Drop cloth stockings

I had some of the drop cloth fabric left, so I made stockings for us. We had a couple old knit ones for Mr. M and I, but LMS only had a tiny one that we bought for her first Christmas. This year, I decided it was time for new ones.

I used leftover fabric from the advent calendar for the stockings, and I used some of the yellow felt I bought for LMS's Princess Aurora crown. I also used yellow buttons I had sitting around from another project. So, I managed to make these stockings without spending a dime!

I dry stenciled names and used embroidery floss for accent stitching. I glued the stars and name pieces, then sewed them down, just like I did with the advent calendar. The stockings ended up matching the advent calendar, but I don't think that's a bad thing. They're also nice and big, with plenty of room for whatever we decide to put in them.

The only thing I would do different is to put a lining in- I forgot to do it till I was almost done, and at that point I wasn't going to take everything apart and start over. Although, now that I'm thinking about it, I could make a liner, put it in the stocking, and just hand stitch it in place at the seam where the cuff joins the stocking. I have some lightweight cotton fabric I could use...

Small town Christmas

A week or so ago our small town had their Christmas parade and festival and tree lighting.

We missed most of it because LMS, who hadn't been feeling well for a couple of days, really needed a nap and slept through it all. We stopped by to look at the tree, which turned out to be a barb wire tree.

(blurry photo taken at night with my cellphone camera)

It looks a lot better lit up at night than during the day, when you can see the wires for the lights. However, I didn't think we were quite that hick here- the next town out from us, yes, but our town?

Running safely

Last night I was reading my January issue of Runner's World. There were several good articles in it, but the one I appreciated the most was called "Collision Course", and was all about running safely and avoiding getting hit by vehicles.

I was hit by a car 18 years while I was out for a quick run the evening before Thanksgiving and what was supposed to be my first 5 mile race. It wasn't dark when I started out, but by the time I was almost home, it was dusk, and visibility wasn't great. I was maybe 100 yards from our driveway, and I was running on the edge of the pavement, a foot or two to the left of the line, when a van with a mirror that jutted way out drove a little too close to the line. The end result was that we were too close to each other, and the mirror hit me in the shoulder. The van was speeding (60 or so in a 50 zone), but no bones were broken. My guardian angels were definitely looking out for me that night. I have a small scar where the skin was broken, but the major damage was the squished nerves that caused massive amounts of pain for several years. After pain pills, physical therapy, and an incredibly painful cortisol shot, we finally found some medication that interrupted the rogue pain signals (there was no reason for the pain, it was just messed up nerve signals).

Ever since, I've been paranoid about safety while running. Unfortunately, back then there wasn't very many options for high visibility. It took a couple years to find a windbreaker I thought was bright enough, and even then it wasn't as bright as the day-glo colors you can find today. And any reflective clothing (which I can't remember seeing) would have been quite expensive back then.

The article talked about reflective clothing, flashing lights (I do have a red flashing light I found a couple years after my accident), watching traffic patterns, and so on. When I was a college student, I remember driving home after dark on several occasions and seeing girls running by themselves, wearing dark clothing and headphones, and running in the street (not on the sidewalk)- talk about a death wish. If drivers can't see you when you're running, sooner or later you're going to get hit.

I thought that the article was a timely one that all runners and drivers should read. I really wish drivers were more aware and considerate, but since they're not, it's up to those of us who run or walk on the road to be properly prepared and aware of what's going on around us.

Free canvas from Canvas People

The other day I ran across a link to the Canvas People, where they will transform a photo into an 8"x10" canvas for free- you just pay $14.95 shipping and handling. I thought $14.95 sounded reasonable for a photo on a canvas, so I decided to give it a try.

It warmed up a bit on Wednesday (from 5 degrees all the way up to 18 degrees!), so I bundled up and went out to the storage container and dug out our wedding album. I scanned a few photos in, played with them, then uploaded my favorite to the site.

The Canvas People website will let you add effects, but they'll charge you for it, so I just used photoshop to get the effect I wanted. You can also add a frame for a fee, but I passed on that as well.

