Christmas Recap

I can't believe we actually got them all in one picture and mostly looking the same way!


Finally! I was afraid I wasn't going to get these pictures posted before the new year started. I'd like to start with a clean slate. Thankfully we're all feeling a bit better and I got a little bit of quiet time this afternoon. Christmas this year was a blast (and a bit of a blur). It was so much fun to see all the little cousins together and reminded me so much of when my sister and I were kids. It was busy though, I'm not sure we want to open presents so many times next year (5 times once it was over). By the time Christmas morning came it was old hat and the girls weren't as excited as I had hoped they would be. Mostly they were just tired. We're going to have to do some thinking on how we want to handle the holiday next year to make it easier and less overwhelming for them. It was a great weekend though and a lot of great memories.

Yes, more dresses...

I know, I know. Haven't I made enough of these dresses yet? The answer is no, no I haven't. I just can't get enough of this pattern and the dresses are so versatile and just plain fun. So you'll likely see more of them even after we start the new year. I do promise to try and add in a few others too though, I've spotted some very beautiful new spring styles.



This little dress (and matching dolly dress) was sent out to a dear friend who also happened to end up being my swap partner for a Christmas exchange. You can't get better than that. I knew her little one had gotten a beautiful doll from DebsSteinerDolls just like Kinsley (in fact she was the one that discovered Deb for our group) so of course she'd need a matching dress as well.

I also included a little something that could be shared with her brother. I added in some crocheted play food because what kid doesn't love "cooking" for their parents?



I used a pattern from CraftyAnna for some of the pieces. You have to check out her Etsy shop if you aren't familiar with her patterns, they are incredibly cute. I adore this campfire set, it is definitely on my summer/fall to-do list.

A Waldorf doll for Kait

I finally got to work on Kait's doll, nothing like waiting until the last minute. Though I am done much earlier than the middle of the night Christmas Eve so that is an improvement.

My most (and least) favorite part of doing these dolls is the face.



I'm always scared to make that first stitch but it is so fun to see the dolls come to life. I still can't quite manage to get the eyes really round but I'll keep practicing. Things certainly went faster and easier than the first doll and I enjoyed the process so much more. I used another premade body from Ashtabeulah's shop to make life a little easier on myself. I would like to try my hand at making some of the pocket dolls from scratch next year though.



I hope Kait loves her as much as I do. She is just the perfect little size for her and I can't wait for both girls to get their dolls on Christmas morning.

By the way I got the doll sweater from TaffertyDesigns on Etsy. This is the second sweater we've ordered from them and I am so pleased with the quality of them. They are the perfect size for these smaller dolls.

Playing with cousins

We celebrated the solstice today by baking lots of cookies and playing with a couple adorable babies. Pretty sure I have the cutest nephews ever. The girls had a great time entertaining (and draging around) the boys who got their first tastes of Christmas cookies while they were here. Oops...







Braeden especially loved playing with the little wooden blocks. He'll have to put some on his birthday wish list.






This one is my favorite.






You'll have to forgive the ridiculous amount of pictures, they don't get to come visit often enough so I have to take them when I can.

Personalized Beanbags

Without posting a million pictures of us in our jammies reading Christmas books I was running out of things to blog about. Thankfully, this gift was finally delivered so I can share it with you. Definitely one of my favorite projects this season.





I adore these beanbags. They are so fun to make and I love that you can personalize them with anything you want. I am planning on making a number set for the girls after the first of the year. And they are definitely going to the top of my gift ideas list. I got the idea from this post over at Lil Blue Boo. I followed her sewing instruction (it was so easy that way) but used applique instead of ironing on the letters. Have you noticed I use a lot of Ashley's tutorials? I adore her and her work, you really need to follow her blog if you aren't already. She's an amazing seamstress and an incredible person.



See the little hand snatching just as I'm taking the picture? The girls were so disappointed that they didn't get to keep the beanbags, always a sign of a good gift. I hope he loves them as much as my girls did.

