Merry Christmas from All of Us!

Enjoy your holiday. We'll see you next year.



Crafting for Christmas

******SPOILER ALERT FOR PEOPLE RECEIVING GIFTS FROM KELLY T.*******

As many of you know our little group's main mission has been making Christmas presents. Making each gift in bulk as a group gives us a chance to be something other than just a mom/wife while doing something we love. I have been incredibly lucky to have my husband home for four day weekends three times in the last two months. And while we are all  SAHMs, there is nothing like having a husband stay at home for four days. It generally means there is a bit of a break for us always on duty moms. I was able to get a lot done during the long weekends- mainly Christmas presents or Christmas decor, but a few things that have been waiting patiently for months. 

I made this table runner using the pattern at Crafts by Abby. It is a gift for my MIL along with matching placemats and coasters (some still to be completed). No photos because while she does know what she is getting and picked out the fabric I want to save some of the surprise.

I also made two aprons from Sew 4 Home. I changed the pattern a bit to avoid the bias tape, but the same general idea (Fans of HIMYM- in my head I am saluting "General Idea"). I won't mention who these are gifts for, as they don't know yet.

This messenger bag is for my son and daughter to share. They are getting Leapsters for Christmas and I wanted a nice little bag to store it all in. I used this tutorial with a few modifications to fit everything I need without being too big for a child.

I finally recovered this tiny rocking chair I picked up for $5 last April with corduroy. No tutorial, just craziness. But boy does he love it!!!

I adjusted this pleated skirt so it would actually stay up on my tiny daughter's waist. Libby and I made them a few weeks back, but it required some alterations. The pattern is here. We also appliqued matching shirts. The girls are adorable in their new outfits.

I made this tree skirt, also from Sew 4 Home. I loved the fabrics from JoAnns at 60% off. I am going for the blue and silver winter Christmas.

With the leftover fabric I made this advent calendar. My own creation, but very easy. Just a little time consuming. All those buttons and pockets. But my daughter really liked the final product and thanked me for making it, "I love it Mommy- you are the best!".

With the cold weather coming I made a couple of hats. They are both crocheting- A's was very basic, just double crochets all the way around, but I's was this adorable pattern I found through Ravelry. I heart Ravelry.

Last, I made two of these adorable crocheted headbands. They took maybe 20 minutes for both of them. Perfect for a last minute gift if anyone is looking. Less than two weeks until Christmas. Yikes!

How to Post with Kids

Rather than making excuses about why we haven't posted in weeks (sick kids, sick husbands, weather, holidays, too busy making gifts, vacations, etc.), I thought it would be more productive to make a list of the best ways to blog when kids are in the picture.

1. Blog very early in the morning or very late at night. My kids are in bed from 8:30 until 7:30 on an average night, so if I'm not interested in sleeping 11 hours I can use some of my alone time to blog.
2. Blog during naptime. Again, my kids are in their rooms from 1 until 3 so this gives me 2 hours to blog. That should be enough, right?
3. Give the kids an endless supply of cookies, candy, or chocolate milk in front of Sesame Street or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. They don't need attention if they are stuffing their faces and laughing at the silly tv.
4. Wait until Daddy comes home and sneak into the bathroom with the laptop. Just make sure to LOCK THE DOOR. Once you've been caught they will never trust you again.
5. Tell everyone you need a nap and hide under the covers with your laptop. Again, don't get caught.
6. Put on Christmas music and let the kids dance and shake jingle bells while you type.
7. Let them crawl into bed with you to take a nap and turn your body the other way so they don't know you are secretly typing on the netbook.
8. Tell them you will take them out to play in the snow IF they will clean the playroom first and use the cleaning time to blog.
9. Setup your desk with two computers- one for the kids to watch videos or play games and one for blogging.
10. Put up a gate around your desk so they just can't get to you.

I hope to be on again later today to do some posting. I'll try using my own suggestions. Thanks for checking out our blog.