Homemade Christmas

So, I had this bright idea that I would make some of the girls' Christmas presents this year. Save some money, get the chance to do some crafting--win, win situation right? Well, what I didn't think about was actually having the time to do the crafting! It is hard to find time to sew with three little ones, but also very hard to sew when the three little ones can't see what you are sewing! My mom took Miss L and SB for the weekend so I would have time to get all of my craft projects done. Awesome, but Baby C got sick, so I had to spend half of Saturday at the doctor and then deal with a fussy/needy baby the rest of the weekend. I was able to finish most of the projects I had planned on.

The biggest, most important project I was doing was an Angelina Ballerina robe for Miss L. We saw the material at Hobby Lobby and she loved it, so I decided to make her a robe. It has been a really, really long time since I have sewn with a pattern. I was somewhat nervous, but I had faith in my abilities. It couldn't be that hard. I got the patten cut out and sewed the first pocket on and everything went smooth. I was feeling pretty confident I could do this no problem. Well, that is when the problems started... I went to sew on the second pocket and accidentally sewed the top of the front panel to the back with the pocket. What? It was all going so smooth! This is what I had: one full panel and one half panel. The seam ripper became my good friend and we took care of the little problem. It was smooth sailing from then on! Well that is until it came time to sew on the piece that goes around your neck and to the bottom of the robe. I have no idea what it would be called? Anyway, I have no idea what I did, but it was about two inches short on each side! It didn't go all the way to the bottom of the robe. I had to improvise and angle the bottom of the robe to hide it, but I think it turned out pretty cute!I learned a couple of things from this project: 1. Little girl robes are not that expensive. I could have bought one at Target for cheaper than the fabric cost me. (It would not have been Angelina Ballerina though and my baby wanted Angelina!) 2. If I am ever going to do something like this again I am going to buy solid fabric (much cheaper) and just use the expensive fabric for an accent on the pocket or something.(thanks for the idea, Delores) 3. I really enjoyed making this and don't know why I never sew clothes for my kiddos. It was fun! The next project on my list was cloth diapers for the girls' dolls. I had a few reasons for making these: 1. I thought the girls would like them. 2. I thought they were really cute when I saw the idea. 3. (Really the main reason) The girls like to take Cadence's diapers for their dolls and diapers are expensive!I have searched and searched for the blog I got this idea and patten from and I can't find it. Found it! I made them three small diapers and three large ones. Too cute if I do say so myself:-)The next thing on my list was felt food for the girls' kitchen. I have not mentioned this, but this is my newest addiction!!! I love me some felt food! I had never heard of felt food until the beginning of December when I started looking for ideas for Christmas. It is so cute and easy to make! I made these donuts before Christmas. I got the idea here.The eggs were also from a tutorial I found online.In my search for felt food tutorials, yes people I have spent lots of time on the internet researching felt food (I told you I was addicted)! I discovered that you can buy patters on Etsy. I could spend a lot of money on these patterns. It is all SO cute! Bugga Bugs, on Etsy, will send you a free pattern for these strawberries if you get on her mailing list. I bought the fruit patterns here. A banana. It comes out of the peeling... so cute! Orange slicesI haven't finished the apple slices. There is also a watermelon slice. I haven't made it because my girls aren't big fans of watermelon, but I may try it because it is so cute! The HEB bag is my favorite thing, as far as the felt food goes. I had seen ideas on the internet for grocery bags and decided to make one, but it was Hubby's idea to add the HEB and I love it!

I also made Baby C a sock monkey from the tutorial here. I think it is cute, but Hubby thinks it is the ugliest thing ever! I made it a few weeks before Christmas and she seemed to like it after it was finished, but then I put it away to save for Christmas. Now that she has it back she hasn't showed much interest.

In the picture it looks like his left ear and arm are much higher than his right. Don't be confused by the picture. It is not because he is leaning. They are, in fact quite a bit higher and that was not on purpose. He's still cute, right?

I also recorded two Clifford Books and Hubby put them on a CD for the girls. I thought they would think it was really cool to hear mommy's voice doing a book on CD. They weren't that impressed.

Hubby recorded the first few chapters of Little House on the Prairie. We haven't listened to it yet, but I am sure they will enjoy it.

That does it for the homemade Christmas gifts. I am sure you will be seeing more felt food posts in my future. I bought this ice cream pattern to make for Christmas and I didn't get to it, but it is all cut out and ready to be sewn.