Sweet and Simple

I seem to be missing a lot of my Christmas spirit this year or rather as the season has gone on my cheer has seemed to dwindle. I was lamenting about my lack of holiday happiness just the other night and trying to figure out what the cause might me. For a multitude of reasons I find myself with just a handful of days left until Christmas and an enormous number of things left on my to-do list (which isn’t unusual). We’ve had more commitments this year and I’ve spent too many nights staying up late and dragging myself through the mornings. I took a moment to do some blog reading this morning and this post over at Soulemama really resonated with me. I think we’ll follow her lead and just step back and relax, pull out our favorite blankets and settle in.

Sure I could stress over the fact that I haven’t completed one single handmade gift for my loved ones this year or that we won’t have our new stockings in time for Santa’s visit. I could worry about how we haven’t baked any cookies or goodies yet or the fact that (once again) we didn’t get Christmas cards in the mail. Instead I am going to stop and just enjoy the rest of the (very short) holiday season with my girls, following their lead and loving every minute of it. That is truly what is most important.

Countdown with Jingle

We had a busy weekend of Christmas parties in which lots of fun was had and no pictures were taken. Sometimes it just works out that way. We're in the final countdown to Christmas and trying to decide what we think we'll try to finish and what we'll simply put onto the list for next year. (the list for next year is growing quickly) It also means only a few days left of our elf Jingle hanging out with us. We've had some great fun with him and can't wait to see what he has in store for the last few days until Christmas.

This Moment...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

. . . . . . . .

Christmas Cards

Well, I know I said I was going to try and actually get cards out this year but I've changed my mind. We did make our cards (two different versions) and we'll hand deliver a few at Christmas but these will likely be turned into our gift tags for the year.



I've had these cards in mind since I first spotted them last year. It's such a cute way to keep a little reminder of those tiny fingerprints that I'm always cleaning off of everything.

The girls loved stamping their fingerprints over and over again and surprisingly it only took 4 tries to get a good card. I'm impressed.



Kait was especially happy with stamping and walked around for the rest of the afternoon pretending to stamp her finger print on everything (and everyone).



Kinsley decided to make her whole family in reindeer form. I love the way they turned out.



I've started scanning all her artwork into the computer so that eventually I can make it into a book for her. I have always intended to do this and never quite got the motivation to start. We've already lost a few of my favorite pieces to an overly helpful little sister so I thought I better get started. It will be a great way to keep a record of all her art without having to keep a ton of paper over the years. This way we can turn some of the actual artwork into cards, tags and presents for family and still keep some for ourselves.

Sewing to share

(ready to be sent out to a sweet friend)

I started out making a Christmas dress for our new Waldorf baby and it snowballed from there. These little dresses are so quick to make and a great way to use up scrap fabrics. They are just miniature versions of the apron knot dresses I've been making but I switched to using velcro on them to make them a bit easier for the kids to dress their dolls by themselves.



I think the baseball one is actually my favorite. I've always loved that fabric. (and ignore the smudge on the lower left of the pictures, I didn't realize there were little fingerprints on my lens until I uploaded.)

Ceramic Drawing

One of the bad things about blogging during the holidays is that there is so much that you can't share. I've been trying to work on some Christmas gifts but I can't post pictures of them because they would be easily identified. When I saw this post over at Soulemama I thought I would go ahead and share our project. It's fun to see one of your favorite people doing the same type of project you are.

She took her ceramic markers and embellished coffee cups and we used ours to make Christmas plates to deliver baked treats on. These markers have become one of my favorite additions to our craft supplies. I bought them when I was going to make Kinsley's birthday plate and fell in love.


She's so serious when she draws.


But she really was having fun.

We bought some small plates from the dollar tree and just freehanded our designs right onto the plates with our markers. Then let them sit for 24 hours and bake according to the directions on the pen. So easy and such a great way to do a personalized gift. We bought our markers at Michaels (about $4), they were the only local place we could find them.



Aren't they cute? I'll be keeping the tree plate for myself so we might have to go pick up some more plates.