Project Christmas Stockings

Well, it took me until the day after Christmas to get these completely finished. By Christmas morning they were done enough for St. Nick to stuff them with goodies, so no harm done, right? Besides, my kids are still too young to have any expectations.
These are the stockings I ended up making, and it will be easy to add more in the future, should we decide to add to our family. Hope you had a happy Christmas!

Stocking Stuffers

I hope that all of you had a wonderful holiday! I sure did. I love the time with family and the memories that are created, and the time to reflect of the glory of my Savior.
This year we spent Christmas with my husband's family, and did something new (to me) and fun. Instead of Santa (Mom) filling the stockings this year, we filled each other's stockings. I decided to take care of the ladies and Ryan took care of the boys (yes, boys). I made 5 headbands for the 5 lovely ladies in the family. Each one is pretty different and unique, and the hard part was deciding to give which one to whom. Is that grammatically correct, "whom"?

And here they are.

These are a great way to have fun with all those leftover bits of fabric you have. Just mix and match and make something fun. Super easy too. Here are some closer shots of one I made a month or so ago for a neighbor gal.

Coal Candy

I grew up in coal country (West Virginia), and there was one year that one of my siblings actually received a lump of coal in her stocking. She was an emotional, freaking out teenager, enough said.

If you are looking for something a little sweeter to give, Sprinkle Bakes has a tutorial coal candy. Such a fun idea. So watch out family, you might just be getting some coal in your stockings this year!

Stockings

It's time for me to make some Christmas stockings for my family. I've been contemplating this for some time now. Here are a few inspirational ideas I've collected. Which is your favorite?
(Click on the photo for the link—except the first one)

I love the rustic-ness of this one

Cashmere anyone?

These are real socks, and oh how I want them, for more than just Christmas.

I wish I knew how to knit. I'd definitely go this route if I could (but different colors).

But I think I'm going to do something along these lines (and maybe add names on the stockings?):

What about you, do you have a favorite style of stocking?

Lovely Little Framed Ornaments

I love these ornament ideas. First, something other than a wreath for the front door. Feels kind of modern to me. (via Pinterest)

 Second, a fabulous ornament tree in a painted frame, so sweet.(via Inspiration Ave).

Toddler Bow Shirt

A while back I saw this toddler shirt at Gap (I can no longer find the image of the black and cream one they had):

I decided that I wanted a black and silver one, so I took a black long sleeve t-shirt from Target ($6) and bought 1/4 of a yard of grey satin ($1.50) and made my own. I think I overestimated the size of the bow, so mine is a little bigger than theirs, but I love it still. It was super easy and fast. Ava is also super fast (and hard to get a still photo of!)

Necktie Onesie

Ezra just keeps growing so I just keep making new neckties and necktie onesies. This is the third one of these I've made in his short 4 months of life. I like to keep him somewhat dressed up for church.

Halloween Review

Oh, how October got away from me. I had planned to do so many Halloweeny things and Halloweeny posts, but it turned out to be an incredibly busy month. Not to mention some illness sweeping through the house and catching us each in turn. I'm kinda bummed that I missed out on so much from one of my favorite months, but I hope you all had a fantastically spooky October.
I have had Ezra's costume planned for a little while, and half done for most of the month, which is why it got finished—mostly. I had intended to add a dorsal fin, but again, ran out of time. Here's my little shark-bait.

 His costume was made from gray fleece (to keep him warm) and flannel. If I'd had time I would have dressed up as a lifeguard, since I would be holding him.

Ava's I struggled with more. I had kind of planned to make her a pink flamingo (guess I'm on a bird kick with her) but never had a chance to even start on it. So two days before Halloween I threw together a Little Red Riding Hood costume. I made her cape out of an old skirt lining (I made the hood way too big) and a feather boa. All I bought for the costume was the basket ($5), the kerchief ($1), and the feather boa ($2). The rest I already had. Not my proudest moment in costuming, but it just had to do. And it was so fun to take her out for her first trick-or-treating ever.

Next year I'll try not to book so much during October. I don't know how some of you super-moms do it! (But I'm glad you do because you inspire me).

Another Pacifier Clip

Last week I shared with you how to make a binkie clip without a sewing machine. Today I'm sharing with you a pacifier clip that I made for my sister-in-law for which I did use the sewing machine. Same basic idea, only instead of using a ribbon I used fabric, so it required some sewing.

No-Sew Binkie Clip Tutorial

You don't have to have a sewing machine for this one, but you will need a spool of thread. This kind of clip will work with most pacifiers, including the round ones the hospital gives you.

Supplies:
hammer
spool of thread
snaps
suspender clip
ribbon
hair elastic
matches

Step 1: Cut your ribbon to length.
Measure and cut your ribbon to the desired length. Keep in mind you will be folding it over at both ends, so allow enough length for that.

Step 2: Stop the fray.
You can use Fray-Check if you prefer, but I think it works better to take a match and run the ends of the ribbon across the flame so they slightly melt (provided it's got some polyester in it).

Step 3: Thread your ribbon through the suspender clip.

Step 4: Set your snaps.

Follow the simple instructions of the back of the snap package to set your snaps. Basically you line up the front piece and back piece of the snap on the ribbon, center it under the spool of thread, and hammer on top of the spool to force the two pieces into each other. When both parts of the snap are set, snap it together around the suspender clip.

Step 5: Thread your ribbon through a small hair elastic.

Srep 6: Set the snaps at the other end of the ribbon and close around the hair elastic.

Step 7: Thread the hair elastic through a hole in the pacifier, or the handle if it has one.

Step 8: Thread the clip end through the hair elastic and pull it though.

Step 9: Pull it tight and you are done!

Halloween Costume Collection

Welcome to October! I love Halloween. I think the biggest reason I love it is because of the creativity that it unleashes in people. The costumes, the pumpkin carvings, the decor, the food... everything gets a dose of fun. So to kick off the month, I thought I'd share with you a few of my costumes from past years (all home-made).
First, easiest costume ever. White clothes with black electrical tape. Add a cardboard head, and done.

 This was last year, celebrating UP!

 This you've seen. Ava's peacock costume.

Years ago some friends and I were the alien guys from Toy Story (I've also been Jessie, but have no photos).

And since I obviously have a tendency toward Pixar film characters, let's end with Elastagirl, AKA Mrs. Incredible.

I get my love of costuming from my mother, who always made costumes for her 6 kids (though some of us sometimes got hand-me-downs)

Recipe Share: Chicken Rollatini Stuffed with Zucchini and Mozzarella

Last night I made this delicious recipe which I found on skinnytaste.com via some else's blog (which one I can't remember). Lately I'm looking for anything that uses zucchini or tomatoes, both of which are growing plentifully in my garden. And this one is a keeper, it's quite tasty and looked just as good when I made it as it does in their photos (and tasted as good as it looks)!

Find the recipe here.
(photo from skinnytaste.com)