Christmas Crafts

While cleaning up from the daycare party I noticed that a few of the kids had left the shirt boxes behind. They had such nice Christmas pictures on them that I couldn't just throw them out. So our Monday morning craft was making puzzles out of the leftover box tops. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

I also started an ornament for mom's stocking Monday night. They have such a colorful tree that this one fits in nicely. I found the free pattern at www.abyquilt.blogspot.com

And I can't believe it but that was the only handmade gift I gave to any family member this year! I think I spent too much time on the daycare gift to even think of making anything else. Everyone seemed to like their storebought gifts anyways. ;o)

My brothers, sisterinlaw, sister and nephew (who's two months old now!) are here until monday so I plan on getting some more visiting in before they all go back to the big city and things return to normal here. I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Daycare Christmas Party

There has been a whirlwind of activity around here lately but things are starting to calm down now so I finally have time to blog!

On the 21st, a sunday, we had the daycare Christmas party. I kept it short and sweet this year. First we had a snow ball fight. I saw the idea for the snowballs online and figured out how to make them myself. They'll stay here at daycare for future indoor snowball fights. :o)

After the snow was all cleaned up the kids opened the books I'd given them. Everyone got a different Usborne book. Next year I won't be selling Usborne so I think I'll put the kids in different age/sex groups and buy multiple copies of the same book from Scholastic or Amazon. That might make picking the books out easier on me.

Then we opened the shirts I'd made them. They were a hit!

The buttons are all the same even though it doesn't look like it.

The girls got the snowmen, with the melting snowmen on the back, and the boys got tie shirts. I wanted to get pictures of all the shirts together before I wrapped them but in true Corinna fashion I was sewing the last few buttons on the snowmen when the first family walked in the door! With all the part timers I have I made 4 snowmen shirts and 5 tie shirts. I had one girl who couldn't attend so I left her shirt undone and I'll finish it next week maybe.

There were still a few kids that hadn't arrived yet (an hour late!!) so we did the pinata. I didn't get a picture of it but we had to take it down and rip it apart with our hands before we could get it open. lol I guess I did too many layers of paper mache!

When the last kids arrived we finally got to the kids gift exchange. They give each other toys to make up for the fact that I gave them books and clothes! :oP After playing with the toys and a few group pictures, which didnt' turn out well, everybody went home and Corinna spent the evening recooperating and cleaning up.

Quilt Hanger

Way back in September, in my second post, I mentioned that I had ordered some quilt hangers online. Well they took about a month or so to arrive because they are custom made. And then it took me until last Sunday to put one up! I'm not sure what I was waiting for because it looks great. I'm really pleased with it.
Displayed here is the quilt I made two years ago....I think it was....or maybe it was last year. hmmm Nope pretty sure it was two years ago. Anyways, it was a mystery quilt on QuiltingPassion.com and I turned it into an advent calender. Each day the kids take a turn picking out an ornament to hang as we count down to Christmas. This picture was taking on Sunday....really there's only 8 more days until Christmas!!!!!

I've got the boys Christmas gift shirts finished and I'm working on the girls now. I'm also tossing around the idea of making a pinata for the party and kitchen towels for the parents. We'll see if I have time!

Gingerbread House Party!

This morning the daycare kids and I invited two of my friends and their kids over for a gingerbread house making party. And then I had an extra daycare girl here because her school was closed due to buses not running because of the cold. -50F with the windchill or something crazy like that. lol I'm not going outside to see if it's true or not.

Here are the houses we came up with. Our little friends had already taken theirs home so I didn't get pictures of theirs.

We also read the story of the gingerbread man and danced and marched to music while we were waiting for the icing to dry. The kids all had fun ...and the adults did too! lol

Emily's quilt and Sara's wallhanging

Here's the pictures of Emily's quilt. Nice soft colors and a nice soft batting. :o) Quilted with an allover loopy meander.
The back was a nice purple with clouds.And here's the wall haning I made for my sister Sara's small apartment. This will be her first Christmas where she has her own place to decorate. I hope she likes it!

