Christmas Gifts: Matching Family Pajamas

This is an awful picture of us, but you get the idea of how cute we looked!

Christmas Gifts: Bean Bag Chair

I made Benji a bean bag chair to go with his planet themed room since the big rocker will be moving into the baby's room.

Christmas Gifts: Cloth napkins

Pretty simple gift. My mom requested cloth napkins. I made them in colors to match her decor.

Christmas Gifts: Sandwich Wraps, Lunch Bags, and Snack Bags

Above, sandwich wraps. The left one is open, the right closed. Below, one of the velcro bags I made. I made a bunch of various sizes as I wasn't sure what Erin or my mom wanted.

My friend Erin really wanted some homemade, waterproof lunch bags. So--I made some for her and my mom for christmas. I figured I would google search for tutorials to see if anyone had done the thinking work for me. I used these links and followed them pretty closely. The one thing I did change was I used cotton fabric on the outside and PUL on the inside so that they were waterproof. I've heard good and bad things about laminated fabrics, and I didn't want to deal with the chemicals in them...so decided to have a bit more work, but less worry. The pictures aren't too good, but you get the idea. The snack bags have velcro closures.

Links:
http://www.craftstylish.com/item/43227/how-to-make-a-reusable-sandwich-wrap
http://wewilsons.blogspot.com/2009/02/reusable-snack-bag-tutorial.html
http://skiptomylou.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/lunch-time/

Christmas Gifts: Lap Desk

You can see the flap for the "pillow case" above. Below the whole thing closes with a button. Next time I'd add 2 buttons instead of a center one. This does the trick to keep the whole thing closed, though.

My niece Anika is really into drawing/writing/creating. I saw this blog entry http://mermag.blogspot.com/2009/08/kind-of-sort-of-tutorial-of-sorts.html on creating a lap desk for a child. I really thought this would be a great idea. After reading the blog more closely, AFTER buying the fabric, I realized the tutorial, really wasn't one...it was just the girl's random thoughts. So--I sat down with my friend, Kim, and we created our own tutorial/pattern for these lap desks. We prayed that we did our calculations correctly as we cut into our fabric. Turns out we bought the right amount of fabric AND our pattern worked! We changed the original design too adding different pockets, a removal foam pillow and board so that the whole thing can be washed. I'm kicking myself that I didn't make one for Benji too! I'm adding this to my list for both Benji and Auden for birthday gifts I think. Hopefully with the baby I can find the time. Did anika like it? She used it the whole week, so yes, I think it was a success!!

Christmas Gifts: Splatt Paint Fabric Oven Mitts

Back in June, I hosted a splatt party. Basically the kids came and painted/splatted paint all over fabric, shirts, aprons, etc with various objects. We had a blast. I had benji splatt paint on top of a yard of fabric. It's been sitting in my fabric stash since then, when my friend Kim came up with this great idea to make oven mitts/pot holders. I chose to do the mitts. I bought used bias tape, left over denim for the inside, insulite and batting for protection and whipped these up. I traced my personal pot holders for a pattern. The result is a bit unusual but full of memories. My MIL and my mom both got a pair of these!

Christmas Gifts: Wine Glass Markers

This are ghetto fabulous--or maybe just ghetto? Andy bent the wire for me by wrapping it around a dowel to keep it really circular. I used 18 gage wire. I originally bought beads to go on the wire, but the wire ended up being too thick. So--instead of going back to the store, I had a thought to search through my crazy button jar...and these are the results. They were all connected together when I took the picture, so I apologize. I was too lazy to unhook them. Not sure if my MIL likes them...but they are unusual!