They need me…
…and so does he!
I have decided to take a little break and unplug for a while.
Don’t worry…
I will be back soon!
Happy New Year!
{Christmas} with Seamingly Smitten
Hi Everyone!
I’m Jenny from Seamingly Smitten!
Over at my blog you can find TUTORIALS such as
If you LOVE to sew and try new patterns, you will HAVE to check out our sewing pattern company!
We are called Seamingly Smitten and are growing everyday!
Currently we have 8 PDF sewing patterns and 4 on the way.
And GUESS WHAT? We also specialize in WOMEN’S PATTERNS! If you think sewing for your little girls and boys, nieces and nephews or grandchildren is fun…wait until you sew something for YOURSELF! Once you start, I have to warn you, it’s ADDICTING 
Want to see what we have for YOU? Check it out!
Women’s Ruffle Collar Cape – LOVING it on Natalie!!
Ruffled Collared Cape for Girls
Ruffled Collared Cape for Girls
Your most basic Classic A-Line Dress
No buttons, zippers or frills!
Every beginner to advanced sewer will LOVE this on their little one!
LADIES…The Ruffled Women’s Tunic…HOTTEST pattern for ladies!
Recently released – Miss Mod Top…SUPER SUPER TRENDY!
Any lady would LOVE to make this or get this as a gift!
Ruffled Collared Cape for Girls (this is my little girlie!)…Yes, she LOVES wild colors!
Ruffled Halter Dress for Girls…Show off 2 fabrics here!
You can check them out here!
Christmas TUTORIAL TIME!
\Is everyone ready for Christmas? Our house is gearing up and these cute faces CANNOT WAIT til Christmas morning! My two sweet babies (aren’t they always babies in a Momma’s eyes?) are so sweet and have way too many toys to count (thanks Grandparents!) so Santa is going to surprise them with a little playhouse to enjoy ALL YEAR LONG! You won’t find too many knick-knack toys under our tree this year.
Since I LOVE to sew and love things handmade, I thought I would share with you this
QUICK and EASY
Firewood Holder!
Every year during Christmas does the same question go around and around in your mind? You know, the one that sounds like, “What am I going to get my husband (or boyfriend, grandfather, man in your life…). He hates clothes!” Well, I have a GREAT item you can actually MAKE in less than 20 minutes! And, it’s a perfect guy gift – rough, rugged and useful!
Gather supplies:
1 thrifted pair of XXL men’s pants (poly/cotton blend…something sturdy. It felt like outerwear – something that could wipe off easily.)
AND
3 and 3/4 yard nylon straps
COST: $5.00 TOTAL!
Pants were $3.50 at the thrift store and I used a Hobby Lobby 40% off coupon for my nylon straps.
Woo-hoo for saving money when crafting!!
*I was going to use outdoor fabric, but didn’t see anything manly enough.
When I saw these pants I had to have them!
OR
7/8 yard of heavy duty fabric
(ex: denim, curduroy, duck, canvas, outdoor fabric) – you can make 2 holders out of this
3 and 3/4 yard nylon straps per firewood holder
1. Gather supplies.
2. Fold the pants in half lengthwise and cut off the legs.
3. Lay them side by side but facing opposite directions. They fit together like a puzzle.
4. Lay right sides together and pin one long seam.
5. Sew along the pinned edge using a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Open up and straighten each short end. Use a straight edge and some scissors.
6. Hem each short side 1 inch.
7. Lay your firewood carrier right side UP. Place your straps where you would like them. I placed mine 3 inches away from each side.
8. Sew around both sides of the nylon straps.
Put some wood in it and get ready for a crackling fire!!
These would look GREAT monogrammed and given as gifts to all those men that you love!
If you used fabric (and not thrifted pants) you will have enough left over to make another firewood carrier!!
Easy to hold! Fun to use!
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!
Have fun crafting and creating!
Stop on by Seamingly Smitten to check out our
You can WIN 3 FREE Seamingly Smitten patterns HERE!
Happy Sewing!
Thanks for having me, Natalie!
Ornament Exchange {Party}
Because this year is not CRAZY enough, I decided to invite a fun group of littles over and host an ornament exchange!
…only to realize the night before that I do not KNOW how to orchestrate an ornament exchange…
So, I called Jill and said with panic in my voice ”Ummm so you know that ornament exchange I am having at my house in the morning?!… I have NO CLUE how to do an ornament exchange!” Of course in true Jill fashion she assured me ”Don’t worry! I will handle that part for you! I will make numbers and …..” She saved the day!
With the ornament exchange part of the ornament exchange party taken care of, I was able to focus on the food prep:
Before I knew it, the house was filled with the sweetest little faces on this planet:
…And they were all on their way to have the sugar high of 2011!
The boy was thrilled to see his preschool teacher from last year!
He LOVES Miss Holly!
The littles made Reindeer Food and colored Christmas cutouts…
They took this task VERY seriously!
Seriously, does it get any cuter than this?!
After bellies were full and the littles played it was time for Jill to handle the part that everyone came for… The Ornament Exchange!
Each little one got their number and the ornaments were passed out!
The excitement on their faces totally made my day!
A loud, crazy house full of sweet friends and their babies made me so happy.
I thought my house was about to burst at the seams with all of the chaos, laughter, chatter and smiles!
{My sweet friend Mandy from Twice Blessed}
I could see on Harper’s face that every moment seemed magical!
Then it happened…
THE group picture.
This was the best we could manage – even though there were about about 8 littles missing!
