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2 Little Hooligans

Christmas gifts {baby booties}

I started making our Christmas gifts last week and these booties were the first to be finished. I easily made two pairs within a nap time. They are one of those gifts that can easily be made up in a jiff and you would never know it. The booties can be worn folded over or straight up. They have an internal elastic that will keep these booties on and from being kicked off. I decided to use an anti-skid material on the bottom just because I had some laying around, but I could have just as easily used the fleece on the bottom instead.
I purchased the pattern here. It was so easy to follow and her directions were great, I highly recommend it. The only thing I would have done differently is use a smaller patterned fabric. I think the pattern is a little too big on such small booties, but I still like them.
Even though the pattern called for anti-pill fleece I wanted to give minky fabric a try. Can you image your feet being wrapped in minky fabric? Oh, that’s one lucky little baby! The minky booties don’t have as much form as the fleece booties but they still look adorable and will function just as good.

I can’t help but be in love with little baby booties.
So what are you all busy crafting for Christmas?

embrace the camera {growing up too fast}

These little kiddos of mine are growing up too fast! I have always tried to embrace each and every stage…even those newborn sleepless nights. I know that someday these little ones of mine will be teenagers and our battles will be much harder then the ones we are faced with right now. Our little 20 month old decided to potty train herself a few weeks ago right in the middle of our flooring marathon and while being sick. Much to me begging her to “just pee pee in your diaper” she was determined and is now wearing big girl undies…even at bedtime. I’m pretty proud of her and in all honesty I cannot take any credit for it, unless you count the insane amounts of trips to the potty room I have made with her.

My little missy girl got her nails painted for the first time last week. She saw me painting my nails and begged for some of her own. So a few minutes later we snuggled on the couch in our J’s while I painted her sweet little fingers for the first time.
And this little boy is a wiz with power tools and hammers, so much so that its kinda scary. But he will tell you like he tells us “I be careful…see. Don’t worry I wont hurt myself!” He spends hours at those benches drilling screws in and taking them out. He is always building something that requires daddy’s help to cut more wood or more tools. He is usually getting in the way and slowing down our progress while chatting non-stop. It can definitely be a challenge sometimes. Working on the house is the easy part…working on the house with the kids around is the hard part. Someday we are going to wish for these days again. I just have to remind myself to slow down and enjoy them a bit more. Its easy for these times to slip away or be wished away too quickly.

embrace the camera {a winter’s day at the beach}

A few weeks ago we had some unseasonably warm weather, so I decided to take advantage of it by taking the kiddos to our favorite beach. It was a bit windy and chilly once we got there and definitely not as warm as I had first thought.
We brought some bread to feed the ducks, but they were no where to be found. They did find a lot of these cute little pine cones though.
Sadly our trip to the beach was a quick one as we all ran to the car as fast as we could.
On the way home we took a little pit stop at a campground to play on their wooden train.
The kids have been begging me to stop there and I can’t blame them, it does look like a lot of fun.




They played on the train for over an hour while I shivered the whole time. I so wished that I was smaller and could have played on it myself, but I’m pretty sure I would have gotten stuck inside some of those carts.
Ok…maybe I actually did get stuck in one of them.
It was worth it and we all got a good laugh. My little girl laughed and told me I was “too big”. Gee THANKS!



So I guess our winter’s day at the beach ended up being a winter’s day on the train.

Ruffle fabric is my fabric of choice this Christmas.

I have been wanting to try out some of this beautiful ruffle fabric for some time now, but the cost of it has always turned me away. Ruffle Fabric has an amazing selection of ruffle fabric but most of the fabric costs about $16.99 a yard. It is just waay too much for me. So the other day I did a quick search at fabric.com and found some for $12.98 a yard. And thanks to their Thanksgiving sale I used a 30% off coupon and ended up paying only $10.38 a yard…with free shipping of course. It is still a tiny bit more then the usual designer fabrics, but I have already been able to make 3 toddler skirts out of one yard of fabric. That is 3 Christmas presents for a mere $10.38!

