Christmas Gifts

Christmas has come and gone. All the gifts were completed (by the 22nd, I might add!)  Final count of projects:

13 hostess aprons

2 full aprons

9 BBQ aprons

12 Lego bags

3 robes

5 PJ bottoms

1 purse

 Here is my nephew's lego bag. I LOVE how this one turned out. The shark fabric is just adorable. These are great for all children but since I have A LOT of boys to make gifts for these were perfect. Basically this is a huge circle with drawstrings in it and when playtime is over you can just pull the drawstrings and put the pouch away.

Here is some of the assortment of aprons I made. Hostess aprons were a hit among the family.  Since most of my crafting is done at night I don't have very great pictures. These were pretty simple overall and the coordinating fabrics make them just adorable.

My boys just love their robes and have been wearing them around the house. I must say they look just adorable in them.

SEW much to do!

Christmas is a mere 89 days until Christmas and I still have not really even begun to make Christmas gifts. I have known what I was making since LAST Christmas and yet, NOTHING! I have 6 sisters, 4 brother in laws, 2 sets of parents, a hubby, 4 kids, and my close friends and their kids to make gifts for. So I have begun having craft nights several times a month. I have enjoyed these since I have been inviting friends to come create with me. Nothing better than working with friends. Last Friday I got ONE present completed and that pushed me to get 3 more started. I am on my way!

Christmas Crafting

So I made all the gifts we gave away for Christmas, however, I didn't take pictures of ANY of them :(  So horrible!  I guess I need to get back into blogging so I am in the habit of taking pictures of my creations.

Christmas Creations, completed

I was busy all throughout December working on Christmas presents for my family and friends. I didn't get pictures of the sugar scrubs I created, but they were a huge hit. Not to mention they were super easy and inexpensive!

Sugar Scrub

16 oz plastic jar container (ordered from here)

1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar

3/4 cup olive oil (EVOO was used since it had less of a color than regular)

1 mL Essential Oil - I used grapefruit scent! (ordered from here)

For the brother in laws, we made movie night coupons complete with $1.10 taped inside for a Redbox movie! They also received a popcorn container from Target, 2 packages of microwave popcorn, and a king size pack of Red Vines!

For my new nephew, Joshua who was born on November 22nd, I made a picture frame. I got the idea from this blog, but since I never got over to Lowe's to get the wooden blocks cut, I used this MDF picture frame instead. I got the frame at Michael's, covered it with Mod Podge and some paper from a paper pad I already had. I then used my Cutting Up Cricut cartridge and cut out his name, birthdate, time and weight for the frame. To make his name stick out I cut a shadow of the letters about 1/2 an inch larger than the name.

For my mother in law, I wanted to make a family tree. With Bryan having 5 sisters, he has a large family that will only continue to grow. Only 2 of the 6 siblings have children so our number will significantly grow from the 18 people we have now. I had just gotten the Stretch Your Imagination Cricut cartridge for my birthday and it had an adorable tree on it with leaves that could be cut in a layer (a different color). I knew it would be perfect for making a family tree! I cut out the tree to be 11 inches and mounted it on a tan piece of 12x12 cardstock. I then dressed it up some with a bit of patterned paper. Using my Gypsy and the Opposites Attract Cricut cartridge I designed the word family and welded it together (made it cut out as one piece instead of individual letters).
To finish it off, I placed each of the leaves on the branches adhering them with glue dots. On the leave with names, I used foam mounting square to make them "pop" off the page a bit more. I wrote on each of the names of the family members, clustering the leaves by the families. I put Bryan's parents in the center and from there, you will find 6 other clusters of leaves (our cluster of leaves was the biggest with 5 family members).

For my mom, I made another set of seasonal word blocks like I had made for my mother in law for Mother's Day (seen here). Here is a link to the post where I got the idea. Unfortunately, I didn't take pics - they got finished literally hours before I had to give them to her on Christmas Eve - so I will have to try to sneak a pic of them on day while I am at her house. Hers are a burgandy wine color with patterned paper behind the letters. She like them a lot and immediately displayed them on her table as you walk into her house. They currently say "blessed" since she said that is how she feels!

Still working on a set of paper dolls for some precious little girls (we haven't yet done our Christmas celebration with their family yet). I will take photos of those when I am done. The Paper Doll Dress Up Cricut cartridge is stinkin' adorable!

Christmas Creations

I have made some really cute things for Christmas presents. The bad news... I can't post pictures because they are gifts and I can't ruin the surprise (should a recipient read the blog). You will have to wait until after Christmas to see what I have been up to.

Happy Birthday Jesus Banner

One of my friends had a great idea and I stole it to use with my children this Christmas. Last year, she decorated her house for Christmas with balloons like a birthday party for Jesus's birthday! I love this because it is yet another reminder of the TRUE meaning of Christmas.

My friend wanted to come over and use my Cricut to cut lettering to make a banner this year to add to the party decorations. I got "bored" on day (well kinda, how bored can a mom of 3 boys really get!) so I started on my own banner while the boys napped. Within 24 hours, mine was done.

I wanted to use bright and fun colors for my banner. Once the basic banner was done, I decided it needed a bit of embellishment so I put my Cricut to work and cut out some party hats, ballons, cupcakes, and presents to add to it. Instead of stringing the banner on one long string, I tied each letter to the next with colorful ribbons. I LOVE the final product!

This has got to be my favorite letter! The J for Jesus is embellished with a crown! I think that is fitting, don't you???

They Are Finished!

I have finally finished a set of Jesse Tree ornaments.  I added the ribbon so they could be hung on the tree.  On the backs I wrote the day that corresponds to each ornament and the scripture passage that tells the story of Creation to Jesus's birth.  I can't wait to start the devotions each day with the boys and placing the ornaments on the tree!  I pray this is a tradition that will be kept for years to come and passed on to their children.

Jesse Tree for Christmas

I have started to create ornaments for a Jesse Tree.  I read about this on a blog and immediately fell in love with the idea.  Starting about 4 weeks from Christmas you sit down as a family for an advent devotional.  For each passage of scripture there is a person and an image that corresponds.  You then place the ornament on the tree.  I decided to use felt to make them since I don't have a sewing machine.  The ones below are not completely finished and I have since made 7 more.  I will keep you updated as we get close to starting our Jesse Tree this year!