Craft Stick Christmas Tree Ornament

Craft Stick Christmas Tree Ornaments

My kiddos made these tonight and they are super cute and super easy!!

For one ornament, you'll need three craft sticks. I used the jumbo ones that are already colored. One doesn't get cut at all, one gets cut by 2" and then you'll have a remaining 4" piece. The last stick gets cut to 6".

I glued the tree together before I let the kiddos have at it..2" piece on top, 4" piece next and 6" piece last. I put glue (elmer's glue all) in a container and gave them q-tips to use to put glue on the buttons to then glue to the tree.

N is only 2.5 years old and did so great! B took his time a little more but they both came out super!!

I added some ribbon to the back to make a hanger with hot glue and off to the tree we went to hang them up!!

*Older kiddos could use plain colored sticks and paint them themselves.

Holiday Apron Dress

This dress was made from McCall's pattern #M5918...the first commercial pattern I've ever purchased!! I added some things, because that seems to be what I do! I added a panel of fabric at the bottom, an apron at the waist (I measured one of the apron's on N's Matilda Jane dresses) and (drum roll please!) my new tag!! I had tags made that say, "My Mama Made It" and I LOVE them!! Unfortunately, this will not be N's holiday dress...I had made one with the intent that she'd wear it. Then I washed it and it was snug with a long sleeved tee underneath. So I had a co-worker try it on her daughter and with some adjustments (the bottom panel for length and longer straps) it will be Bella's holiday dress! I went back to Hobby Lobby to get more of the same fabric for N and they were out! I nearly cried! After pacing the fabric racks for awhile, I've come up with a new combo, but you'll have to wait for that post!!

Back to the commercial pattern thing...I cut all the pieces according to the pattern but I chucked the pattern/directions when it came time to assemble. In the end I think I did everything the way they did, just my way! ;) These are my favorite type of dresses on N because of her body shape, so be prepared to see many more of these!

What clothing items are you making for the holidays??

boredom buster...hopefully

We are traveling for Thanksgiving...about 2 hours away. It's not a horrible drive, but the thought of the kiddos in the car for two hours (even with the DVD player) is making me anxious already!! I had purchased {these} paper turkey crafts from Oriental Trading earlier in the fall. Each of the kiddos made one, and now we have 10 more sets for another time! It occurred to me that I could use them for a boredom buster in the car.

So, I laminated them (you wouldn't necessarily have to do that) and cut them out. If you don't laminate then you don't have to cut...sort of a nice compromise!

Then I put magnetic tape on the back of each piece as well as each kiddos' initial for 'keeping track' purposes! If I were going to do it again, I would have gotten stronger magnets, but my little town hardware store had one kind available!

I also purchased two cookie sheets that are 15.5" x 10.5". Again, not my first choice, but it was what I could find!

My plan is that both of the kids and arrange and rearrange their turkeys for awhile, not only on the way to Thanksgiving, but once we are there if they get bored. I put each kids' set in a baggie with their name on it also, to keep the pieces in one place when they were done!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!! I personally have a lot to be thankful for!!

turkeys

We have done the traditional hand print turkeys for 2010! I'm thinking that next year the kiddos will be able to add the face & feet themselves. I should have let them this year, but I didn't think about it until after I had done it! Last year, we used puffy paint {there was a shortage of washable paint apparently, b/c I don't know why else I would have used non washable paint with a 1.5 and 3.5 year old}. The puffy paint outcome was super cute, but the clean up was not!! Coming soon - Thanksgiving Day craft/idea to keep the little ones busy in the car!!

Ruffle Pants

I found this blog Sew Sensible and I fell in love with the Boutique Bottoms! I purchased the pattern PDF and it was emailed to me within a few hours! This was the first time I had attempted bottoms of any kind...and it was surprisingly simple! The pattern had to be printed off my computer (from the email file she sent me). I would recommend having an adequate amount of ink because I didn't and the photos were not easy to see - and I'm a very visual person! Anyway, I had to tape the pages together to get a pattern - again, very easy to do with the way she labeled and organized the PDF. I started them in the late afternoon and by dinner, N had a brand new pair of ruffle pants!! I made these capri length, specifically to go with a tank she had (pictured above). I love the Matilda Jane ruffles, but I'm not going to spend $37 on pants she'll grow out of in a month!! These were so inexpensive to make...about $13 total, for the pattern, fabric & matching thread. Obviously the MJ pants are probably better quality, but mine got the job done! I've made about three other pairs in different solids and fabrics. I like the jersey knit the best because they are super comfy and you don't have to zig-zag the edge of the ruffle {can seriously take forever} because the knit doesn't fray!! I also like that you can determine the length of the ruffle. I think I mad these a little smaller than what the pattern originally called for, but you can make them as long or as short as you want! It is worth checking out Sew Sensible - she has lots of good stuff!!

Reversible Sundress/Shirt

This is the first piece of clothing I attempted to make my daughter. I found the tutorial at From an Igloo. The tutorial is super easy to understand and very clear! I think I made about four of these this summer!! Now that it's gotten cooler, I stick a long sleeved tee underneath {like the one below Target } and add some jeans or leggings and boots and she's golden!

To make the matching headband, I traced one we already had. I ended up cutting two pieces of fabric (one of each shown in the dresses above) that were about 1" wide at each end and 2" wide in the middle. The pieces were about 14.5" long. I sewed the long sides together, right sides together, and the turned it right side out. I sewed an edge around the whole thing, tucking in the ends and also adding a piece of elastic {4"long} in the ends. I like that you can easily stick a flower clip on the top to make more of a statement or leave it plain and functional!

What You Can Do With Washers!

I saw an idea for necklaces made out of two washers on UCreate over the summer. I immediately bought a stamping kit from here and then visited my local hardware store and purchased a handful of washers! This actually took me awhile to really get good at. The stamping was really hard! I started on the kitchen counter...not so great. I finally perfected the stamping in the garage on the floor. It worked so much better! And the step where you write over the stamped letter with Sharpie is a must...totally enhances the look of the letter! I ended up making Mother's Day key chains for nearly everyone I know! I put mine on a chain and it was pretty cute. If you have more than two kids or name that you want wear, I found it to be pretty much impossible! Here are some of the key chains I made...

And after the initial expense of the stamps {around $17}, the key chains are pretty inexpensive. There's the actually keyring, ribbon, the little bead thing and the washers. Not too shabby! I'm thinking about using these as Christmas gift tags too...since I have a stock pile of washers now!

The whole tutorial can be found here.