Homemade Christmas Gifts

This post is perhaps a little late, but as I promised I would show you pictures of all the handmade Christmas gifts I made for my family this year, I thought I would go ahead and post them. Perhaps they'll give you ideas for birthday or Christmas gifts for this coming year! Let's just say, everyone loved the gifts I made them. The kids wear their new pajamas every night!

The pajamas pictured above were for my eldest. I bought a pajama pattern to make his and it turned out pretty well, though I must say, having never made pajamas before and not having much experience working with knits, I did have a lot of learning to do with these projects. His pajamas were a bit big, though I used the smallest size it came with. But he'll have it to wear for a couple years at least now.

The pajamas pictured below were for my third child. You probably noticed instantly that the pattern on the top is going the opposite direction of the pants. I unfortunately didn't notice it until both pieces had been sewn and finished. Another lesson learned. Oh well. My little boy hasn't noticed it at all and he loves his new pajamas. I panicked a little when I realized that the pattern I originally bought to use for both boys ended up being way too big. I used the smallest size for my eldest and it still came out too big for him. So I ended up searching online for some free patterns and tutorials to make this pajama set. In the end, despite the pattern mix-up, I think it was my favorite. I love the raglan sleeves on the top. Here is the tutorial/free pattern for the top, and here is the tutorial for the pants.

Here is the ornament I made for my baby. You can find the free pattern for it here.

And here is the ornament I made for my daughter. You can find the free pattern for this here.

The day before Christmas, I decided to make an ornament for my husband. He had never had his own named ornament as a child, so I thought it would be fun to include him in on the fun (plus I needed another last minute gift for him). I just found a cross picture I liked and used it as my pattern.

Here is the ornament I made for my third-born. I copied something I saw off Pinterest for this one.

And finally, last but not least, I refashioned an old t-shirt and pair of pajama pants belonging to my husband into a very sentimental pillow that now resides on our bed. Our first child was born in the middle of December of 2011, and my husband's dad found this t-shirt on a clearance rack at Walmart and snatched it up for my husband. I have some very cherished pictures of my husband wearing this shirt as he held our newborn son. He wore it proudly for several years until it became too dilapidated to wear in public. I saved it just for this purpose. And the well-loved old pajama pants made a perfect complimentary backing to the pillow, I think. (Remember the raglan sleeve pajama shirt from above? I used bits and pieces from this old t-shirt to make it up as well. So I got a lot of mileage out of just one t-shirt!)

The handmade Christmas gifts were a big hit and will be far more meaningful for years to come than any toy or trinket I could have bought. Planning ahead of time and starting a couple months early helped to make the projects manageable and not stressful. I honestly had a lot of fun planning and making these gifts! I encourage you to try to come up with a few things to make your loved ones when Christmas rolls around once again.

Another Christmas Sneak-Peak

So, we moved to a new house about 8 months ago. Now, that my husband and I are starting to turn our attention to Advent and Christmas decorating, my husband noted that we now have a lovely fireplace and mantel to decorate. The other day he told me it would be a shame to have such a nice mantel and not have stockings to hang up on there. (You see, we never had stockings for the kids before since we never had a good place to hang them.)

So, guess what? Yep, on top of everything else, I am now feverishly working on felt Christmas stockings for the kids.

I kept the design very simple and they aren't taking long to make. I just need to decide if I want to personalize them or not...

Stay tuned to find out how they turned out in the end and to see our decorated mantel with all the trimmings!

Getting Ready for Christmas

Ever since I bought a kit of finger paints a couple of weeks ago, my kids have been begging me to do a craft with them. Seeing as how we are nearing Christmas season, I thought this project was a good way to get out the paint and have some fun!

I had some pine cones that weren't being used in any way and I wanted to think of a way to use them this Christmas. So I looked on Pinterest and found this idea, which seemed pretty easy to copy, so I went for it!

Overall, it was a big success and the kids had a blast!

A Sneak Peak of Christmas Gifts

Hello again! I thought you might be interested in the Christmas gifts I am currently making for my family. 

At one point over the summer, I casually mentioned to my daughter in a rather nostalgic frame of mind that I might make her a nightgown some day. ALL my kids (except the baby) jumped at that and immediately began saying, "Yeah! Mommy is going to make us pajamas!" So I decided to go ahead and tackle that project as part of their Christmas gifts (at least for the three oldest). 

I've finished my daughter's nightgown pictured below. I am not an experienced seamstress, so I learned a lot while making hers. Overall, I'm pleased with how it turned out. She'll never notice the slight mistakes I made during the process. 

Another gift that I am making for all my children (including the baby) is a Christmas tree ornament. I was lamenting this past Christmas that my children didn't have personalized ornaments to hang on the tree like I did when I was a child. Hanging up my special ornaments was one of the highlights of the decorating traditions for me. I had eyed buying personalized ornaments online, but to get anything really nice, the price was too expensive. So the idea came to me: Why not make them special ornaments out of felt?

Each child is going to get an ornament related to the meaning of their name. This one is for my oldest, and his name (first and middle combined) means "Little Gift of God." I put his first name on the front and the year he was born on the back. I think he's going to love it as much as I already do!

I will be posting more pictures of pajamas and ornaments as I get them done. For now, I hope you enjoyed your sneak peak! What are you making for your family this year? Happy crafting!

Denim Skirt Project

Hi everyone!

I'm happy and excited to announce that I got my sewing machine, thanks to a very generous anniversary gift from my parents. I actually got it last week, but we've been battling nasty colds here, so this is the first opportunity I've had to post about it. I'm not an expert seamstress by any means, so I just played around on the machine to begin with, learning the settings and the stitches.

And then, a couple nights ago, I had a dream. A dream in which I made my daughter a cute little denim skirt. I woke up yesterday determined to do just that. I wish I would have taken the "before" picture... some old jeans of my eldest boy's. I didn't, however, so you'll just have to look at the finished project.

I followed the tutorial here. They were very thorough, easy to follow instructions. The only changes I made were that I didn't insert a panel into the front of the skirt and I didn't do the typical jean topstitching to finish off the project. I regret not putting in the extra panel, as it ended up being a little too tight around the hem. It's definitely wearable as it is, especially right now, but as she gets bigger, I might have to go back and add the panel. Still, all told, I'm happy with how the project turned out.