The back with a label sewn right in the backing.

The Weekend's here again!

I was going to post about Emily's quilt on Thursday so that it would be a surprise for her mommy when they got it in the mail (she reads my blog), but then I forgot. And when I went to put the pictures on my computer today the batteries in my camera were dead! So once they're charged by tomorrow I'll post those pictures. :o)
I used cotton/bamboo batting on Em's quilt and it turned out lovely and so soft. That batting has excellent drape for sure and I do believe I'll have to get some more next time I go down to Winnipeg. I have enough left to do the quilt for S, my daycare girl. Her quilt is cut out, maybe I'll actually get at it one of these days!
I will also be posting about a Christmas wallhanging I made for my sister to hang in her little apartment. I wanted to mail it out this week but it just didn't work for me to get to the post office on time. I wish they would stay open until 5:30 or 6 just ONE night of the week! It would make my life alot easier.

This weekends plans include making bread, making gingerbread house parts and working on the daycare kids appliqued shirts for Christmas. Our party is going to be on the 21st so I've got just over a week to finish them (and I haven't even started yet! lol)
This cold weather just makes me want to sleep though. It's gotten to below -30C which is -24F several times this week. Too cold for me! Perhaps I'll put on my slippers and get my fusible stuff out and get at them tonight.

Nearly finished!

Last night I managed to finish everything on my list except Emily's quilt! I even wore my new pjs to bed last night. ;o) I'll post pictures later on...maybe tomorrow.
And now to tackle Emily's quilt!

Another finish and a weekend to do list

Here's our oreo penguins! The kids and I have studied penguins all week and this was our craft/snack today. Aren't they just darling?

It only took 40 mins to make the apron for my daycare girl who turns 5 tomorrow! For some reason I thought it would take longer. huh. Anyways she liked the apron and was willing to model it for me. :o)

See....a yellow apron - just like she asked for! And I got to use up some yellow that's been in my stash for a while now. It's very nice looking but every time I tried to put it in a quilt there was nothing that would go with it. It must have known it was meant to be an apron all along.

I made it a double layer for extra durability.

I put ties on the neck as well as the waist so that it's completely adjustable. The neck ties are a bit long. ;o)

So...there's another thing to cross off the list! This afternoon I sat down and made a somewhat ambitious weekend to-do list.

1.) Mend Denise's pillow Finished it while the kids were sleeping.

2.)Finish client's pj pants

3.)Finish my pj pants

4.)Quilt and bind Emily's quilt

5.)Let out Tyler's dress pants (Tyler is a former daycare child. These pants were too long on him in June and now they're way to short. He's 12 yrs old and 5' 10 1/2"!!!!!)

6.)Add some fabric to the bottom of one of GH's pj tops to lengthen it. (Not one of the one's I made him)

There you have it folks! We'll see how much I actually get done. Oh and I also have to do lovely things like house cleaning as well. bah humbug

One down....

I just finished the bean bags for my daycare boy who's turning three. I'll give them to him tomorrow. I hope he likes them!

And now I'm going to bed!

Operation Christmas Child

I forgot to mention this yesterday. Every year the daycare children and I work on making boxes for Operation Christmas child. This year one of the girl boxes had room in it still after we'd put everything we had in. So I decided we should make a pair of pants to add to it.

My nearly 5 yr old daycare girl looked through my fabric and patterns and decided maybe we should make a skirt instead. AE picked out the fabric but she chose some thin polycotton that was too see-thru so I decided to sew a lining in it.

Well.... that soon turned into trying to figure out how to make a reversible skirt that would look good worn either way. The result turned out really well. It's a size 4 skirt modeled by a 2 yr old which is why it looks so big on her. I can totally see myself making more of these in the future.