(I really hope they aren’t scared for life… this was traumatizing for most of them…)
As mama’s and their children began to trickle out, Harper had a chance to play in her room with her BFF from preschool!
Everyone seemed so worried about the “mess,” but I wasn’t concerned because Harper had it all taken care of… and a little mess is worth the memories and fun!
Merry Christmas!
{Tinsel} Our Elf On The Shelf
Meet Tinsel.
Every morning the littles wake up to find Tinsel and see what mischief he is getting into…
Like hiding in Harper’s sippy cup…
…Or changing our computer screen saver to a picture of himself…
…Or riding the VERY loud train around the track at 7 am, waking the ENTIRE house up!
You never know what Tinsel will be up to next…
What has your Elf On The Shelf been up to lately?!
{Christmas} with The Little Giggler
Hi Johnny in A Dress Readers!
My name is Amanda and I blog over at The Little Giggler. I love all things cute, crafty, and handmade. I especially like to sew and make fun things for my daughter.
(That’s us)
I’m so excited to be visiting Natalie’s awesome blog today!
She’s so crafty and talented!
Today I’m going to share a fun Christmas craft I made for my daughter.
THE FELT FROSTY THE SNOWMAN
Who says you can’t build a snowman in Southern California? Not me! Maybe we should call him Toasty the Snowman. It is 80 degrees outside.
Supplies I used:
Felt, felt, and more felt.
Velcro
Sewing Machine
Thread
A tiny bit of batting.
I started out with a yard of blue felt. I folded it in half and sewed it together. I made everything with two layers. I sewed the softer side of the Velcro on the blue felt. I wanted the body of the snowman to really stick. I sewed a square of the “scrathy” Velcro to the back of all the body pieces, so it would catch the line of soft Velcro no matter how she put it on.
I sewed the “scratchy” side of the Velcro to all the accessories. It sticks to the felt really well.
Frosty is complete with his top hat and broom, felt buttons for his eyes and body, pebbles for his mouth,
stick arms, a carrot for his nose, a scarf to keep him cozy, and of coarse his heart.
I used a little stuffing for his nose.
Here’s his party accessories. The bow tie doubles as a hair bow and as my little giggler showed me, the mustache doubles as a uni-brow. :)
I used d-rings and Command hooks to hang it on the wall.
She’s having so much fun with him! I really hope this is something special she’ll look forward to every year.
Oh…did I mention he’s HUGE!
Be sure to stop by The Little Giggler and follow along to see more fun projects like this one!
Thank you so much for having me Natalie!!!
Merry Christmas everyone!!
Acorn Christmas Tree!
In our den, next to our Dear Santa frame is this fun Acorn Christmas Tree!
I cam across the BIGGEST acorns ever while tailgating at a football game this fall…
and yes, I got a grocery bag and started picking the up…
TONS of them.
(Yes, people were looking at me like I was NUTS – pun intended!)
I bought a cone from Hobby Lobby and began to hot glue the acorns on starting at the base of the cone, working my way up.
See?!
Once the entire cone was covered, I had this sitting on my counter.
Cute, but definitely needed color!
Soo…
I took it outside, attacked it with a can of spray paint and ended up with this:
LOVE IT!
The best part… it cost me less than $5!
Merry Christmas!
Rag Wreath… with Lights {Tutorial}
Want to make you very own Rag Wreath WITH Lights?!?
Well then, today’s your lucky day!
I began with a wire wreath that I hopped in my buggy at Hobby Lobby and wound a white strand of Christmas lights around it…
Then I went into my stash of fabric, tulle and ribbon then gathered all of the reds, greens and whites!
I cut the fabric into 4-5 inch strips.
The longer the strip the more “poofy” the wreath!
It’s totally up to you!
Then I tied the strips onto the wreath using a basic knot like this:
Keep tying and tying and tying and tying….
until it looks like this:
Plug it in and enjoy your new Rag Wreath with LIGHTS!
If you wanted to, you could add ornaments to add a fun element to it!
…but mine will have to wait until next year for that!
Yay for lights on super cute Christmas Wreaths!
Paisley or Polkadots {WINNER}
The winner is….
The Cantelmo Familysaid… 35
I follow you!
Yay!
Please email me with your info and mailing address and you item will ship after the holidays!
{Christmas} with Between U & Me
Hi JIAD readers!
I am Courtney, the girl behind Between U & Me! I am so thrilled to be here today! I LOVE JIAD and her creativity is infectious! Over at Between U & Me, I try to focus on cost conscious ways to make my house a home and also really great DIY/craft projects that are fun and kid-friendly. Here are some examples of the kind of stuff you can see over at my blog home: Between U & Me
Today, I have a tutorial on how to make this beautiful spearmint wreath!
What you’ll need:
4 Bags of spearmints
Styrofoam wreath
Red felt (cut in to long strips)
Ribbon
Alotta hot glue
1. Start off by wrapping the styrofoam wreath with the red felt that you’ve cut in to long strips. This will give the spearmints something better to hold on to as opposed to the styrofoam and also because you’ll be able to see through the gaps on spearmints and the red felt will be more visually appealing than the raw styrofoam.
2. Then, unwrap all your spearmints. This is kind of tedious, but I sat in front of my favorite movie (Dirty Dancing) and it wasn’t as bad as sitting at the table staring off in to space.
3. Start by applying the 1st Row (as shown in picture), then the 2nd row, and so on.
4. When you’re all done applying your spearmints, it’s time to add your ribbon and then hang it for all to see!
I hope you’re having an awesome day!
Come visit me at Between U & Me!
