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Christmas Outfit Inspiration

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Luxury Fur Coat Sewing Tutorial

These girls of mine take my breath away.  I know I’ve said it before, but it brings me so much joy to see their excitement as I design, sew, and photograph homemade garments specifically for each of them.  They wait patiently as their sisters take turns and know that they will be in the spotlight in due time.  As part of my work with Jo-Ann, I was given the task to create something around a “Winter Chill” theme and as I perused the store, Christmas outfits came to life in my mind.  Warm, furry coats and sparkly dresses in pink and gold.  Something different and so beautiful.  I’ve finished this first outfit and I don’t know if it was her beaming smile or the way the morning light hit my camera as I rushed to take pictures before a busy day, but these pictures are positively glowing.
Luxury Fur Coat Sewing TutorialI saw this amazing fabric in my store and quickly stitched up a simple dress.  I must sound like a broken record, but the 5&10 Volume 1 pattern came in oh-so-handy once again.  The simple bodice with big gold buttons up the back and pretty little cap sleeves give a reliable, well-fitting result.  I did a simple gathered skirt.  After I had sewn it together, the skirt was looking really too puffy – this fabric is thick and very structured – probably a bit much for a gathered skirt.  I pressed the gathers really well and that did the trick.  I love the result.  With a slim gold belt, the dress has great structure to complement the fancy jacquard print.  You can also find the fabric online – it’s David Tutera Metallic Jacquard Fabric in Rose.

Luxury Fur Coat Sewing Tutorial

Luxury Fur Coat Sewing Tutorial

Luxury Fur Coat Sewing Tutorial

The dress is gorgeous under this furry coat.  She looks like a winter wonderland dream, does she not?  I hope she never stops crinkling her cute little nose when she giggles.

Luxury Fur Coat Sewing Tutorial

Luxury Fur Coat Sewing Tutorial

 

Our Christmas House

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The whirlwind of Christmas preparations are winding down.  The shopping is done, the goodies will continue to be baked and consumed at a steady pace.  I just finished my last handmade gift and most of the wrapping is done.  We’re watching Christmas movies and listening to all the Christmas songs and even though it’s rainy and windy and miserable outside, we finally have a toasty fire going to keep us cozy and warm. 
Before I sign off for a few days, I wanted to wish each of you a peaceful and joyous holiday filled with love. 
And some last minute Christmas decoration pictures, since I hadn’t gotten around to sharing them, and it’s now or never!
 
 
 
 
 
Mostly, I just decorate downstairs since that is where we spend the bulk of our time.  The girls have a tree and nativity scene in their room and I put up a little vignette with some lights in my room, mostly so that I can fall asleep to twinkly lights.  Our living/family room and kitchen are all one big open space and it makes it fun to have all the decorating flow across the living area (an amongst the sea of toys that typically adorn the floor).  Graham came home from Home Depot on black Friday with 12 poinsettias, so we have an abundance of red this year!!  You can also get some glimpses of my reupholstered couch which still isn’t totally finished – New Year’s resolution in the making!  I found out that I had to return to placing all bagged gifts up on the cabinets and furniture again this year, not because the girls won’t stay out of them, but those darned cats kept climbing in them, chewing on them, and shredding the tissue paper! 
 
Alrighty!  I’m off to make some more caramel corn and see what fun Christmas movies are on tonight!  Have a wonderful week! 

Christmas Jammies

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I would like to preface this post by sharing in the heartache for the community and families who have so tragically lost the loves of their lives this holiday season.  While I look through these pictures tonight of my sweet girls, I am again overwhelmed with my fortune in having happy, healthy children.  I know, too well, that life can be brutally short – a lesson I learned before my girls were born and a lesson that guides me and carries me through every action of every day.  The events at Sandy Hook Elementary School last Friday reinforce the fragility of each day.  As I navigate out of this new wave of paralysis, I hope you will join me in celebrating each moment of life and just… love, love with all that you have.
We have a family tradition.  The girls get to open one gift on Christmas Eve every year…and it’s always jammies.  Usually, I buy their jammies, but this year, it was one of the few things I put on my to-make list.  During one of the big fabric sales of the season, I picked up the fabric for their jammies: some super thick yummy knit for the girls’ pajama tops and Addie’s bottoms and festive fleece for the older girls’ pajama pants.  I used the Winter PJ’s pattern by Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop for the snug jammies and then I just used a standard pants pattern with elastic waist for the older girls’ pants.  The jammies sew up in no time.  I did them almost completely on the serger and I picked up a double needle for the top stitching around the collar and the hem on their tops.  The sizing worked out perfectly; I went up a size for Grace and it wasn’t too big, but will fit her for a couple seasons.
 After sewing Addie’s top, I thought that the plain red and white wasn’t feminine enough for her taste, so I hopped on the embellishment train.
I decided to polka dot the sleeves (and the pants!) with my oh-so-handy painting tool – the no. 2 pencil eraser.  I used fabric paint in silver.  LOVE the way the polka dots cheer the whole set up.  I covered Liv and Grace’s sleeves in polka dots, too.  It’s obviously easiest to add your paint before sewing the pieces of the garment together.  Cut the pattern pieces out, paint, let them dry; heat set, then continue with sewing the pieces together.
I also did a little screen-printing on their tops – Addie even got some bedazzling on her ice skater!
The girls took photo-shoot posing into their own hands.  The pictures are not what I was envisioning going in…and I couldn’t love them more – these are my girls, goofing around, giving me a hard time, shouting out ho-ho-ho or pretending to sleep, and wearing Santa hats, sometimes double stacked…being silly, sweet, little girls.
Love them!
Wanting to make some snuggly jammies for your little ones?  Good news!  You can get the Winter PJs pattern in the Peekaboo Pattern Shop.

