Advent Calendar

I finally finished sewing 24 mini stockings for our Advent Calendar... just in time! I used a combination of embellishments for the front of each stocking; Embroidery, Iron-on Motifs and Applique;

I was the very lucky winner of Lisa's giveaway, over at The Red Thread. I absolutely love her designs. I have bought Sweetie Petites doll kits from her in the past and I adore her Christmas motifs, they are so adorable. I chose a Christmas Tree (see above), a Pudding...

...a Gingerbread Man and a Present with rosy cheeks;

I went to Spotlight on Monday to buy some more, but they didn't have any! I found her other beautiful products (I can't wait to make her Stitch & Sew Angel) ... but no motifs! They must have sold out! I was so disappointed and even had the staff running around checking other sections, just in case.

I knew I definitely would not have time to do embroidery on the 20 other mini stockings. In fact, I only ended up embroidering 8...

But I did find some fabric that had little Christmas-themed pictures in red and white squares, so I used those to finish off the rest of the stockings today;

It was a rush-job and definitely a compromise, as the first half of the calendar looks lovely and colourful and cute and the second half looks... pretty average! I wanted all the stockings finished, so my girls have an understanding of how far away Christmas is... But I think I will switch in Lisa's motifs as we near the end, so we can see those cute little faces again... especially that little present with the rosy cheeks, love her!

In the meantime... Elly had a great time filling them with chocolate coins and 'christmas eggs';

(I know, they look remarkably similar to Easter Eggs, except the packet said 'Christmas Eggs'! What's next, Easter Stockings?). There's also a little slip of paper inside each stocking, with a little activity we can do together in the lead up to Christmas.... I can't believe tomorrow is the 1st of December!

School Uniform Shopping

Last week I took Livvie to buy her school uniform for Kindergarten next year. We had such a nice time on our Mummy-Daughter date. She is such a pleasure to take shopping, I love it how she always holds my hand and the whole time she had the the biggest smile on her face.

Like any little girl, she enjoys dressing up so she especially loved trying on her new uniform. I think our little shopping trip made quite an impression on her... this is the drawing she did later that day;

I love the spotty hot-air balloon and her rainbow hair! Not to mention the butterflies everywhere and our stripey stockings.

Of course, I remember the day slightly differently (ie. almost having a heart attack when I got the enormous bill at the end!) but it's so nice to see that it's all happy memories for her.

5 Little Houses

I loved these little houses I saw on Retro Mama the other day and started making some that very evening. It helped that Nick was at a ex-serviceman's dinner that night (he used to be in the Air Force) as I always try to use my evenings alone to do a bit of sewing.

The pattern is lovely and the houses so adorable, I honestly think no matter what fabrics you choose, they will turn out super sweet anyway...

It was a great little project to have in my lap the last few days, as it has been raining here all week and we have been stuck inside most of that time.

I must admit I took a few short-cuts, like using felt for the doors, I didn't add any extra embellishment (but Retro Mama's birds are so cute!) and I also left the chimney off, in favour of thicker ribbon for hanging....

But I think they still turned out pretty cute, so mission accomplished... These will make great stocking stuffers for friends for Christmas!

Personalised Gifts for Girl Cousins

I started making some Christmas presents over the weekend. For my nieces, I thought it would be fun to make them personalised pillowcases to match the colours in their bedrooms...

I bought plain white pillowcases and hand cut letters from fabric scraps. I didn't use interfacing, as I wanted these pillowcases to stay lovely and soft. For a pattern, I printed each name using the Cooper Black font in Word, enlarged to 500, then used a combination of machine and hand stitching to sew on each letter;

I just hope the girls aren't embarrassed by their Auntie's handmade gift! They are young teens (aren't they meant to sleep a lot at that age?) and although we will be giving them a Westfield's gift-card, I felt we should give them an actual wrapped-up present to open on the day.

So, coupled with a brand new comfy pillow inside and some personalised notepaper I just ordered from Moo (couldn't resist, with 33% off!), this means presents for our nieces are done!

