Christmas Baking

With Christmas less than 2 weeks away, I decided it was time to do some Christmas baking!  My friend Stephanie and I spent the day making cookies and candy, and listening to Christmas music.  As you can see, we had some fun with decorating sugar cookies…my poor gingerbread man’s arm fell off, so i frosted it like it was meant to be that way.  I hope he is not in too much pain!

Stephanie said something that really stayed with me…this time next year, I will have a little one to make cookies with.  I am looking forward to that so much.  I know that I should cherish being pregnant, and all the bonding that is already happening between my baby and I, but sometimes I just want the baby to be here already!  I can’t wait for all the fun stuff we will do together.

A New Advent Wreath

In keeping with my desire to form some family holiday traditions, Mike and I are following Advent this year.  Each week, for four weeks before Christmas, we light a candle.  Each candle reminds us of a different, important aspect of the holiday…Hope, Love, Joy, Peace .  There is a fifth candle that goes in the middle of the wreath that we light on Christmas Eve and burn through Christmas day.  The Advent Wreath helps us reflect on why we celebrate Christmas, especially as Christians.  It is a chance to take a break from the stress that the holiday can create and spend time together in peace.

The wreath is made of a styrofoam ring.  I carved out four holes at equal distances for the candles to fit in, and wrapped the wreath in colorful fabric and ribbon.  I hope that Advent will become a tradition we do each year when the little one is born.

Weekend Fun

Hi everyone, I hope you had a great holiday weekend, if you celebrate Thanksgiving, or just a great weekend if you don’t!  We had family visiting from California last week, and we definately enjoyed the festivities.  And can you believe it is now less than a month to Christmas??  This is one of my favorite times of year.

This weekend we travelled into the mountains to choose the perfect Christmas tree.  This is my family’s first time doing this, and we had a blast.  The sun was out, the view was beautiful, and there was only a minimal amount of snow covering the ground.

We finished decorating our tree last night, and it looks great.  I love having a fresh tree to look at and enjoy in our living room…it makes the whole house smell delicious!  To celebrate our accomplishment, Mike and I had a glass of eggnog, some peppermint candy, and watched Elf.

In light of the new future addition to our family, Mike and I are trying to get some family traditions in place so that we can continue them when we have the little one.  I am really interested in hearing your holiday traditions!

Are you enjoying the holidays yet?  Do you have any family traditions that make the holidays special?

Curtains

First off, I want to say thank you to all of your sweet comments about my news.  I am so lucky to have you all!

This weekend I finally completed the task that has been hanging over my head since we moved…I finally made curtains!!  Like most projects I tackle, this went fairly smoothly, and the hardest part was actually starting it.  I don’t know why, but I always have trouble getting started on a project (oh, and I guess I also have trouble finishing them…). 

Luckily, a friend of mine needed to make curtains as well, so we jumped into the project together.  This time it was easy for me to finish because my family arrives for Thanksgiving today!  I am so happy to have a “completed” living room and dining room for them to hang out in (I say “completed” because it seems there is always something to change or improve on, and it is always hard for me to be satisfied with things, but this is the best it has been yet!).

Another project Mike took care of this weekend was painting all our side tables black, to match the strip of black fabric on the curtains.  I think this really tied everything together nicely.

I hope all of you enjoy the holiday this week…spend lots of time with your family and eat as much as you can!

First comes love, then comes marriage…

I’ve got some fun news to share with you all…Mike and I are expecting our first baby!  I know that I have been “off” in my blogging for a while now, please forgive me!!  Finally I can share the real reason for my sporadic posts! 

The first 12 weeks were not too bad, at least by many of my friends’ standards.  I have been feeling a little sick here and there, but mainly I am just so tired I’ve been having a hard time coming home at the end of a long day at work and sitting down at my sewing machine.  I am feeling much better lately, though still tired, but I am hoping to get back into the swing of things very soon, and maybe even start working on some first projects for the little one!  Stay tuned…

A Fresh Coat

With the holidays approaching I am feeling more and more pressure to finish up this little apartment of ours.  Family and friends will be coming to visit us over the next few weeks, and I would love to have a finished livingroom for all of us to sit in!  Mike promised to paint the place this past weekend (he’s so awesome!), if I could decide on a paint color by then.  After a near breakdown at the hardware store, we finally settled on three colors…Bright White (for the doors and trim), Profession (a light grey/tan color), and Chicken Wire (a greyish, greenish, blue).  There was much amusement had over the names of the colors.  The painting was all finished in one day, thanks to the help of some great friends.

And, you will never ever believe this, but I finally bought some fabric for curtains!  I’ll be making those this weekend, so look for pictures next monday!

When I think about the week to come, I can’t help but mentally back away in dread.  So much to do, so little time!!  Besides the usual (or not so usual, if you are me) laundry, groceries, dinners, and dusting, I want to make sure everything is organized and clean for when my family arrives next monday.  And yes, that means tackling the dreaded craft room, which I have not talked about here due to embarrassment.  I also want to hang some pictures around the house so that the newly painted walls have a chance to shine!  I am also hoping that over the next few days I can take some time to relax with Mike and enjoy the season before it passes us by.  It only comes around once a year, after all.

