Completed Projects and Countdown to Christmas

Ah the night before Christmas Eve/early Christmas Eve morning and mostly everything is finally finished at this household. Most of the presents are wrapped. Most of my gifts are finished and I am looking forward to relaxing with the family tomorrow, watching the Polar Express before bed time for the kids, and eating yummy steak and potatoes.

I wanted to post some fun activities we've been doing around here for our advent calendar and also the projects I've completed for Christmas. Some things were easier than others.

ACTIVITIES/ADVENT CALENDAR

We made a paper chain one night. Easy and Matthew held the stapler. Now if I was planning further ahead we would have made this on night 1 and could have made one that had 25 loops to rip off every night as an additional count down, but we'll try and do that next year.

Door knob bells made from cut-out egg cartons. I got the idea here. We are using them at our house to see if we can hear when Santa comes. Matthew helped do some of the painting and pulled the string once we pushed it through.

Chocolate dipped pretzels. Jordan did the dipping this year as I was sleep deprived and he made me go to bed early one night.

Our playdoh cookies. They actually aren't bad to eat and Matthew made his own. He rolled little balls of each color, rolled those into big balls, and then rolled those into snakes and then rolled them up. I had to help him a little bit, but he did really good and loved rolling the snake up part the best.

Once they were cooked. We'll be leaving these out for Santa.

HANDMADE GIFTS

I'm really hoping those that are getting some of these don't think they are lame. I wanted to make some handmade gifts this year.

Mitts and embellished towels. You can find oven mitt tutorial here and dishtowel tutorial here.

Crayon roll. Perfect for taking to church or in the car. You can find the tutorial here. I would recommend using thin ribbon for the part that will go around the roll. Mine was a little too thick. Also, I bought a little memo pad at Target and then cut a piece of paper close to size, ran it through my xyron and stuck it on the front and cut-off the excess. I thought it just added another cute touch and the paper matched perfectly.

Made some felt hair clips. It was fun doing some hand stiching and covering buttons. It wasn't a hard project, just time consuming. It took me at least a half day to make all of these. You can find the tutorial here.

Our flash wouldn't work so these pics are bad, but I finally made some bracelets for Isabelle today for her stocking. I bought the supplies back in June to make one for her blessing but didn't get around to it. The pink and pearl one fits perfectly and I need to redo the all pearl one since it's a little tight. This was a last minute addition to the gift making list. I'm very happy with how they turned out and can't wait to get more teeny tiny beads.

My friend Kris made some towel bibs for her son and I've been wanting to do some for 3 years. I finally got some ribbing, found this tutorial online and whipped them up today. I'm so excited for more coverage for Isabelle when she is eating. I did not sandwich inbetween but rather sewed the ribbing and bib right sides together. Also, because my children have large noggins, I did a 4 1/2" opening but still a 13" piece of ribbing and tried it on Isabelle and it fits perfectly! Also, a last minute gift.

Block for Isabelle. PITA I must say. Trying to sew around the top/bottom parts was really tough for me and probably my most frustrating project. I didn't make it like this tutorial, but should have taken the time to do so. I think I would have been less frustrated and it would have been easier to sew. I'm just hoping Isabelle will think it's fun.

I like the end result of these fabric rings, but another project that was frustrating at the end. You can find the tutorial here. If you do attempt, I would recommend cutting the seams down after sewing them so you have less bulk inside the tube. I turned them all right side out before figuring this out and then turned them all inside, cut the seams, and turned them back out again. Annoying! Isabelle should have fun chewing on them.

My favorite, more leg warmers for Isabelle. These have been waiting to be sewn but I just needed to find time and they are going to make good stocking stuffers.

So, because things took longer than expected and I started WAY TOO late on some of my items on my list. I cut Matthew's quiet book, his Mr. Potato Head, Isabelle's bunny and Christmas apron. I'm still planning on making all of those things but just not for Christmas as gifts. I'm collecting ideas now for next year and will start way earlier so I don't kill myself with lack of sleep like I have this year. It's been fun though and I can't wait for Christmas.