It was a quick and easy process to upload my photo, enter my preferences, and input my billing and shipping info- it all took less time than it took to fiddle with the photo.

So, I got a free 8"x10" canvas and paid $14.95 for shipping, which I think is an awesome deal. Can't wait for it to arrive!

Go here if you want your own free canvas. If you want a bigger size, they have bigger sizes available and will knock $55 off the cost of one.

Chebe cinnamon roll mix

photo credit

Tuesday night I made some brown sugar almond sticky rolls, using the Chebe cinnamon roll mix. The recipe was on the package, and I followed the instructions as written.

The end result tasted fine, but the texture was a bit gummy. Not sure if they needed to cook longer, or what. The top edges that were cooked through tasted good and weren't gummy. The overall flavor was good- I like that they added cinnamon to the mix.

I'd like to try this product again, but I think I'll follow the alternative directions that suggest rolling the dough into thin ropes and twirling it into spiral. I think it might cook better that way.

Ok, so I'm a bit upset right now

I bought some Reese's bells for a quick and easy gift (put them in a whisk with a tag that says "We whisk you a merry Christmas!'), and I sampled a couple while I was putting it together. A little bit later, my throat started to swell up a bit- my body's cue that I ate some gluten. So I started going over what I ate for lunch- all ok, no cross-contamination. The only other thing I'd eaten was two of the Reese's bells. Last time I checked, Reese's peanut butter cups were gluten free. But I checked the package anyway, and lo and behold, there's wheat flour in them. Seriously??!! Come on, it's not in the regular cups, so why does it need to be in the bells?

I'd also bought a bag to put in stockings, so I guess I'll be taking it to the in-laws house to fill stockings there (since my parents' house is now a gluten free house).

It's frustrating, since I hate the reaction I get- it's uncomfortable, and I don't want the gluten in my body. I know I need to be better about reading labels- everyone says you always have to read the labels, since you never know when they'll change the ingredients of something- but it's such a pain and I always forget. Hopefully I'll be able to remember to read labels from now on.

More pipe cleaner ornaments

I used the tutorial here to make some pipe cleaner ornaments to give to the ladies I visit teach. I wanted to do some washer ornaments like the ones I saw here, but I just couldn't get them to work out right.

(In going back and reading the instructions, it appears that where I went wrong was in trying to do them inside- you need to do them on a concrete floor apparently. However, it's been hovering around zero degrees, so that's not going to happen till it warms up. Though I just remembered- the basement has a cement floor- maybe there's hope for this project after all.)

While I'm happy with how the snowflakes turned out, I liked the washer ornaments a lot better. Oh well.

Since I needed to make something with materials I already had on hand, I went with the pipe cleaners. They were pretty easy to make and didn't take too long, either. I made 4 sets of 3 while watching a movie, and it didn't take the whole length of the movie to finish them.

Drop cloth Advent calendar

Saturday I finally finished the advent calendar I've been working on all week. Half way through, I considered scrapping the whole thing because it turned out to be way more work than I thought it would be, but I'm glad I didn't. I really like how it turned out.

I used two dropcloths I had bought for another project before I changed my mind about the fabric I wanted to use. So they were just sitting in my craft cupboard, begging to be used for something. The only problem (and it turned out to be a big one) was that the drop cloths had a 'leak proof lining'. I thought that meant there was a rubberized banking. Not so much. A leak proof lining is thin plastic (slightly thicker than plastic wrap) attached to the fabric. I washed the drop cloths a couple times to soften them up and that helped loosen the plastic in some places. I started pulling off what I could, but it was very tedious and messy. I eventually called it quits and moved on with the project.

I used one cloth to cut out the squares for the pockets. I used the hemmed edges of the cloth for the top edges, eliminating the need for me to hem them. After I cut them out, I tossed them in the washer for a quick rinse cycle and then dried them. They came out nicely frayed, I just had to trim and even everything up.

I don't own a Cricut (unfortunately), so had to make my number stencils by hand. I printed out some numbers, taped the paper to a sheet of black craft foam, and cut them out with an exacto knife. I then dry brushed the numbers 1-25 on the squares with acrylic paint left over from another project. They dried quickly, and I ironed them to heat set, just to make sure.

