Merry Christmas!
These are little fabric candy canes sewn together to make a heart. I thought it would be a good photo prop and a way to use up some fabric scraps. I really have no other ideas of what to do with it after that! haha. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the 12 days! 
Today's craft is sewn stockings. The 3 in the middle my step-mom patiently made. We've always had the Bucilla Stockings. It started with my grandma making the first ones. This year my parents are coming in for Christmas so I wanted some coordinating stockings. I traced the original stockings for the size and embellished them with more felt, sequins, and beads. I made the white with red flowers and the green diamond pattern (all the way in the back). And can you believe we only have 2 days left?! Crazy.
Okay. So this isn't the most Christmasy post. I was hoping to make this little bird into an ornament or something but I can't pry it away from Sydney! This little bird is from Cupcakes for Clara. She makes the most adorable little creatures. I was thrilled when she had her bear pattern in Making Stuff for Kids. I used the bear pattern and transformed some of the pattern to make a cardinal. I was thinking I could make a reindeer too. I just think they are too cute! 
What's 12 days without cupcakes!? : ) I wanted to find some peppermint cupcakes and stumbled upon a Sprinkles recipe for Vanilla Peppermint Cupcakes. Even better! Just like every other Sprinkles recipe or mix, it's very good and highly recommended. 
In other news, I'm only do one felt food giveaway this year and today it the day. You could win a dinner set and a poptart. Go here to enter a chance to win. 
I've seen a lot of silhouette pictures and ornaments lately so I figured I could try it with some birds on pillows. The birds are cut from felt and sewn onto red corduroy. The pillows behind them have ruffles on them. You know, the ruffles you can't see very well in the picture. : ) It's a green polka dot batik fabric. My favorite pillow is the bird on the right - again, Christmas in July anyone?! 
For this craft, I was just playing around with different ways to wrap presents.
Ooh, today is my favorite craft out of all the days. I've wanted to make one of these for a couple years now. So last year, I bought a bunch of ball ornaments on sale after Christmas. Unfortunately, I didn't buy enough so I had to raid the ornaments I already owned. Not a big deal though. It's just so sparkly and shiny, it's mesmerizing. I have it hanging on a mirror over our couch and I'm debating how long I can leave it there in 2010 before it becomes a little weird. Is it okay to have Christmas decorations out in July? : ) 
Here's some pictures of the process - just in case you want to make your own. It's super easy, just make sure you have enough ornaments. I'm pretty sure I used more than 100 ornaments. Way more than I expected. I just attached everything with hot glue. There is no right or wrong way either. 
Step 1: Take all the "hanger" pieces off the ornaments. Then, I glued the biggest ornaments on first in an even pattern around the Styrofoam wreath.
The "see-through" scrapbook paper (aka lace cardstock) is all the rage so I figured why can't you do that with fabric. My idea: a table runner! I was hoping you would be able to see the table underneath the snowflakes. So I took a big area of fleece fabric and cut out the snowflakes. It's all one piece of fabric. It took a lot of patience, planning, and time to cut everything out. It was pretty flimsy after I cut out the snowflakes so I decided I needed to sew it onto some fabric for stability. So there went the "see-through" idea! haha. Oh well, I still am really happy with how it turned out.
Great kids craft from Martha Stewart's staff. Unfortunately, it's an old idea so I can't find the link anywhere so you guys can get the template. Sorry about that. It's just felt, glue, and candy canes. Sydney loved making them. 
The hot cholocate recipe is delicious and I will probably never have to buy the store bought packets again. The marshmallows are a lot of fun to make but super sticky when you make them. You get to cut them in lots of fun shapes too. 
Isn't this funny? She is patiently awaiting the dolphin show. 
I have been trying to perfect a from-scratch cinnamon bun recipe. The first time I made them, they were good. The second time, really bad! Thankfully, the 3rd time is a charm. These came out perfect! Now that I have the dough down, I'm going to experiment with all sorts of yummy fillings. Unfortunately, they aren't a low-cal food so the practice times are far and few between. I think I'll make them again for Christmas morning. 
With the cream cheese frosting melted on top. 
Now, onto the fake food. I made this custom order for a Grasshopper Pie. I am just tickled with how it turned out. So tickled, I had to blog about it! : )
And for those of you who have been to Ohio, they had Ritters at our Florida fair! I couldn't believe it. I'm pregnant people, of course we had some. : ) 
The prizes from the games. I have no idea what drew her to the giant crayon.
Roller coaster. The same one from the Texas State Fair too. 
Sydney just loves to ride on fair rides. Here's a version of the tea cups. 
Have a good weekend.
And here she is in action at a Trunk-or-Treat. 
On Saturday night, we went around the neighborhood with our friends. Sydney knew exactly what to do. She really had a great time. On Sunday, she was asking when she could go again! haha. Thankfully, it's only once a year.
And one more closer-up picture of her costume so you can get full effect of the cupcake liner and ruffles.
On Sunday afternoon, I made this coat for her. I used McCall Pattern 5697. It actually went together pretty easily - thanks again to the serger. Unfortunately, it's a bit big for her. I made the size 4 (which is what she usually wears) and I could have gotten away with a size 3. Oh well, hopefully it will fit through next fall too. You can't really tell from the pictures but it's a grey and white plaid with some teal in it. Maybe I'll have to add a teal flower pin of some sort to help bring it out. 
Thanks for looking!
