Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a blessed Christmas! 

See you in the new year!



Our new house

We closed on our house!  This past April we sold our house after 2 years!  It was a great house but wasn't in an area we wanted to raise the kids.  We moved into a rental so we could take our time looking for a home and then we were matched with Madeline's birth mother and completely lost interest.  We had decided to wait until next year to start looking but we came across a short sale by accident and fell in love!  We made the offer and assumed it would take 6 months because short sales have such a bad reputation but to our surprise we closed in less than 2 months! 

I don't have photos of the house yet.  I want to save them to show you some before and after shots but here are a few shots of the land.  When my husband and I met, everyone teased us that I was a little bit country and he was a little bit rockin roll "Donny and Marie Osmond Classic".  I grew up in a small town known for it's southern ways and the hubby is an Italian born in Buffalo.  The truth is he has always been a "good ol boy".  He is as passionate about fishing as I am about sewing.  I love this photo of him because he looks like he is exactly where he was meant to be.

This is a shot from the doc looking at the new house.  Can you see it?

This is getter closer.  If you look really close you can see the green roof. 

And now a little closer....

This is one of our new pets. 

Don't ask me why?  I guess it's because he can...

My baby girl.  I'm so in love!

A boat that was left behind that my hubby was testing to see if it would still float.  He ended up falling in!  If only I had a free hand to take a photo!

Our other new pet.  It's hard to tell by the photo but he is a rooster and the boys named him Big Daddy. 

And this is my new BFF Alan!  He is taking what used to be dirty, stained, popcorn ceiling and turning into a beautiful clean smooth ceiling.  I thought for a day I was going to do this myself.  It's not hard but with 3 kids, Yea Right!  I'm hoping to do a video tutorial for any of you out there who are in need of a ceiling make over.  I was amazed at how easily this can be done if you have the time. 

And here is "I'm a Little Bit Contry" by the Osmond's.  It was certainly a different time back then.

What do you think? 

Scavenger Boy Bags

I like to make the kids at least one handmade item for Christmas every year but I was really struggling for ideas.  It's hard to create things that the boys will actually like and use!  I was so excited when I finally came up with this idea last night.  Introducing the Scavenger Bags!

So I know they look like simple messenger bags but there is more to them than that!  They have gadgets to hold all those special tools little boys must carry with them at all times and an extra pocket for the acorn stash.  They are also super small so they are great for little boys.

Everyday when we go outside the boys scurry to find treasures in the yard.  They will fill their pockets with acorns and buckets with other treasures.  Sometimes they will even turn their treasures into artwork.  Here is one of the most recent creations.

I'm saving these for Christmas and plan to put new flashlights, nature journals, and shovels in them.  I did a test run however with the treasures Mason found at the new house today.  I think these are going to work out perfectly! 

The fabric is Trefle by Kokka and is a linen cotton blend.  The lining is twill.  Both are thick sturdy fabrics so I didn't worry about adding interfacing.  I wish I had a before picture of the fabric for you!  It had so many cute scenes.  The best is that on both bags you can find the phrase "Lets enjoy everyday with us".  That was a good reminder for me as I was locking the kids out of the sewing room so I could finish this project.  It took less than 3/4 a yard of fabric to complete both bags including the straps. 


 

So that's it for now.  I have a tutorial made that I will post soon!  We close on the new house tomorrow so you will be seeing a lot of home remodel projects over the next week.  I'm also working on doll clothing for the Pottery barn kids Chloe doll.  I LOVE the dolls they sell at PBKids and had to splurge for my niece.  That's what aunts are for right!?!  I couldn't however bring myself to spend $29.00 on a doll dress! 

Do you know of any good doll clothing tutorials out there?

Our White Christmas

I get jealous from time to time of all of you out there who have snow to play in but there are some perks to a Christmas in Florida.  Here is our white Christmas!

Notice the short sleeves!  We don't have snow but we do get to have dinner in the court yard with live music and kids dancing.

Followed by ice cream and a walk through the city.

Nate has had those stickers on his face for 3 days now!  I love his unique character!

Santa even takes a vacation from the cold and comes to visit our winter wonderland. 

And we got our first family photo!

We are so blessed! 

Christmas goodies sack tutorial

Here is a quick one you can put together to make all your Christmas goodies extra special!

What you will need:

1 fat quarter
A 9" strand of 1/8" wide elastic
ribbon
ruler

Step 1:  Prepare your fabric.

Fold your fat quarter twice so that you have 4 sides. 

Step 2:  Create a circle.

Make sure your folded edges are on the left and bottom.  Place the ruler on the prepared fat quarter so the top left corner of the ruler is about 2" from the top left edge of the fat quarter. 

Create a pivot point by placing the center of the ruler on the left bottom corner of the fat quarter.



Pivot point

Place a fabric marker on the fabric at the top left point of the ruler and follow the line of the ruler down slowly pivoting the ruler until you reach the bottom of the fat quarter.  My ruler has a hole in the center which made this easy.  If yours doesn't than just inch it down making small marks as you go.  Just make sure the ruler doesn't move off the pivot point. 

Step 3:  Cut out the circle.


Cut along the line you just created.

Step 4:  Prepare bobbin.

Load a bobbin with the thread color you want showing.

Step 5:  Finish edge.

Using a zig zag stitch with a short stitch length you are going to create a finished edge, or you can serge.  If using your sewing machine fold over the edge of the fabric about 1/8" as you stitch your finished edge.

Step 6:  Gather the top.


Add a gathering stitch approximately 3" from the top of the finished edge.

Pull the thread tight and gather until the fabric is completely closed.

Turn the bag inside out.  You may need to tighten your gathering after it has been turned.



Step 7:  Prepare elastic.

Stitch one end of the elastic to the bag along the gathered stitch and wrap the elastic around the edge.

Make sure the elastic is not twisted along the back.

Stitch other end of elastic in place. 

Step 8:  Attach elastic.

Sew elastic in place by pulling it as tight as you can and stitching all the way around.   It's best to use a zig zag even though I didn't in these photos.  You also want to make sure you still have the right color thread in your bobbin since it will show on the right side. 





Step 9:  Remove gathering stitch.


Turn your bag right side out and pull out your gathering stitch.

Step 10:  Add ribbon.


Attach ribbon by placing a few stitches in the middle of the ribbon at the gathered edge. 

Step 11:  Stuff with goodies!


I wrapped my cookies in parchment paper then placed them inside.  The elastic closes the bag nicely but to secure it tie a bow. 

Merry Christmas!

I hope you are having a  wonderful holiday season!