Santa

How exciting! My Dad just sent me this picture of himself in his new Santa suit. He's gone professional this year and is the resident Santa at a Sydney Shopping Centre (as opposed to his usual seasonal gig of making a guest appearance at our little Mothers' Group Christmas Party!).

Santa has also promised to pop in to our Preschool Christmas party in a couple of week time. The only thing is, do I tell Livvie (5 years old) that her Poppy is dressing up as Santa (because it is highly likely she will recognise him... Last year, when he appeared in his {considerably less fancy} Santa suit on Christmas morning, she looked at him closely and was rather perplexed, asking ~ and I quote; 'Is that Poppy in there?').

Or do I simply brush off any remarks that it might be Poppy by saying, 'Of course it's not... It's Santa!'. This new costume looks pretty convincing (especially compared to the last one, sorry Dad!) And Livvie pretty much believes everything I say ~ Honestly, I am prepared to lie in this instance, for the sake of a magical (albeit mildly suspicious, on her part) Christmas.

I think the fact she will be in party mode with 20 classmates (and their siblings!) and caught up in the moment of Santa arriving amid much bell ringing, horn tooting and the general woops of joy from kids, she will want to believe it really IS Santa!

Another thing...Poppy usually drives a white 1938 Packard. For the party, he will be arriving in his friend Wade's red 1937 Packard...

I wonder if she will see the vintage car and draw the connection to Poppy?

Hmm... what should I do? Do I tell her it is Poppy dressed up (she does understand people dress up in costumes for parties/halloween but then she misses out on the magic behind Santa's visit that day and I might have some explaining to do about the shopping centre Santa's who she believes are real too).... or cross my fingers and hope she doesn't recognise him (and if she does, lie to her). Yikes, that sounds bad! But this is Christmas... and she is only five years old... Please comment or email me your opinion!

(Also Dad, I think you need to find a way to get your wedding band off... that aroused the most suspicion last year.... 'He even had the same ring as Poppy!')

It's all fun and games until...

I thought I'd take some photos of the girls outside yesterday, as they were playing. They were playful, happy and smiling...

But for some reason, they would not stand together so I could get a shot for our Christmas cards!

There was some dragging involved...

And tickling...

'Can't you just stand next to each other and hold hands?'

No!

{Isn't it always the way? Never on request!}

We used some vines growing over the fence as our backdrop and I thought I would show them how it's done (ie, stand still and smile!). I set the timer so we could get a shot of the three of us girls together and for a moment, it was all going so well...

...until we fell backwards, into the bushes!

Of course, then the girls just wanted to do that over and over again.... so now we have a whole bunch of photos like this.

However, our little game came to a very abrupt end when I stood up and as I was dusting myself off, I inadvertently wiped a huge slug off my jeans! {cue blood-curdling scream here and lots of jumping up and down like a madwoman}. It was so gross! Of course, that only made them laugh harder. And no, of course I didn't get a photo of it!

A Space for Sewing Supplies

Meet my latest ebay acquisition.

Pity my poor father and husband for having to pick it up and lug it home for me on the weekend ~ in the sweltering heat.

It was built by a local man whose wife is an accomplished seamstress, however the little cupboard's original purpose was to house toys and books for their grandchildren. As soon as I saw it, it had to be mine! It started at $20 and I won the auction for $31. What a bargain!

Don't tell Nick, but it cost LESS than the blue and red vintage biscuit tin you can see on the bottom shelf - which I picked up in an antique shop, the last time we were in the Southern Highlands (Nick thinks I bargained the guy down, and I did, but only a bit!). My poor husband was definitely in shock that I had bough an old tin... and for how much?!?!?! Never you mind, my darling!)

Anyway, I could just imagine having this little cupboard, filled with all my sewing bibs and bobs, books, bobbins and buttons;

And finally, a place to put my sewing machine when out of use (as opposed to under the dining room table~ where I do all my sewing!). It's sort of a gift for Nick too (really!), seeing as this means all my mess will be in the one place now, instead of having fabric all strewn around the house!