How are you preparing for the holidays?  Are you remembering to take some time to relax?

Leggings

I feel like I might be a little bit behind the times, as legging have been in style for quite a few months already.  Better late than never, though, right?  I found this great free pattern by Shelby Kaava via Burda Style.  The pattern was so easy to follow, and so quick to put together, that I was able to search for and purchase fabric, cut out pattern, and sew everything together in one evening.

One thing I regret not doing was measuring the length of my legs and comparing the measurement with the pattern. My legs are pretty short, so I just assumed that the pattern would be plenty long enough (as pretty much every pattern that I have run across thus far are).  However, the leggings did end up being a bit short on me, so I recommend taking this measurement before cutting in, and adding some length if needed.

I’m planning on making a couple more pairs of these in the next week or two, maybe in some fun colors!  I think I would also like a pair for PJ’s because they are just so comfy!

A Little Lacy Cap

I completed this little project a long time ago, before I ever got into knitting.  I was experimenting with crochet, yarn weights, and hook sizes.  This cap seems pretty small when it isn’t on my head, but it is very stretchy, so it actually fits quite nicely.  I didn’t do much crochet before I decided to switch to knitting, though.  It seems that you can do so much more with knitting than you can with crochet.  As of late however, I have been thinking a bit more about getting back into crochet.  I would love to use the techniques to put some lovely delicate detail on some of my clothes.

Do you crochet or knit?  Do you do both?  Which do you prefer, and for what projects?

Gift Ideas

I know that it is still early in the season, but the Holidays are getting closer and closer.  Its time to start thinking about gifts for friends and family.  If you are thinking about making a gift for someone, I have put together a list of all my tutorials as a place for you to get started.

Stormy T-shirt Make or buy a simple t-shirt and spruce it up with this applique and embroidery

Paper Flower Mobile Craft this simple flower mobile for some beautiful home decor or to be used as a wand for an imaginative little girl…experiment with different colors of paper and sizes

Magnolia Shirt Detail Make this neckline detail for an otherwise boring store-bought tank

Grill Tool Carrier Summer may seem far away, but it will be back before you know it!

Reversible Water Bottle Holder Put together this handy water bottle holder for fitness and outdoor gurus

Gardening Apron By Christmas time, spring will be just around the corner…Make a cute apron for a gardener you know.  This apron could also be used as a traditional kitchen apron.

Flower Headband This headband is super quick and easy, and is so cute!

Chunky Necklace This necklace is very inexpensive and simple to put together, but it looks like a million bucks!

Lei Neckline Dress up a simple top by adding this feminine neckline

Bread Linen/Cloth Napkins Monogram some beautiful linen to wrap around fresh-baked bread for the home baker, or use these as napkins for your eco-conscious friend

Corsage Neckline Add detail to a store-bought top

Scrap Tote Sew this simple tote to be used at the market

Emboridered Bookmark A bookmark is the perfect gift for a book addict

Baby Blanket If you have extra time, try your hand at printing on fabric and sew up this beautiful blanket for a baby or expectant parents

Eyeglass Holder Upcycle some old sweaters and make this eyeglass holder, very easy on the pocket-book

Binding Tape Make some patchy binding tape for a sewer, and pair it with some other sewing goodies, like buttons, ribbons, and other trims

Messenger Bag Make this messenger bag for anyone who needs to tote around a lot of stuff…this project is fairly time-intensive, but the results are worth it

Hair Pins This is a quick project that any girl will love

Yo-yo Table Runner This project will take care of all those little fabric scraps you have hanging around.  Make one in Christmas colors, or to match the recipients home decor

Knit Cuff If you don’t have much experience knitting, this is a great project for you…it takes very little time, and very little yarn

Simple Jersey Dress This is a great dress to make because it takes very little time, and it will fit almost any woman, add to that the elegant silhouette and you’ve got yourself a perfect gift

Wrapped Gift Cards If you don’t have time to make anything and find yourself last-minute scrambling to find a gift, get a couple giftcards and wrap them in this unique way to make the gift more special

I hope this list inspires you!

Finished Upholstered Chair

I used the rest of this week to finish up that upholstered chair I was working on over the weekend, and it looks amazing!  I love the fabric, and it goes so much better in the room!  The living room now has the grey loveseat that I recovered a while back, and three yellow chairs.  I feel like I am getting closer and closer to having this place just right.

Next on my list is to make pillow cases to cover some bright red pillows I currently have on the loveseat.  Now that I have recovered this red chair in yellow, I don’t think the pillows go with the room anymore.

When I think back on the two upholstering projects I have worked on, I realize that maybe I should have started with this one instead of the loveseat.  This project went so smoothly, as the upholstery is very simple and basically a “slipcover” to begin with, so there was no stapling, hammering, or changing padding involved.  If you ever consider re-upholstering any of your furniture, I recommend starting with something small and basic, it will help boost your confidence for your bigger projects!

Have you ever done any re-upholstering?  What was your experience like?  Did you start by dipping your pinky toe in the water, or did you dive in head first?