Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone! I won't be posting tomorrow... we'll be busy, and I'm still busy today actually... sigh. Not done making my last Christmas gift. Every year I make my husband a homemade star wars ornament, and haven't been able to do so yet. I got everything else done, but I still have to make that ornament.

Anyway, here is a couple of pics of our own little miss clause! Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

Another gift (or two) FINISHED

Yup, I finished some more... technically I would have been done earlier, but I was unsure of some things... anyway, I took some pics!

Showing one side...

Showing the other

Showing all three items made

So, there they are! All done in displayed in finished glory... without the candles being lit (I'll post one of mine with the candles lit later on... it's too bright in the house currently for that, and I need to touch up the paint on the one, which I'm keeping, that way I can wrap the other two already).

Funny thing... I saw this item in a certain catalogue... they wanted $60 for it. I made all three for a total cost of $10 in materials... and a number of hours of time, but still... 3 for $10!

I don't really feel like posting how I did this... so I won't! ;) I did have enough troubles with this project though... I think I might do things a bit differently the next time... if there is a next time.

Two more down... three gifts to go!

Roll Over!

Ok, so this morning I decided to put Marin on her belly for awhile, as I figure she needs to build her arm strength eventually to crawl, right? Well, she prefers her back... as she rolled over onto her back again. So, I rolled her back to her belly and then started recording this video... and lo and behold, she rolled back over. I thought it was so cute I had to share it!

Thankful Thursday

So, today I'm gonna shortcut this, as time is a commodity I don't seem to have as much of lately. :)

I'm so thankful for my hubby who takes such good care of our daughter, giving me a bit of a break.

I'm thankful that Christmas is almost here, and that I'll be able to give away homemade gifts again this year... it's been so long! I love making gifts! I'm also thankful to be almost done! The end is in sight! :)

I'm thankful that our bannister is getting put in! It looks gorgeous.

I'm thankful for family and friends, and the time we can spend together. It's so nice to know we are so loved.

I'm thankful for the gatherings we'll be having this week/weekend! I LOVE gatherings (I think I've said that before too...). I'm so thankful for all my extended family too. I adore all my cousins and aunts and uncles! Really! I can hardly believe how fast my lil cousins are growing up! They are becoming so grown up... and I remember them as such little squirts still! Sigh!

I am so thankful for my daughter! I love her laugh, and she's doing it every so often now (we even video'd her laughing... I'll have to post that yet later). She's so super sweet! :)

Yup... I am so thankful for everything I can hardly figure out what to put on here! :P

Photo Shoot

So, I took a whole bunch of cute pics of my baby girl... again... I LOVE having a digital camera! I posted 3 of them and the digital modifications I made to them on my Picture Perfect blog, so if you wanna sneak a peek at them, go right ahead, ;).

Embroidery

So, today I finished another project... embroidering and stitching a fleece blanket with my father-in-law's initials. Since this was my first time embroidering, I feel I did pretty good.

I love fleece... the fact that you don't need to finish the edges is super nice. I did so anyway with some yellow thread to go with the whole John Deere theme. Just a basic zigzag stitch. Did that today. The embroidery... well, I printed the initials on a sheet of paper and pinned it to the fabric, then later thought better of it and partway through the H grabbed my cross stitch (that is still unfinished) and used the wooden loop to make the fabric tight with the pattern on it. Then, I just worked on the letters in the way one would right them, starting with the top left and working my way down! It took a number of hours, but I like it!

One more project down... still many to go. At least this one was able to join the others under the tree today!

Bookends

I finished another Christmas project, again for the girls… one set for M and one for A.

No paint

Finished and painted

Bookends are relatively easy to make. All you really need is a 3 foot 1x6 board (I use knotty pine as it’s relatively inexpensive at about $1.50/foot), graph paper, a mitre saw, scroll saw, wood glue, clamps, and some sandpaper of various grits (plus paint, varnish, or whatever you wish to finish it in).

Using the mitre saw, start by cutting two 7inch and two 5inch lengths (make sure to chop off the end of the board as it usually has glue or stamping on it). Sand the ends of those boards and glue/clamp the end of the 5inch piece to the 7inch piece to make an L-shape. Using graph paper, draw your pattern in a 4 ½ inch by 5 ½ inch rectangle (tall). You can do whatever you wish. I chose to do and ‘a’ and ‘z’, but you can do the child’s initials, a teddy bear, or whatever your heart desires. Cut two more boards at 4 ½ inches to transfer your pattern(s) to. Using the scroll saw, cut them out.

Scrolling tips: If you have a hole to put in the center of the piece, drill a hole using a drill press (or regular drill will do) and then insert the scroll saw blade through the hole before putting it on the saw. Cut as normal, then remove the blade to remove your board. Another scrolling tip is to use the drill in really tight corners to help maneuver the scroll saw blade (easier turning without it snapping). Make sure to use the right blade as well. I use a 15 tpi (teeth per inch). The higher the tpi, the better control over tight curves (also smoother cuts), the lower the tpi, the faster you can make the cuts. If the tpi is too low, you may end up with chatter and difficulty around tight curves. If too high, your wood may burn. It is always recommended you keep at LEAST 4 teeth in the board at all times.

Sand all the pieces, making sure to round all the edges. Using a pencil, draw lines 3/8inch on either side of the center of the boards on the L shape. These will help with placing the 'patterned' pieces. Glue them in. I also chose to put 1 1/2 inch nails where I felt it was necessary, but the glue should hold fine by itself. When the glue is dry, finish the project how you wish. I chose to paint them pink with a fake painted off-white stitching around all the edges.

Sit back and enjoy while reading a book! ;)

Homemade Blocks

Last week I managed to finish some homemade gifts... mainly a birthday gift for my niece and part of a Christmas gift for my daughter.

What each girl will recieve.

They are surprisingly easy to make... just a bit time consuming. All I did was make 9 blocks for each girl. Cut a 3x3 brick out of 3inch foam (you can get it at Walmart for cheap enough) using an exacto knife. Pick three colors of fabric and cut two 3 1/2" square pieces from each color (I mixed things up a bit by having a total of 5 types of fabric and having varying looks for each block). Sew, right sides together, two different fabrics(let's call them a, b, and c) on one side edge. Remember making cubes in grade school?
______
l a l b l a l
l c l
l b l
l c l

Sorry if it looks a bit off, I tried my best! Anyway, you'll be stitching five sides together to make this shape... stitch one side of each b to one side of each c, then on one of the 'b's, stitch the two 'a's to make a t-shape (a hint, cut the corners of the squares a bit to make nicer corners). Once done, I prefered to stitch the rest together going around each of the 'a' sides. Can be a bit tricky. I found it easiest to iron all the seams open, including what was going to be a seam later on (just fold the 1/4 inch seam allowance over, wrong sides together, and iron... gives you a bit of a guideline for sewing the rest of the sides). Once all but one of the 12 sides is sewn together, turn the cube inside out and squish the foam brick small as possible to squeeze it inside. Hand stitch the last opening shut (this is where it's real nice to have ironed the edge 'open' first...). Each color should have it's twin on the opposite side of the block. Now, add the letters and pictures... a for apple, b for butterfly, c for cat, and so on. I used felt and just glued it on... making sure the picture wound up on the same color fabric as it's letter did.

The blocks

Anyway, have some fun with your fabric scraps! I know I did! And the girls will hopefully love these!

Me having some fun with them.