Merry Christmas!

Since we moved in to our new house last night, Christmas was small this year. I quick put up the tree after Peanut went to bed and wrapped all the presents. Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Ornament Contest

Papa B's company had an ornament contest for their tree at the office. We didn't have a lot of time to come up with an idea, but I thought doing something with the company logo and Christmast was sure to be a winner. This isn't the only thing we made, but this is the one we submitted for the contest. I had never worked with salt dough before, but I'll be sure to do it again. It was easy to make and easy to work with.

Update on Fishing set

Here is the completed fishing rod. I bought little magnets at the craft store and slipped it into the hook while stuffing it. It works really well catching the fish.

Practical gifts for Peanut

I'm all about practical gifts for people. I know that Peanut will be getting a ton of toys for christmas from other people and so I wanted to make her some things she needed. The pants were made using an old McCall's pattern borrowed from a friend. The Belt was super easy and I'm sorry I don't have a link to the tutorial. If you want one just let me know and I'll look for it.

For baby H

My Neice, H, lives in California. She'll be one just a few days after Christmas. I'm very grateful for that because it means I get to make her a Christmas gift and a birthday gift! It was really hard narrowing down all the choices. This dress and headband make up the Christmas gift. The dress tutorial is by Homespun Threads and can be found here: http://myhomespunthreads.blogspot.com/2010/08/free-reversible-smock-pattern-12-24.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed:+homespunthreads+(HomeSpunThreads). The headband tutorial is by Make it Love It and can be found here: http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2010/08/blog-post.html. I can't believe how well they turned out!

freezer paper stencil pillows

Papa B's extended family does a gift exchange every year. Everyone draws a name and they buy a gift for that person only. I got one of Papa B's aunts. I had a hard time coming up with an idea for her. I finally settled on decorative throw pillows. I figured the safest way to make some that would match her decorating style was to make them seasonal versus everyday.

I used my Cricut, fabric paints, freezer paper, cotton fabric, and throw pillow inserts to make these. The Cricut was able to cut the freezer paper easily and saved me a bunch of agony trying to design and cut out my own images. I made the pillow cases first and then painted them. They're the kind that overlap in the back.