Love My Fam

Some pics that are a tad old but haven't had a chance to post!

all three snackin' on PB and celery

1st cup of tea

her Christmas mask.. too funny

nothin like a lil crayon eating

best pic ever.  vampire teeth

Cheerleaders

Go Big Red! Cutest Husker Cheerleaders ever..

My Girlies

Homemade Christmas Gifts

Like I said, this year I tried to make Violet some of her gifts.  Save money and plus finally do some of the cool Pinterest stuff. 

This first one took months.. Literally.  It was super time consuming.  And I haven't even seen her play with them once.  Oh well.  It will be cool for her to look out when shes older... a keepsake.  These are felt Old McDonald puppets.  Hours of cutting a million felt pieces and then hours of sewing them all on... changing your thread color every two minutes.  They turned out BEYOND cute. 

Even the back of each one had detailed spots, tails, etc. 

the backs

the fronts

I wanted to make a bag for them to be stored in so I bought a $1 bag at Walmart in the craft section and then made my own barn template and added a felt barn.  It came out a little wonky.  Felt stretchs when u sew it so my barn isn't exactly straight.  Oh well.

I had planned on making a couple different pairs of flannel  PJ pants for Vi but ended up with one pair.  I bought all these diff. flannels like Minnie Mouse, Spongebob, Winnie the Pooh... but didn't buy enough of each.  I didn't use an actual pattern, I just traced a pair of Vi's pants to make a pattern. 
 I made the mistake first of tracing a pair of stretchy pants.  Incase you didn't know, flannel doesn't stretch.. Duh.  Lets just say my first attempt wasn't good.  Spongebob flannel pants as tight as spandex.  We could barely get em off her.  
Next attempt is below.  Turned out perfect.  I traced actual sweats this time.  I gotta say, making these is super quick and easy!

Tinkerbelle PJ pants for Vi and dolly

These scarfs were super easy and quick.  Its made out of a pair of womens socks.  Add some cute trim, velcro and decorative button and your done!  I plan on making alot more of these!

This was one of my favorite things I made.  They are not pictured but I made Justin a matching pair.  I bought some Nebraska patches on Ebay and some cheap flannel at Walmart.  MUCH cheaper than buying actual Nebraska PJs online or something.  I need to get a pic of both of them wearing them.  Its pretty cute.

These turned out so cute as well.  Pretty easy too.  A tad time consuming though.  You have to hand stitch some stuff and hand paint the face.  For a perfectionist like me, the darn face took forever.  I am not a painter.  These are called swaddle dolls.  The body actually doll is just a rectangle of stuffing sewn right into the blanket.  The heads are then stitched onto the "body"/blanket as well.  Then you just wrap the two sides around your little baby.  Perfect for lil ones who see mommy swaddle the baby and want to do it too.

Annabelle's on left, Vi's on right

My father-in-law loves sweets and chocolate so I made him oreo cookie truffles.  Oh boy, these are so darn good.  

Vi loved these doll diapers.  She is constantly putting diapers on her babies.  These were very quick and easy.  A little felt and velcro and your done.

I made my MIL these heat packs from womens socks.  So many things you can make from womens socks apparently! I just cut off the feet, filled with rice and sewed shut.  Heat in the microwave and wallah! A heat pack!  I made Justin a few too.  I made him a larger one as well for his lower back with some flannel.  I added linen scent essential oil to it also.  I bet lavender essential oil would be awesome in one.. perfect for bed time and relaxation.

the larger one- about 8x11

Violet loves makeup so I decided a fake makeup kit would be perfect.  I bought cute little empty containers on ebay and bought some cheap nail polish.  You pour in the nail polish and let it dry.  Instant fake makeup! I found brushes, a mirror and makeup bag for a dollar each at Target.  Add in a clear lipgloss and shes set!

Links to all tutorials except pj pants:

Old McDonald Puppets- http://zitzmanfam.blogspot.com/2010/09/old-macdonald-puppet-tutorial-and.html

Doll Diapers- http://www.happytogethercreates.com/2011/08/felt-baby-doll-diaper-pattern.html

Swaddle Baby- http://beccamariedesigns.blogspot.com/2012/04/swaddle-baby-tutorial.html

Scarf- http://www.livingwithpunks.com/2011/09/tutorial-toddler-scarflette.html

Oreo Cookie Truffles- http://sarahkoller.com/?p=1345

Play Makeup- http://www.livwrites.com/2012/12/play-makeup-tutorial.html

Sock Heat Pack- http://sceneofthegrime.blogspot.com/2010/06/natural-heat-pack-rice-sock.html
(this person just tied a knot in the end of a sock.. I sewed both ends to make it more durable)

Christmas 2012

I barely slept the night before Christmas.  I was like an excited kid.  Vi actually slept in and I had to wake her up around 8:30.  I couldn't wait any longer!  She was beyond excited to see her princess castle sitting out.  Annabelle was already up and playing on her Vtech rider.  Justin's parents came over to watch them unwrap their gifts and eat breakfast with us.

Vi wanted to open everyone's gifts and was very impatient.  And stuff that she liked that Annabelle got, was automatically "Mine!" Thats mine!".  All in all, it was a successful Christmas morning.  I was sad when it was over.  

Now onto a gazillion pictures...

Christmas afternoon we went to my parents for dinner.  And Vi got yet more gifts.  The girls had cute outfits on again but I wasn't able to get a good pic of them together.  Its getting harder and harder to do that.

Aunt Jess

Uncle Adam and AB

 Vi's favorite toy has been her Toy Story figurines.  She takes them everywhere and even requests to take baths with them atleast twice a day.  I may have to buy another set incase we lose some.  Annabelle actually loves Violet's princess castle alot.  I think for her bday I'll get her a Little People set since she seems to love it.  

Funny story- The week before Christmas my mom and I took the girls to frozen yogurt in Loomis.  A man walked in with a white beard and a santa hat on.  I sat there in anticipation waiting for V to say something.  Of course, a few seconds later she starts yelling, "Its Santa! Mommy its Santa!".  Too funny.

I'll try and post next some of the gifts I made this year.  I tried to make more, and buy less.  Lots of Pinterest stuff.