I used Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue to glue the squares in place, and let them dry over night. I would use actual fabric glue if I were to do it again, as the glue came unstuck in some places.

I had planned on machine sewing with white thread each square, but the whole thing was just way too plain and boring. So I used some red embroidery floss and did a running stitch around 3 sides of each square. I then added some little bows from a roll of three kinds of ribbon that I found at Michaels awhile ago and bought, not knowing what I was going to use it for. If I did it again, I would sew the bows on before gluing and sewing the squares to the back, though, since sewing the bows on helped loosen the glue even more.

Somewhere in there, I spent more time picking plastic off the back, making my finger tips very sore, and delaying the whole process.

After the red thread and bows, I put tiny dabs of hot glue at the top corners of each square to make sure they didn't get pulled off too easily. I also dabbed tiny dabs of glue to the bows to make sure they wouldn't come undone.

I tried sewing some red buttons on, but they just made things look busy. I like how simple it looks, so I pulled them back off.

I made the pocket for Christmas day bigger than the others, with a bigger bow. I also put a candy cane in, instead of a mini candy bar.

After all that, I made a star out of some of the yellow felt left over from LMS's princess crown and angel belt. I used lighter yellow embroidery thread on the edges, and sewed a button in the middle.
After taking out the candy for the day, the star goes in the pocket to mark the date. The pockets can hold papers, multiple candies, etc, so they're quite versatile.

After all that, I sewed a second piece of fabric to the back and some tabs on the top to hang it from. I ironed it all, and in this case, the plastic did come in handy: it acted like a bonding agent. I hemmed the bottom, and hung it from a dowel. I added some braided twine to hang it from.

It looks kind of plain on the wall right now, so I think next year, when it's hanging on our own wall, I'll have some greenery and bells just above it.

More hair clips

When I made the felt flower clips, I also made some other clips for LMS.

Top row: Gingerbread man buttons on white grosgrain ribbon, White chenille flowers (wedding/baby ribbon section of wally world) on white grosgrain ribbon, Brown chenille flowers (same place as the white ones) on brown satin ribbon (I wanted brown velour ribbon to match one of LMS's dresses, but I haven't found any yet).

Bottom row: White velour ribbon bows on white grosgrain ribbon, Ladybug made of red and black grosgrain ribbon on black grosgrain ribbon with black grosgrain ribbon accents, Brown polka dotted blue grosgrain ribbon with brown satin ribbon accent on brown satin ribbon.

They didn't take too long to make- it takes me longer to figure out what I want to do with each one than it does to put them together.

Quick and easy felt hair clips

The other day, while I was wandering through the Christmas aisles at wally world, I found these ornaments. They had green, red, grey, blue, and gold/yellow. I thought they would make some quick and easy hair clips, but I didn't particularly like all the colors, so I just grabbed a package of green flowers and a package of red ones.

I cut the tip off the petal that had a hole. I then used my glue gun to carefully glue two flowers together, making sure the cut tips were on the bottom. This is what the back side looked like:
The front side (can't even tell there used to be some holes):I then glued the two flowers to a clippy that I had already covered with ribbon. I now have some Christmas-y clippies that took maybe ten minutes to make, and were super cheap.

Pipe cleaner snowflakes

I found a super quick and easy snowflake craft here, and LMS and I knocked out a couple in about 10 minutes.

I cut the pipe cleaners in half and twisted one around them, and LMS started threading clear tri beads on them. Mine went a lot quicker, but I have better hand-eye coordination than she does. It was good practice for her.

All done! Hers is the one on the right with the bent pieces. I straightened them out and we'll set them on tree branches once my parents get their tree put up.

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama and Provo Craft are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year?

• A job for Mr. M
• The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (to guide us in getting completely out of debt once Mr. M has a job)
• Easy Gluten Free Baking by Elizabeth Barbonne
• NutriMill Grain mill so I can experiment with gluten free grains
• Cricut Expression (hey, I can dream, right?)

2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received?

