Christmas Dress-Wowzer Wed

When I was a child my mother ALWAYS made my Christmas dress to match my sister's. Usually different colors but the same pattern. It is a family tradition that I have carried on with my daughter.

I just love reusing things that others have forgotten about of left behind. Last summer I was going through my MIL's scraps and came across this wonderful black tulle with red polka dots. As it was in the scrap pile there wasn't a lot of it but I knew I wanted to use it for something. So I thought about it for awhile (like 4 months) before I decided to use it as a lining for my daughter's Christmas dress. I wanted something Christmasy but classic, and versitile enough that she can wear it past Christmas. I wanted something full and fluffy, a special dress for special occasions. I bought some of my favorite eyelet from fabric.com, fancy eyelet in black. This eyelet is so beautiful with a great design and just the right amount of shimmer. Here is the end result:
I started with the bodice creating a pattern from a t-shirt. Then I added a ruffle neckline from the salvage end of the eyelet. I lined the bodice with basic black cotton and used a button closure in the back. Then I took 2 yards of the eyelet to make the skirt portion (10 inches long). I gathered at the top to attach it to the bodice. Then I gathered the tulle and another hemmed rectangle the same length for under the tulle. I sewed all the layers together and attached the layers to the bodice. I finished it off with sleeves, two buttons down the front, and a red taffeta sash.

I am so happy with how it turned out. Exactly how I pictured it.
My son will be wearing a match black and red tie with a white collared shirt and argyle sweater. I just love dressing up for the season.

The Gift of Service

I recently received a new calling in church. Relief Society enrichment coordinator. This is both exciting and intimidating to me. I have so many ideas for great enrichment nights but at the same time there is a lot of hard work, supervising, delegating, and preparing. I am great at the preparing and hard work but I have a tendency of doing everything myself. Mainly because I have found that often people do not follow through with their duties or they do not complete their assignments satisfactory to me and I end up having to redo everything anyways. But now this calling is going to force me to rely on others for help.

Last night was my first event, our Relief Society Christmas party. We had a very traditional party with a ham dinner, short program, and then we finished our night with a service project white elephant gift exchange. Instead of a white elephant gift we exchanged service that we would like to share. People donated everything from baked goods, to babysitting, to specialty talents like a photo session, music lessons, vinyl lettering, and even a day of organizing. It was a great way to get to know the other sisters in the ward and share our talents with each other. Then all the sisters took home a hand painted Christmas star ornament that I made using air dry clay.

Here is how to make your own ornaments:
-air dry clay (found at any craft store)
-stamps
-cookie cutters
-string
-craft paint
-craft glaze (found in the paint section)

Roll out the dough to about 1/8th inch. Then stamp all the dough with your decorative stamp. Next use your cookie cutter to cut out your ornaments. Then poke a small hole where you will loop the string through. Let it dry overnight. Now mix some of the paint with the glaze to thin it out and apply to your stars. I used glitter glaze to give it a bit of pizazz.

These are so easy and there are so many options for quick dry clay. 1 container of clay made about 70 ornaments and cost me $10 (with a coupon).

I also made the center pieces using jars, cranberries, and LED candles. They are simple but beautiful. Finish the jars off with garlands around the base to add some Christmas color and flair.

Advent Calendar From Dry Food Containers

It might have been easier to purchase an advent calendar with chocolates from the drug store but I'm really happy I decided to make my own this year.  It was very time consuming but definitely worth it!

I used empty dry food containers for the dividers.

Very carefully cut each container until you have 25 circles.  I'm sure you could quickly do this step with a saw but a kitchen knife or hardware scissors will also do the trick.

I ran out of circular food containers so I had to use a few rectangles from cereal and cracker boxes.

Next I painted the circles.  You could cover them in paper or fabric instead.  The cardboard required several coats of paint.

While the paint was drying I worked on the gifts and tags. 

Our gift closet had plenty of stocking stuffers that were small enough for the calendar.

I wrapped each gift in matching paper and used tulle to attach the number tags.

A large piece of cardboard worked well for the base to the calendar.  I glued two felt pieces to the back to attach a tulle hanger.

The cardboard piece wasn't very pretty so I covered it in the same wrapper paper I used for the small gifts.

It took a few tries to get all the circles laid out on the cardboard backing with out going over the edges.  Once I had them all in place I used my glue gun to attach them to each other and the back.   

Luckily all the gifts fit into the small circles.

The advent calendar is now hung by our tree.  My daughter is so excited each morning to wake up and open a small gift!

I'm linking this post here.

 

Reindeer Shirts

I don't know what it is like at your house but in our house we go from Thanksgiving to Christmas in a day. Traditionally we set up our Christmas tree and decorations the day after Thanksgiving...getting in a little cleaning as well. Like winter cleaning to create a winter wonderland. And with this in mind I realized that I don't have too many Christmas decorations. Therefore I will be creating a lot of fun holiday crafts to help bring peace and joy into my home. My first project, reindeer shirts for the kids. I make them every year each year a little different.

This year I went for classic designs without all the frills. Just a simple reindeer head out of brown corduroy and antlers from some fun festive fabric I had on hand. To decipher between the girl and boy version I added a bow to the antler for the girl and a bow tie for the boy. They are simple and easy. All you need is fabric and wonder-under. No sewing machine necessary unless you want to stitch around the reindeer head. Cut a pattern for your pieces, cut your pieces out of the fabric and wonder-under, iron them on the shirt, and add your bows.



BTW have you seen the Cyber Monday deals on Fabric.com, AMAZING! 10% off Brother sewing machines, 20% off order of $0-$74.99, 25% off order of $75-$149.99, and 30% off order of $150+. I know what I am asking for what about you?

Picture Coasters-A Christmas Gift

Welcome to FUN FIND FRIDAY!
This weeks project was inspired by another great Pinterest find.
Tile Coasters.

They are just tiles and scrapbook paper.

I love this time of the year however sometimes I get a little stressed over what gifts to get everyone. Especially the grandparents and in-laws. Then it hit me, make some picture coasters for them. I printed off pictures of our family and a family trip we took over the summer and put them on the tiles to give to my in-laws. I like the idea of having pictures out where you can see them, rather than tucked away in some photo book.

Want to make some for yourself or a loved one?

Here is what you need:
-tiles from Home Depot 16 cents each (Lowes has some but there is not a variety and they are most expensive)
-pictures printed or cut to 4x4 squares
-mod podge
-spray glue
-felt
Start by making sure your tiles are really clean. Then spray each tile with spray glue. Place the picture on the tile and smooth out any bubbles. Paint over the picture with mod podge (remember it dries clear). Once the tile is dry flip the tile over and spray the back with spray glue. Then place the felt down (this will prevent scratching).
I love the look and how affordable and easy this gift is to make, even my 3 year old son helped me. I know that my family will love them. Personal and creative...the perfect gift.I also tried doing it with black tiles (37 cents each). The only issue is the spray glue on the black. You will need to scrap it off of the boarder.