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christmas pajamas

handmade christmas jammies

I was planning to make two pairs of pajamas. Only one pair got finished. When I showed them to my daughter, she said they were very cool, but she didn’t want to wear them to bed. I was a little crushed. Fast forward to today: they’ve been on for over 24 hours and she doesn’t want to take them off. Success?

handmade christmas jammies

The flannel was thrifted from somewhere—I’m starting to lose track of where I get these things! I was planning to use a Simplicity pattern, but didn’t have enough fabric. Instead, I used a pillow case pajama pants tutorial, and it worked out perfectly.

handmade christmas jammies

The top is just a plain t-shirt from Target. I added a little appliqué to help it coordinate with the pants.

handmade christmas jammies

I’m very happy with how these turned out. I’ll be making the other pair this weekend.

project notes: Making a pattern from measurements tutorial from Brandy over at Minivan Life. Very easy to follow. I highly recommend it!

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christmas eve crafting with dad

gingerbread house with dad

I bought this little gingerbread house for my daughter to put together with her dad this afternoon while I do a little bit of sewing. It’s just a little crafty thing with some sticky appliqués and glitter, but they seem to really be enjoying themselves.

I’m planning to make some Christmas Eve pajamas for her to wear tonight. Better get off the computer and get sewing!

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cheery flower brooch

attic 24 flower brooch pin

Yep, I’m still crafting over here. Now that the holiday pressure is off, I’m doing some fun small projects. Last Spring I became a little obsessed with crochet flowers and I’m at it again. They are so quick to whip up and are a great way to use up odd bits of yarn. I’m thinking these would be nice to send to someone instead of sending actual flowers. They’d last longer and can be pinned to almost anything. They definitely bring good cheer!

stash: Thrifted yarn from my amigurumi stash. Brooch pattern from Attic24.

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my first crochet scarf

lily chin nolita crochet scarf

Do you ever have an empty feeling after the big holiday gift/package/mail rush is over? Everything got done in time, but who knows with the weather if it will arrive on time. Now I don’t know what to do with myself. I should be doing all of the laundry I’ve neglected for crafting the past few weeks.

Instead, I crocheted a scarf for my daughter. It’s not a Christmas present. It’s just because I was gifted some yarn and it was fuzzy and cute and she needed a scarf that matched her brown hat and mittens.

The yarn is Lily Chin’s Nolita* and from my friend Amy. She destashed a lot of her fuzzy fibers and brought them to our last knitting guild meeting. It’s the perfect amount for a toddler sized scarf. It’s soft and cuddly, but a pain to rip if you make a mistake. I have another ball in green that I think would make a perfect cowl for me.

pattern: 16 double crochets across with a J hook. Final size was 4 x 30 inches after steam blocking.

*Don’t judge this yarn based on the awful photo on the website. It’s actually very pretty.

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what’s better than giving handmade gifts?

Receiving them!

When I pick up my daughter from preschool I always ask about her day. Did you learn a new song? Did you paint? Color? Draw? Did you sit still for story time? For the past few weeks she’s been telling me about her tree. “Today we painted our tree.” “Today we put ornaments on our tree.” “Today we put sparkles on our tree.”

handmade tree ornament

I honestly thought she was making some kind of giant tree painting the way she described it. Imagine my surprise when she came home with this little tree ornament! It was wrapped in a paper bag (or sack as they say in Nebraska)* decorated with holiday stickers. I waited for my husband to come home so we could open it together. It is the most beautiful ornament on our tree.

handmade tree ornament

*When I called it a paper bag, my daughter said, “NO MOM! Mrs. Tisdale said it’s a SACK!”

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how to: recycled holiday card gift tags

recycled gift tags from holiday cards

Last year I saved a few of my favorite holiday cards for crafting. I planned to reuse the artwork to make new cards, but when I realized I didn’t have any cute gift tags in my stash, I started cutting! I began with 5 cards and ended with almost 30 gift tags in all shapes and sizes.

You’ll need:
-paper cutter
-embossing stylus, crochet hook or knitting needle for scoring
-ruler
-small hole punch

I just started slicing away without thinking too hard about the end result. Then I went back and sorted all of the bits.

  • Large rectangles were scored for fold-over tags. (boy pulling sled)
  • Borders made great matching flat tags. (red and cream stripes)
  • Images were cut in half to make coordinating card sets. (snow scene)
  • Die cuts made really fancy cards. (poinsettia)

Most cards are made out of heavy paper stock and need to be scored before you fold them or they will crack on the fold. If the surface is glittery, cover with a thin piece of paper before scoring.

The final step was to punch holes in the corners so they can easily be tied on to gift packages.

reuse and recycle: This little project didn’t take long and was so much fun. If you sent me a really cute card last year, thanks! You just might be getting it back on a gift this year.

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fabric beach balls!

fabric beach ball purl soho

These are great balls for playing indoors. I’ve made one for my daughter and a few for her friends. Everyone seems to love them. This one was a bit of a challenge when I realized that I didn’t have a lot of eight-year-old-boy-ish fabric in my stash. I grabbed a few men’s shirt sleeves that I had in my upcycle bin and I really like how the colors and patterns work together.

fabric beach ball purl bee

recycle: Remember all of the pillows I was making with men’s shirts? This was a great way to use the sleeves! Pattern is from the Purl Bee.

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my creative space

crochet apple cozy

Today my creative space is filled with finishing gifts. I can show you this one because I don’t think my daughter’s teachers read the blog. I just took the “apple for teacher” gift a little further and added a cozy. This idea is brilliant for those who throw a piece of fruit in their bag for a snack. The cozy keeps it from getting bruised. I really want to make one for myself, but not until after holiday gifts are finished.

crochet apple cozy

Creative spaces are going on holiday until 2010. Head over to Kirsty’s blog for your end-of-year fix.

pattern notes: I had to add a few rows for it to cover my apple. Adorable Apple Cozy is available as a free ravelry download.