the waist band and sew up the gap. Next, fold up the bottom of each pant leg an inch, twice, like you did the waist band, and sew that down to create the hem of your pants.

**RUFFLE INSTRUCTIONS**

To make the cute ruffle on the girls pants I skipped that last step and instead took a strip of contrasting fabric, 3 inches wide and width of fabric long (so about 44 in long), and folded it in half the long way and pressed the fold. I then lined up the raw edge of the ruffle and the bottom raw edge of the pant leg and sewed it in place, making pleats about every inch. You will not be turning the bottom of the pant leg up 2 inches like you do when making a cuff, so you will want to make your ruffle pants about 1 1/2 inches shorter than the cuff pants.

I then opened that up and pressed the pleats and my seam with a hot iron and top stiched 1/4 inch above the ruffle (see picture below)...

Once you have the ruffle on, go back up this tutorial to were you sew along the leg of the pants and finish that step. Then continue on with the tutorial, and when you are finished, you will have a cute little ruffle along the bottom of each leg.

That's it, you're done! You now have a very special present for your child this Christmas, or in our family's case, the night before Christmas.
If you have any questions you can leave it in the comments for me or e-mail me at brancy34@yahoo.com

P.S. The fabric for these pants was purchased at Pine Needles at Gardner Village in West Jordan Utah. By far the cutest quilt shop around!!! You can also see them on display there, until I take them down and wrap them up for my kids right before Christmas.