The girls and I did some holiday “baking” this afternoon. These chocolate covered pretzels were so much fun to make! We made several bags of them for neighbors, friends, and family. To make your own, you will need: One 12oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips 2 Tbsp. shortening Pretzel Rods Melt shortening and some of [...]
12 Days of Handmade Holidays — Round Up
December 11, 2009 by
Some of our favorite Handmade Holiday posts: :: Fabric Dollhouse :: Dolly & Me Lounge Pants :: Felt Doll :: Snowflake Notecard Mailers :: Knit Hat (Free Pattern) :: Peppermint Hot Cocoa Mix :: Easy Felted Ornaments :: Festive Wrapping Paper :: Stamped Gift Bags :: Easy No Mess Snowflake Ornaments :: Felt Fairy House [...]
Handmade Holidays — Felt Fairy House Tutorial
December 10, 2009 by
This little fairy house was an impromptu sewing project for two sweet girls (sisters) we were lucky enough to meet for a play date this afternoon. In mind was this fairy house from Imagine Childhood. Ours was made from this felted wool sweater, some other pieces of felt, a tiny bit of yarn, some buttons, [...]
Handmade Holidays — Easy No-Mess Snowflake Ornaments
December 9, 2009 by
These beautiful snowflake ornaments (shown above) couldn’t have been easier to make! I love that the process was mess-free, very easy, and frugal. Plus, we have more ornaments to add to our tree that are not fragile!! To make your own snowflake ornaments, you will need: white model magic, snowflake cookie cutters, a rolling pin, [...]
Handmade Holidays — Stamped Gift Bags
December 7, 2009 by
After yesterday’s drive through the neighborhood, we were inspired to make these gift bags with printed holiday lights on them. We used brown paper lunch bags, and we found that they are the perfect size for holding small mason jars of homemade peppermint hot cocoa mix! First, cut a potato into the shape of a [...]
Handmade Holidays — Easy Felted Ornaments
December 3, 2009 by
We spent some time with our sleeves rolled up and our hands in very warm soapy water to make these beautiful felted ornaments. I found the process to be calming, and we were both quite pleased with the results! To make your own felted ornaments, you will need some wool roving and a dish of [...]
Handmade Holidays — Peppermint Hot Cocoa Mix
November 30, 2009 by
Hot cocoa is a real treat in our household, and I’ve found that it is so simple and easy to make your own mix! Plus, Emily thinks this is a super-fun activity! We went the all organic route, but you certainly don’t have to. To make your own peppermint hot cocoa mix, you will need: [...]
Back to Knitting — Free Easy Pattern
November 29, 2009 by
I knitted this hat for Clara from 1 skein of Lion Brand Nature’s Choice organic cotton yarn purchased at JoAnn with a 50% off black Friday coupon for just $3.25. Bargain! The hat was a quick and easy knit, and is the perfect weekend knitting project! I even had enough yarn leftover to crochet a [...]
Handmade Holidays — Snowflake Notecard Mailers
November 19, 2009 by
This beautiful post on A Creative Mint had me thinking about rich shades of purple, lavender, linen, and white. It reminded me of this pad of 50 sheets of cardstock I had picked up on clearance at JoAnn’s ($3.17) a long time ago. We put it to good use today! First, I cut each 8 [...]
Handmade Holidays — Meet Rose!
November 18, 2009 by
As promised in yesterday’s post, here’s what we’ve been working on…. a doll made from felt! This handsewn doll became an instant treasure, and Emily has named her Rose. Rose was easy to make, though she did take a few days to complete. I made two dresses (one red, one blue), and Emily loves to [...]
Crafty Sneak Peek
November 17, 2009 by
A little peek at what we’re working on for tomorrow…. Emily is about to burst with anticipation! It does not involve a sewing machine, but it does involve a pattern that is free for download. Fun!!
Handmade Holidays — Postcard Gift Sets
November 16, 2009 by
Whenever Mark’s sister (Julia) travels, she manages to slip a postcard in the mail for Emily. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but my sister-in-law rocks! Emily is always so happy to get mail, and loves to see the beautiful photos of where Aunt Julia mailed the postcard from — Japan, Germany, Taiwan, [...]
Handmade Holidays — Dolly & Me Lounge Pants
November 12, 2009 by
I had purchased one yard of pretty flannel fabric at JoAnn back when it was on sale, with the intention of sewing some cozy lounge pants for Emily. When the pants were done, I had just enough fabric leftover for a fun pair of matching pants for Dolly. Emily was so happy with these! Dolly [...]
Handmade Holidays — Fabric Dollhouse
November 9, 2009 by
When I set out to do this project, I thought it would take me about a month to complete, or at the very least, a few weeks. I was wrong! Thanks to this wonderful (and free!) tutorial over at UK Lass in the US, I had almost the entire doll house complete before the girls [...]
Macho Manly Man Pocket Hand Warmers for Men
November 7, 2009 by
This little project combined two activities Emily has asked if we could do recently, but I had to give the “yes, we will do that later” answer. A good tip — Keep a list of requests your child makes to be done “later”. When boredom starts to creep in, break out the list! In this [...]
Announcing… Sewing in Baby Steps Workshop!
August 17, 2009 by
[Update: The Sewing in Baby Steps Workshop is now available as a downloadable workbook. You can download the entire workshop all at once, to go through at your own pace for $5.95. Otherwise, you can still register for free by signing up below.] Sorry, the free version is no longer available. A few days ago [...]
A Special Baby Gift
August 15, 2009 by
A close friend of mine is expecting her first baby any day now. [UPDATE: Just hours after publishing this post, she had a healthy baby boy! We are so happy for her!!!] I will take any excuse to get crafty, but wanted to do something really special for her. I enlisted the help of our [...]
Garden Bag Giveaway
July 12, 2009 by
We are starting to enjoy our garden, and lately there have been lots of pickings. I was bringing reusable shopping totes to collect our veggies, but after getting my hands on some burlap I was inspired to create a “Garden Goodies” bag. I hand-stamped the lettering and made a very basic drawstring bag. Today the [...]