This bread here.....

is the result of today's activities. A few weeks ago I discovered that I could in fact, make my own bread. And it wasn't even that scary. :oP We made bread with mom alot growing up but as teens making bread became Jody's thing (aka Thadeus' daddy). I do declare that I shall never buy bread again. Seriously people, home made bread is a bazillion times better than the store bought stuff! This time I used a recipe I found online here.

292 people left reviews and nearly everyone gave it 5 out of 5 stars - and they weren't wrong! It's totally a 5 star bread. :o) I just need to work on my loaf shaping skills. The middle loaf was way smaller than the other ones. And the third one was a little lumpy on one side.

One trick that worked well was to brush them with melted butter after they come out of the oven so that the crust doesn't get too hard. That's why they look so glossy in the picture. I can't wait until the kids wake up from their naps to have some.

Opps it's been a while eh?

Sorry for the long gap between posts! It was a crazy week last week and a busy weekend as well.

I managed to cross G's pajama's off my October list. lol Somehow they kept getting dropped down the list. But now they're done and he's quite pleased with them as you can see.

I shortened the pants and lenghtened the top on the second pair.

On Saturday the family got together to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa's 65th wedding anniversary! Wow, eh? That's alot of years! :o) In those years they've had 7 children, 26 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. (Thadeus was #13)

Here's the cake. I was so busy visiting I didn't even take a piece....well that and there were so many other goodies to choose from. ;o)

After the come and go tea at the personal care home where grandpa lives we went out to supper. Our family took up most of the restaurant and we enjoyed a good meal together. I got to see some cousins I hadn't seen for a while so that was very nice.

On Sunday after the cousins who stayed here left I did absolutely nothing. Wasted the whole day really. :o( Oh well it was nice to relax and take it easy.

I'd better buckle down this week though. I've got four daycare kids with birthdays on the 5,6,8, and 10th of this month. I have to make an apron and some bean bags for two of them. I have no idea what to get/make for the two others. They're both girls. One turns 8 and one turns 7. I'd make aprons....but that's what I made them for Christmas last year. lol

I also need to have a pair of pajama pants finished for a client from my weekend job. He's a 19yr old with FAS and I've drawn his name for our gift exchange. He says camoflage pj pants would be the best so that's what he's getting! I've got the flannel washed and that's it.

I have a quilt top made for my cousin's little girl who was here this weekend. I planned on having it finished for them to take back home with them but I ran out of steam. So I'll need to get that finished this week as well....hopefully....maybe.
I also have to figure out a date for our daycare christmas party. And get the gifts done for that. I think I may wait until next weekend to work on that.

I'd better get at it!

He's alive....somehow!

Last night, around 12 my brother Mike was getting off work. On his way home he hit a patch of ice and rolled his car into the ditch. God must have been watching over him because his only injuries are a bruised thumb and knee and a sore shoulder where the seat belt was.
This is the drivers side door. The glass was smashed on the drivers side. He had to climb out the rear passenger door.

This picture was taken from the road. I couldn't believe how far into the ditch he went!

In this one you can see the path he took into the ditch. He must have rolled more than once.

The back hatch was open and his stuff was scattered all over the ditch. If he hadn't been wearing his seatbelt he might have been scattered all over too!

And yes, I made sure to hug him when I saw him today. :,o)

Happy Birthday To Me!

Yep that's right folks, it's my birthday today! I'm a whole 28 years old now. Gosh, when did that happen?


To celebrate I thought I'd better get around to posting the fall giveaway prizes I won.

First I won a Amy Butler fat quarter pack from Danetta. Wow! Looooovvvvve it!

In fact, I loved it so much I decided to use some to make myself a tote bag for when I went to the big city. :o)

Then I won this from Lavinia. A huge pincushion, a scissor holder designed by Lynette Anderson, a fat quarter pack, and some wooden buttons! There was also a lovely note book that got missed when this picture was taken. Just call me spoiled! Oh, and didn't I feel special picking up a package from Argentina (where Lavinia lives)!

Soon it will be time for the Whirl into Winter Giveaway. I wonder if I'll be lucky again? :o)

Happy 29th Anniversary Mom and Dad!