Elly and I swung by The Fabric Cave on Monday and bought five embroidery hoops to add a bit of colour to the wall behind;

The ladies who sold them to me were very curious about me wanting five hoops (total $8)- they thought I was hosting a stitch-along and were a bit puzzled when I tried to explain my vision for them!

The best part of the cupboard (apart from the colour... apart from the size... apart from the price).... is what's inside;

It's always what's inside that counts! In this case, lots of shelves and storage space!

So on Monday we also swung by Ikea and picked up some frosted tubs and trays for my fabric. Fat Quarters...

Felt, Chenille and Knits;

And of course, two big trays for scraps!

Elly and I sorted everything by colour (we've been doing a lot of that lately) and I feel so much more organised now. It's amazing how just re-organising everything makes it all seem new and enticing again;

It all now sits just behind our little computer desk...

...so the next time inspiration strikes, I am hoping I can just turn around, pull out some fabric and get sewing! That's the plan, anyway...

Sock Reindeer

Don't laugh... but this is currently hanging on our front door.

I found this lovely Sock Reindeer at an op-shop last week and just had to take it home with me. I can't believe someone spent all that time making it (it is very well made!), only to give it away. So I took it home and gave it a little makeover ~ new ribbons and reins and even curled its lashes...

To finish it off, I would need to find a large enough wreath for it to sit inside.... however given the size of this reindeer (it's rather large) and the size of our door (rather small), I think it will stay, in its current state, as a surprise for anyone who comes knocking at our door...

The girls think it's hilarious and Nick got quite a fright the first night it was up ~ he came home from work, walked up the front steps and it gave him a kiss as he opened the front door!

...with the cutest little love-heart button lips!

Believe it or not, I have found some instructions to make your own Sock Reindeer Wreath!

Handmade Snow Globes

I made these for the girls to play with, after being inspired by the pictures today at Sweet Tidings (click through for many more wonderful handmade Christmas crafts!).

I thought I would share how I made them, as they were so simple...

Step 1: Gather supplies: Jars (Mine are from Ikea ~ Radjan 5oz), glitter, glue gun, buttons (for height) and two tiny christmas ornaments.

My grandmother gave me a set of her tiny vintage Christmas ornaments, these were the perfect size. I love that these snow globes have a little something from her inside, she would love them!

Step 2: Hot glue the buttons on top of each other, to make a little podium for your ornament;

Then glue it to the inside of the lid.

Step 3: Fill the jar almost full with cold water (warm water will go cloudy) and add 1/2 teaspoon (no more! trust me) of glitter;

Step 4: Cover the rim of the jar with hot glue, then very quickly screw the lid on top!

Tip: Make sure you put the lid on evenly, if it is tilted slightly the jar wont be airtight and not only will it leak water, but because of the hot glue, you may not be able to get the lid off to fix it!!

Then, another layer of hot glue around the inside rim makes it completely water-tight.

Let the magic begin!

I'm leaving these right where the girls can reach them, for lots of shaking and snowy winter wonderland fun!

Blue Smocked Dress

Earlier this week, I had a request for a blue Cinderella dress. While I had no desire (and am definitely lacking the sewing skills) to make anything that resembles a Disney Cinderella dress, I suddenly remembered some fabric I bought about two years ago...

Smocked blue cotton... Not a great photo of it, but perfect for this little project.

This little dress took no time at all, probably 45 minutes total. One side seam, hemmed the bottom, folded the ruffle over and stitched across the top. The trickiest thing was turning the straps inside out and lining them up evenly on both sides. But soon we had a dress that was vaguely Cinderella-ish, if only in colour;

Livvie popped it on (with heels) straight away and gave it a practice run...

Then it was her dress of choice for Preschool the following day (with a white t-shirt ~ No straps and bare-shoulders allowed under this summer sun!)...

I think it would double nicely as a costume for Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, especially with those plaits. All she needs is the glittery red shoes!