I even used up some of the scraps to make some Christmas decorations. I’m telling you, I love this fabric! If you have never worked with it before it’s kinda like sewing knits, but with pretty little flowing ruffles all over it. The best part is that it does not fray! A few days after I made my first purchase I noticed that they added a pretty stone and grey color to their selection for only $6.98 a yard… $6.98! So I just had to buy a bunch of it. My fabric allowance has taken it pretty hard with this pretty little fabric, but almost all of my Christmas presents will be made for less then $150, with many yards leftover. Not bad, huh?
I’m still debating on what to do with all of the 20+ yards of ruffle fabric that I now have, but I’m pretty sure that this list here will definitely give me some inspiration. Plus I plan on making some home decor items with it and maybe a skirt or two for myself.
Any of you used ruffle fabric before? Are you just as obsessed with it as I am?

2011 Advent Calendar.

One of my favorite traditions at Christmas time is an advent calendar. (Christmas 2009)

I just love how excited the kids get everyday when they get to open a gift. (Christmas 2010)

And how they try so hard to wait til Daddy’s home before they open that little package.

(Daddy’s advent calendar 2010)

This year I decided to do a book advent calendar. We already had 20 Christmas and winter related books, so all I had to do was pick up a few more.

I love that I got to spend more time wrapping then shopping. I’m one of those crazy people that loves wrapping.
Sometimes my gifts look better on the outside then on the inside…that’s just part of the fun for me.

I used a mixture of paper, fabric, and yarn to wrap the books and just made a bunch of numbers in print shop. A little time consuming, but well worth it in my book.

Once the wrapping was done I stuck them all in this little wooden caddy.
I’m sure you all know why I wanted our advent calendar portable this year.
That’s right, my fingers are crossed that we will be opening #25 in our new living room. We are so close, yet still so many little details left to finish.

Any of you have advent calendars? Do you make a new one each year?

Last minute Thanksgiving ideas for the kiddos.

The Idea Room has the cutest little Turkey Feathers game to entertain the kiddo’s while cooking your feast.

Here are some cute little teepee place card holders from sweetology101. UMM yes, I will gladly sit at the kids table for one of these!
Candy Cornucopia from Simple Girl at Home and while you are there, check out her other amazing treats!
This cute little book has a Thanksgiving twist on the The Very Hungry Caterpillar book. Visit Our Wonderfilled Life for your free download.
And this one is by far my most favorite…
Turkey in a jar from munchkinmunckies. You know my love for anything in a canning jar, but these are just over-the-top with cuteness!

Indian Corn Wreath.

I realize that Fall is over for most and Christmas decorating is already underway, but I still wanted to share this little Indian corn wreath that I made a few weeks ago.
As you can see, it was super easy to make. I just took a bunch of Indian Corn that we grew and hot glued them into a circle on top of an old piece of barn board that we had. It took a total of a 30 minutes to make.
I just love the colors and the rustic feel of it. Plus I love that I can hang it if I want to or just simply stand it upright. Sadly, it will be packed away soon and the Christmas decorations will be brought out.

Pine Cone Crafts {Inspiration}

source: favecrafts.com

source: unknown

source: tpinegcones.com

source: creativejewishmom.com

source: diycrafts.blogspot.com

source: plaidkidscrafts.com

source: unknown

source: unknown

source: timusenn.shikshik.org

source: unknown

source: christmasdecorationcrafts.com

source: nwf.org

What is your favorite pine cone craft?

Operation Shower.

How many of you have noticed that little pink DONATE NOW button on my sidebar?

I know a few of you have, but for those of you that haven’t I wanted to let you what that little button is all about. The DONATE NOW button is for donating funds towards Operation Shower.

Operation Shower is a non-profit organization that recognizes and honors the sacrifices military families make by producing and coordinating baby showers and “Showers in A Box” for pregnant and expecting military personnel and their families.

In the past I have supported Operation Shower by donating 25 handmade burp cloths. It felt so great to be able to give back to those women that sacrifice so much for us. So last year I set a goal of raising $250 to donate towards a shower. I’m excited to say that I am more then half-way there, but I still have a ways to go. So over the next few weeks I will be adding some new items to my etsy shop in which 100% of the proceeds from all sales will be donated to Operation Shower. I hope that by the New Year I will be that much closer to reaching my goal of giving some expecting moms an amazing baby shower. I hope that you will all take a minute to learn more about Operation Shower by visiting their website or watching the video below. And if your super cool you will even donate towards a shower…just saying.