My wonderful parents have been married for 29 years as of today! I think dad said something about fixing his truck together to celebrate. Pretty sure he was joking! He's not quite that red neck.
This isn't a great picture of them but it's the best one I have. They're a little haggard looking from traveling to see their new grandson. And actually I didn't even take it. I stole it off my sister in laws facebook page. :o)
Anyone have suggestions on how to help them celebrate 30 years next year?

To the big city and back and all the clothes

Here are the promised pictures of all the clothes I made for Thadeus. I had a great weekend with Thady and his mommy and daddy. It was a bit crazy getting there though. It normally takes about 5 hrs but I turned it into 8 because the roads were sooo bad. Ugh. My brother Mike came with me but he didn't drive so he wasn't much help! We ended up stuck behind an accident for a hour. Lots of the time we had to go 30-40 km/h because the roads were covered in layers of ice. Not fun! Oh and I nearly hit a deer a couple times. No it wasn't the same deer! lol Finally we made it there around 2 am. We stayed up visiting and didn't get to bed until 4am. :oP
This is a taggie ball made with fleece and ribbons. I also put a bell inside.

Booties!

A monkey shirt. I appliqued it on a onsie. This picture shows the monkey better and then next one shows Thadeus better so I had to post them both. :o)

Pants I made while I was visiting. The strippy ones didn't turn out as planned. I made a mistake on the pattern because I was just looking at the picture and not reading the instructions. *sigh* The green pair turned out much better.

Pants that match the booties. 0-3 mths and 3-6 mths. Neither pair fits him yet. All the patterns seem to run a bit big. Well more than a bit. Apparently that's a common problem with baby patterns. But he'll fit them before too long!

Awww....here he is in a sleeper I bought him, lying on the quilt I made him.

And here's auntie Corinna holding him after church. He's wearing the 0-3 mths tie shirt I made him that morning. Basically cut out a tie shape and applique it onto a shirt. He was quite the hit with the ladies at church!

Huh. These are in a weird order...the next to pics show close ups of the pants. I made fake pockets to jazz them up a bit.

A sleeper sack, a blanket, and a hat. This time the hat fit!

Bibs made with leftover scraps and backed with terry cloth.

This jacket should fit Thadeus next spring.

This is another sleeper sack, pants and two hats. These hats are way too huge for him!

I love these! They're 3-6 mths so it'll be a while before they fit.

And that's pretty much it I think. There were a couple of other sleepers that I bought but never got a picture. As far as patterns I used, they were mostly Simplicity and McCalls. I bought them over 10 yrs ago so I don't think they're around anymore.

The drive home was much less eventful and the roads were great, thankfully.

Now maybe I can get back to quilting! Not that I didn't enjoy sewing baby clothes it's just that I have a daycare girl who's been waiting since Sept to get her napping quilt. Right now she's using ...*gasp* a plain ol' blanket!

Baby Clothes!

Thanks to everyone who congratulated my family on the birth of Thadeus! I'm still on cloud nine and I can't wait until the weekend to see him. :o)

I've been sewing up a storm only it hasn't been quilting at all. I've been making baby clothes! I used to make baby clothes when I was a teenager with the thought of selling them. Like most of my get rich schemes, that plan failed. But I still have all of my baby clothes patterns.

So far I've made: a 6mths jacket, 6mths sleeper, 12 mths pants, swaddling blanket, and two hats.

I also have cut out a 0-3mths sleeper, 0-3mths pants, 6mths pants, and two bibs.

If I manage to get all that put together I have plans to make at least one more bib and then applique some onesies and maybe some booties.

I'd also like to make myself a totebag to take to the city. I'm not sure what design or colors I'll use yet though.

I haven't taken any pictures of the clothes I've finished yet so I'll get that done in the next couple days. And just so this isn't a picture"less" post here's my new favorite picture of Thadeus. :o)

Monkey toes!