• Hmmm... here's where my really bad memory causes problems (side effect of 10 years of fuzzy brain- everything's fuzzy, including a lot of my memories). I'd have to say anything my mom made for me.
  

3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle?

• Handmade ornaments, different ones every year. Hopefully next year I can start.
  

4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child?

• Reference #2. I'd have to go with the antique Singer sewing machine my parents bought me. My first sewing machine!

5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year?

• She's 3- anything she sees, she wants. She's getting a kid-safe camera from us because she loves taking pictures with our camera.

6. What is your favorite holiday food?

• Anything chocolate! fudge, almond roca, etc

7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays?

• I'm making an advent calendar right now. I also made some easy hair clips for LMS, and I'm making a ribbon board to put them on. I'm not doing a lot of Christmas-y stuff this year.

8. What is your favorite holiday movie?

• White Christmas- no question!

9. Favorite holiday song?

• Christmas Canon Rock by Trans-Siberian Orchestra

10. Favorite holiday pastime?

• wrapping presents
• listening to Christmas music
• looking at all the pretty lights

Want to enter? go here- there's lots of cool prizes they're giving away!

O'dark thirty plane flight

This morning we got up at 3:15 to get Mr. M to the airport for a two week overseas mission (lucky duck!). The weather's been really nice for the last couple of weeks, so of course it started snowing a couple hours before we had to leave. Not only that, but we had to go to a different airport than usual. We're kind of between the two, but the bigger one is closer and the shortest route there is on major (ie. well-kept) roads. The smaller one, that we had to go to, is further and the quickest route is on back roads that aren't as well traveled or plowed as frequently.

We're not sure why, but someone must have thought they were doing us a favor or something, it sure couldn't have been cheaper to fly out of the smaller airport. Who knows. When he gets a chance, Mr. M is going to have a chat with whoever's in charge of ticketing.

Our ward Christmas activity

Our ward Christmas activity was last night. Early in the month and on a weeknight is a bit different, but we had a great turn out. Most of the families have kids who have to be there anyway, so it worked out well.

We had a 'Night in Bethlehem' theme- everyone brought a can or two of food to pay the 'tax'. Everyone was supposed to wear period clothing- so there were a lot of bathrobes and draped fabric. The kids were supposed to come dressed as angels. Mr. M and my brother (the biggest guys in the ward) were Roman centurions.

I made an angel dress for LMS for our ward Christmas activity- it was pretty quick and easy. I got a $4 twin flat sheet from wally world and folded it in half. Folded with the long sides together, the long sides formed the bottom hems on the front and back. It only ended up being a tiny bit too long- but the belt solved that problem. I laid LMS on top of the folded in half sheet and cut out the shape I wanted on one side. After she got up, I folded it in half again and cut the other side out so both sides matched (see below). Once it was cut out, I just sewed up both side seams and sleeves, hemmed the sleeves, and used some white binding I had left over from another project to bind the neckline.

I then used some felt and some gold fabric (both left over from her Sleeping Beauty crown) to make a belt. I sewed on some velcro I had leftover from another project so the belt can be easily taken on and off.Total cost: about $1.50

I only used about a third of the sheet, and will use the rest of it for a doctor jacket and a chef hat for her to dress up in.

At one point, LMS told me she needed wings.

"Angels don't have wings"

"Yes, they do. Angels need wings to fly."

"No they don't, angels fly without wings."

She showed me the angel from her Fisher Price Little People Nativity.

"See- she has wings."

How to answer that?

"Yes, but when you become an angel, you won't need wings to fly."

She wasn't convinced.

Luckily, she forgot about it and didn't bring it up again. Though she did try to convince me that angels don't wear shoes. Not sure wear she got that idea. Since it was quite cold outside, I managed to convince her to keep them on.

A bad picture of the kids up front during a song that everyone sang. It was dark in the room, so the quality isn't good, and everyone has evil eyes. LMS is standing next to one of her friends from nursery.

At the very end, Santa came to visit. LMS was quite excited. She's really getting into the whole Christmas thing this year- Santa, the lights, etc. I'm going to have her help me wrap the presents so we can talk about giving presents.