Evergreen Wreath DIY

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 I finally tackled a project that I’ve been wanting to try for a couple years.  Making my own evergreen wreath.  Wreaths are just so beautiful and festive for the holiday season and I really like the freshness of an evergreen wreath over my mantle.  Last year, I didn’t have the time to try to figure out a wreath and I purchased a relatively inexpensive one from Costco.  After Christmas, I examined the wreath frame and was able to disassemble it.  I preserved the wire wreath frame and the pre-wired pinecone clusters and fake berries.  Using the clippings off the bottom of our Christmas tree, I put together a fresh wreath for this year in no time (with a four-year-old helper, no less!)  It’s a cinch.  Let’s get started!!
This wreath form is really simple because you just pinch down the wires to hold your branches.  You can also use a regular wire form and just wrap your branch clusters with wire.  All of these materials are available at nearly any craft store.  I used three sets of pinecones and berries and each pinecone cluster had three pinecones.  My horticulturist mother taught me that plants always look good in groups of three – apparently, that applies even on wreaths!  If you collect your pinecones from the yard, just wrap some wire around their centers to secure them in clusters and onto the wreath form.
With your gardening clippers, cut three small twigs off of your branches.  Mine were about 6-9 inches long.
Stack your three twigs on top of one another, fluffiest at the bottom.
Place the bundle onto the wreath form with the base under the wreath “clip” and base pointed to the right.  You’re going to work in a counter-clockwise direction.
Bend down the wire “clips.” If your wreath form doesn’t have the clips, wrap wire here instead.
Gather another bundle of branches and place it into the next “clip” section on the wreath form.  Make sure that the tops of your second bundle cover the base/wires of the first bundle.  Continue adding evergreen bundles in a counter-clockwise direction.
If you are adding pinecone/berry decorative elements:  Count the number of wire clips on your wreath form – I have twelve.  Divide by the number of decorative groupings you have – I have three (I grouped one berry and one pinecone group for each decorative grouping.  Okay, so twelve divided by three equals four – I’m going to add in a decorative group right with my evergreen bundle every fourth clip – the first grouping is shown above, clipped into the fourth wire “clip.”
Continue around until you get to your last “clip.”  Simply lift the tops of your first bundle that are covering the final clip.  Collect your last bundle of evergreens (and decorative elements) and slide them into that last clip.  Lay the tops of your first bundle over the base of that last bundle and you’re done!!
Hold up your wreath and make sure all the branches look even – add to any sparse spaces.  Attach a ribbon or wire to hang the wreath and put that beauty up!  You can easily adjust the fullness of the wreath by increasing the number of branches in each bundle.

 

10 Popcorn Ideas for Christmas!

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Something about the twinkling Christmas lights and the cold weather has me craving the popping sound of delicousness in the popcorn cart. Or maybe it’s because the tree displaced the cart from its location in our family room.  I don’t know, but we’ve been popping up a storm. 
   Last week, the girls and I made some strings of popcorn to decorate their little tree that’s set up in their bedroom.  Addie’s attention span to the activity didn’t last long, but Olivia and Grace really had fun.  
We just put a big bowl of popcorn on the table and I gave them each a long string of twine with a blunt needle on the end.  Worked like a charm – no one got poked and the popcorn got strung.  
Today, we did the same thing and made popcorn necklaces – less guilt than those candy necklaces that they love and perhaps it will dissuade them from chewing the popcorn right off the tree when they’re supposed to be going to sleep! 
 
Along with the chewy chocolate mint snowtop cookies, caramel corn is one of my absolute must-make holiday treats!  I cooked up a batch today to challenge my calorie counting for the day (still made it under my limit!!)  I shared the Caramel Corn recipe here and it’s SO GOOD!
 
I’ve got a few more ideas bookmarked for our future popcorn endeavors!  
 
Popcorn Brittle – this looks really good though I’m not sure it’s super low-cal
Christmas Coal Popcorn – Fun! I’d like to make up a batch of this and put it in someone’s stocking
Reindeer Paper Bags – cute for packaging popcorn to-go or a holiday party!
Peppermint Popcorn Bark –  I love peppermint and this looks super yummy!
Popcorn Wreath – We are SO doing this for an “I’m bored” activity this week!
Christmas Decorating for the Birds – Love this!! So country chic!
Stringing Popcorn and Cranberry Garland – Wouldn’t this be awesome on a tree outside, too?
 
Do you love popcorn at your house?  Salt and butter and a Christmas movie??  Baked up into a sweet treat?  Tell me, what else should I add to the list?

peppermint candy cake

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Need a festive cake for your holiday celebrations?  I love this little peppermint candy cake.  I baked a 3-layer, 7-inch cake, stacked and filled it.  I put a crumb coating over the whole thing.  In retrospect, I would probably put a red base coat under the red sections, but this was just for our little dress photo shoot so I didn’t bother.  I scored the cake with a large knife into eight sections on the top and then carefully extended the lines down the sides.  Using a small round piping tip, I covered the sections in small dots.  This took a little while, but I think it’s so fun!  
We’ve been doing only a little holiday baking around here this year.  It’s just not as much fun for me when I can’t eat even a drop.  Sticking to the baking that’s fun for the kids – cut-out cookies and gingerbread houses.  What are you baking?  Do you stick to a few traditional recipes or try out new ones? 

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