What I have been up to

I really do have an excuse for my lack of blogging. Tim was out of town for 4 days and I was left a little busy taking care of the 3 kiddos. I did manage to get some sewing done during nap time and after the kids went to bed. 

I made both boys a pair of fleece pajama pants . Here are Rascal's :

And here are Scooter's:

If you look closely at Scooter's pair you can tell I made them at night and should probably went on to bed instead of sewing. Can you see why??? I cut the entire pattern out with the print upside down. :-( 

Thankfully they are just pajama pants and he didn't care one bit.  

Both boys were thrilled that I made them something.

 Note to self.....Must do that more often! 

Here are some of Baby A's Christmas pajama pants. I still have to add the ruffle to the bottom of the legs but I can't decide what fabric I want for that. 

I made this sweet dress for her to wear for Thanksgiving. I need to make the pants to go with it soon. She is going to wear it tomorrow for Rascal's Indian day at school. I am the lucky one who gets to buy (with some other moms chipping in) and cook the ham. So as I type this up I have a 10 pound ham in my oven that I hope comes out supper yummy. Did I mention I have NEVER cooked a ham in my life?? 

Well my Christmas tree is up and decorated. It isn't finished yet though. We wanted Tim to be here to help out, so there are still more ornaments to put on the tree now that he is back in town.

Our tree is about on it's last leg. It is a hand me down from my parents and has lasted us a few years. This year some of the branches were falling off as I fluffed it so I new I had to be very careful with it. This left more holes than I wanted. My solution......Decorative mesh! It covered the holes that I couldn't get fluffed the way I like and was super easy to work with.

I typically put a bow that I make on top of the tree but this year I wanted something different. I thought about a star but couldn't find one I liked. So I searched Pintrest and saw some really cute toppers that were just picks stuck in the tree top. So with those images in my mind I headed to Hobby Lobby and found what I thought could do the trick. 

This is what I came up with. I really love it. It isn't too crazy and non Christmasy but it isn't the typical tree topper either. The boys think it is cool too so that is another plus. 

With some of the left over mesh I decided to pull out a wire wreath form I had and make a wreath for my front door. Well by the time I finished with all the loops of mesh it was one HUGE wreath, too big for my front door. So it resides on my kitchen wall for now until Tim can get his ladder and hang it in my entry way for me. 

I do love the way it turned out even if it is huge. I have some more mesh that I plan on making something for my mailbox. I do wait for our outside decorations to go up after Thanksgiving so that will be next weekend's project.

Baby A is VERY fascinated with our tree. She grabs hold of a branch and shakes it, she plucks the light bulbs out of their sockets and she tries with all her might to pull the ornaments off the tree. I thought ahead though and tied each ornament (which are all shatterproof)onto the tree with ribbon. Now she can't pull the ornaments off but she might tip the tree over trying!

Just a side note....We think it is CRAZY how much she looks like Rascal in this picture! 

Now on my "to do list"
~ make advent calendar bags for the mantle
~ make stockings
~ decorate the staircase (prelit garland hung with bows and berries)
~ finish decorating the dining room (my china cabinet needs a little bit more and bows, berries and ornaments need to be put on each dining room chair)),  kitchen (ribbons and or wreaths on the cabinet doors) and living room (my mantle is looking bare right now)
~  Make my front door wreath (which is more of a picture frame with ornaments)
~Hang Christmas lights outside (Friday after Thanksgiving)
~ Make a mailbox bow
~ Wrap a couple of empty boxes for a present topiary
~ make my own DIY prelit potted front porch trees. (this may not get done this year)

Friday night Tim and I head out to start (and hopefully finish) our Christmas shopping. We may also pick up the stuff to make my entry way closet a mudroom too. I love all these projects going on!