Christmas Water

Today is my daughter's preschool Christmas party, I think they actually call it a "Holiday Party" but I keep referring to it at Christmas. :) Everyone had to sign up to bring something, but everything has to be store-bought nothing can be homemade. :(  Since I couldn't bake anything anyway, I signed us up for water. Its inexpensive and easy, something rare at Christmas um, the Holidays. BUT my daughter was dismayed to find that she was bringing "boooring, NOT fancy and totally NOT Christmasy" mini bottles of water. So we fancied and Christmas-ied, um, Holiday-ed them up!

I have to admit, when she wanted me to "fancy them up" and I remembered the wrapping paper trick I was dismayed. Yesterday was her ballet recital and of course yesterday afternoon is when I bought the water so of course we were in a crunch and I was just a teensy bit stressed. So when I hesitantly offered to cover the labels with wrapping paper and she enthusiastically responded, I had visions of me putting them together after the recital,a fter getting her in bed, after getting the dog settled, some time around midnight. And when she announced she wanted to help, I started to say we didn't have time. But I just can't say "no" when that sweet little face wants to help me with something. So we sat down after lunch, before her dress rehearsal (when I was supposed to be cleaning bathrooms) It took us less than an hour to do it together, we listened to Christmas music and had a great time.

I got out some wrapping paper, I know the teacher is incorporting Santa into the Christmas, um Holiday party so I chose the Santa paper. I think everyone knows how to do this one, but just in case this is new to you. . .I thought we'd use tape but we liked the glue stick better. The paper had little peppermints on it so I cut those out and my daughter glued them to the lids. We measured and cut out strips of paper and then glued them to cover the labels on the water. And do you know what? We had a wonderful time! We chatted and listened to Christmas music, sang along and in just under an hour had Christmas Water! She was thrilled and I was glad I pushed bathroom scrubbing off a day and decorated water bottles with my daughter! My bathrooms may not be sparkling, but my daughter is happy. I'd rather have a happy daughter any day!

A Snuggly-Buggly Refashioning: Blanket to Jumper

Every once in a while it gets chilly in the Desert Wasteland of the Southwestern United States. I love the chilly days. Do keep in mind, for us "chilly" days are in the 40's, but when you're used to 100+ temperatures for more than half the year, the upper 40's is downright freezing! (And fabulous!) A recent "cold snap" (we had freeze warnings over the weekend!!!!) had my daughter and I searching her closet for something cuddly and warm to wear. And she made a comment about wishing her dresses were as warm and cuddly as her Blankie. I think its pretty easy to see what happened next. No, I didn't cut up her Blankie, but we did find one that was rarely used, cuddly soft and super cute.

We started with the blanket, a fun red with white snowflakes; wintry and super soft. Obviously this can be done with fleece, but we had this blanket lying around and I'd have to go to the fabric store and pay for fleece!!! I thought about making a long sleeved dress, but one thing she has in common with me is that we get overheated quickly. The blanket was pretty thick and everyone here pumps up the heat the instant it drops below 60, so I decided to do a jumper so she can wear a tee underneath and not be covered head to toe in fleece. I made the pattern by using a knit dress she already wears, one of those $8 jobbers from our beloved Target.

I cut the skirt based on measurements from the dress I used as a template. I cut out two rectangles using the already finished edge for the bottom of the dress (hee, hee, hee!!)

I drew a pattern for a front and back bodice based again on the dress we already own. Because the blanket fleece isn't as stretchy as the knit dress, I did make a 3" slit in the back bodice at the neckline to attach a loop and button so it will fit over her head but not be too floppy on her body! I also cut out two pockets for the dress, just because I thought she might like them. I did NOT expect the fleece to shed so much!  Note all the little red shedding pieces everywhere. I'm going to be finding them for years to come!

Because the fleece just kept SHEDDING I went ahead and zig-zagged the edges before I assembled them.

I assembled the jumper the standard way; attaching the shoulders, then sewing the sides together (the arm holes were already zig-zagged and since the fleece is so thick, I didn't bother folding it under and adding another stitch.) Then I sewed the skirt pieces together, ran a gathering stitch and attached it to the bodice. I hand sewed a loop and button in the back and in just over an hour, we had a snuggly-buggly, cuddly, warm blanket jumper! I did finish off the pockets, neckline, arm holes and waist with a running stitch using white embroidery floss. I wanted to give it a simple, decorative finish, kind of playing off the blanket idea.

I think the best part about it was that it didn't cost me a cent and it was completed in just over an hour (including interruptions from the daughter and the dog). My daughter insists the best part is how cuddly and warm it is. Either way, we are set for the absolutely frigid temperatures tomorrow! Seriously people, 52 degrees!!!!

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Holly Jolly Candles

A sick kid, does not a happy household make! I've spent the last week taking care of a very sick and cranky 4-year old leaving no time for sewing. I'm currently working on a couple projects that I am so excited to share here! We have back to back birthday parties to attend today but tomorrow I have a date with my sewing machine so check back with me for some fun sewing projects!!

We spent the first part of the week laying around with a fever and a yucky cough, but the latter part of the week she was in that yucky stage of being sick where they are restless and want to play but tire out quickly. So we crafted and crafted and crafted! :) We've been doing lots of construction paper crafts, all the old school stuff; "building" snowmen, making paper chains and snowflakes. Nothing blog-worthy but fun stuff for us. We did work on one Christmas project I wanted to share. Inspired by Gleeful Things and her fun Halloween luminaries, we worked up some Christmas luminaries!!

The process was the same, tissue paper and Mod Podge. We used two shades of green for the "holly" tearing them instead of using scissors and cut out red "berries" from the paper. I think in hindsight I should have torn the green tissue in less of a rectangle shape and more a leaf shape, but overall we're thrilled with how they turned out! The princess and I enjoyed making a mess together and now we're overrun with Christmas luminaries!! This is a great craft to do with kids and costs nothing unless you need to buy the tissue paper. We used old jars from pickles, marinara and salsa!

Linking Up with:

http://www.notjustahousewife.net

http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com

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