My Christmas Decorations

I thought I would show you the Christmas decorations I put in my house.  As you know from experience, it is an enjoyable but strenuous job.  It is nice to have someone to share it with!  I need to mention that we lived in a different house last year, it is both

exciting and a challenge to decorate a new home.

We have a cubicle in our family room that is meant to hold our television.  It's too small for our TV, so I have a lot of fun decorating it for different holidays or seasons.  I needed something tall for this space and bought the silver tree at Hobby Lobby, it was half price.  I love the vintage village buildings.  I bought the church at Home Goods, and put some white lights in the back.  The windows shine red just like cathedral windows.

I really like the glitter!

I love how the light shines at night.  I haven't unplugged the lights since I set it up!  I wonder how long they will last before burning out.....

Last year, I hung these decorations from a chandelier.  I had to be creative this year and found a light.  I used blue painter's tape to attach the ribbons to the inside of the light frame.

I love this plate, so I use it as a decoration at Christmas and throughout the winter season.  My daughter gave me the idea to use cupcake wrappers as decorations.

This is the centerpiece on my table.

Notice the log cabin table runner?  It's not Christmasy, but I love it.

These red balls didn't fit on the Christmas tree this year, so I displayed them in a basket, under a lamp.

We have a fireplace again!  I showed you how I painted the mantel here.  It is really white and my dark colored ornaments just didn't match.  I went to TJ Maxx and Home Goods and bought some new things to add some glitter and sparkle.

I've had this jar for years and love putting sparkly gems in it at Christmas.  A good friend gave me the silver ornament.

I saw these snow globes at West Elm and they were really expensive.  I found these ones at TJ Maxx 

The candleholder pedestal was a dark metal color.  I haven't used it in a while.  I spray painted it silver and love the new look!

I had to give away all of my candles before I moved, so I bought this one with Jingle Bells music on it.

I made the red and green stocking for my husband and myself when I was pregnant with our first child.  I gave my four oldest children the felt stockings I made for them.  I still have Vanessa's, she and her husband are coming to spend Christmas with us.  Sean is in Brazil, serving a two year church mission.  This is the first Christmas that we will be apart.  The nutcrackers remind me of Sean, most of them belong to him!

This is the open space above the cubby where the TV was supposed to go.  It is a really tall space, so I leave it this way all year and just change the flowers in the trunk and the ornaments.  My daughter's parents in law gave us the bell and the Jim Shore Santa.  We have become close with them over the years.  My son in law's mom has really good taste.

Well, that concludes the sharing for today, I will post more on Wednesday and Friday.  See you then!

Doll Quilt

I made a doll quilt to go with the doll bassinet and the dolly diaper bag that I made for my 2 l/2 year old grand daughter Maisie.

I wanted to keep it simple, so I sewed 9 charm pack squares together.  I quilted it with swirly swirls :)  It's a good way to practice my machine quilting.

Whenever I bind a quilt, I put the leftover binding in a box.  

I use the leftover binding for doll quilts or for a scrappy binding.

There are four different fabrics used in this leftover binding.

I just attach whatever binding fabrics I think look nice together.

Do you see the four different prints in the binding?

I think it adds interest to the quilt.

I hand sewed the binding to the back of the quilt.

I made a little pillow that fits into the doll bassinet perfectly!

I just cut two pieces of fabric, sewed around the edges making sure to leave an opening.  I stuffed the pillow with fiber fill and sewed the opening closed on the sewing machine.  Very easy!

I don't have the doll to show you how he looks in the bassinet.

I used a porcelain doll, but she's a little long.

You get the idea....

I would have loved a gift like this when I was little!

I wish I could watch Maisie open her gifts on Christmas morning.

I would love to see her reaction :)

Dolly Diaper Bag

Well, it's Christmas and there is so much to do!

I made a dolly diaper bag to go along with the doll bassinet and the baby doll for my grand daughter Maisie.

Here is the link to the tutorial, it is on my pinterest board, stuff to make for the grandkids.

The diaper bag is the perfect size for a 2 l/2 year old little girl :)

Isn't the print cute, sort of vintage looking?

I made a little burp pad for Maisie's new doll, so she can feel just like a real Mommy!

I bought a little snack cup with a lid and a spoon, and a teether for her diaper bag.  I even bought two doll baby bottles, one with milk and one with juice.  When you feed the doll, the liquid actually disappears.

I forgot to mention that I added two pockets on the inside of my dolly diaper bag.  One is on the side and one is on the center panel.

Doll Bassinet

My husband and I bought this cute doll for Maisie, one of our grand daughters.  It is a Corolle doll from France and has a soft bean filled body that is fun to carry around, hug and snuggle.  The doll always smells like baby powder too, even after being thrown in the washing machine.
Maisie's baby brother was born eight weeks early in September.  He is a little over nine pounds now, but we thought it would be fun to get her a doll that looks like her brother Benjamin.

I made a doll bassinet for three other grand daughters last Christmas, you can see them here, in an older post.

The bassinet takes a little time to make, but is still quite simple.

The tutorial tells you to machine quilt the body of the bassinet, like the hatching on Moses' basket.  These are all the pieces used to make the bassinet.

The tutorial can be found at Pinterest, on my "stuff to make for the grandkids" board, found here.  The link for the tutorial can be found here.  I made a mistake and quited the bassinet like a quilt.  I had to cut extra fabric for the lining again and resew it!!!  I was watching Hallmark Christmas movies and got distracted....Lol....

This is the finished doll bassinet.  I really like the baby blue rick rack trim instead of lace.  I think it is more baby boyish :)  I will show you the rest of the accessories I made for Maisie's baby boy doll in my next post.  Stay tuned!

Reagan's dress

I made a dress for one of my grand daughters.

I chose this Pink Fig pattern.

Reagan just turned 2, and I made the dress a size 3T.

I'm afraid it is going to swallow her up! I will probably have to take the band off the hem and resew it on.....I hate having to redo things like that :(

I was looking for a white shirt to put under the jumper.  I think I hit the jackpot with the aqua one.  I embellished the sleeve with a small yoyo and button.

I added a red crocheted flower to the bodice.  I like the ruffled lace.

I bought some red sparkly shoes and little red heart tights to match.

i can hardly wait to see what Reagan looks like in the little outfit I made for her ♥

Here is cute little Reagan in her new dress.  It is a little big, but she will grow into it :)

Chalkboard Gifts

I ordered these wooden plaques from "Pick Your Plum".  

They were engraved with the names of all of my grandchildren, except for Benjamin who was born after I ordered the plaques.  Benjamin would be too young to play with them anyway....

I sprayed the first set with black chalkboard paint.

It dries really fast.

I used paint markers to highlight their names.

I sprayed the second set with green chalkboard paint.

The names looks so much prettier after they are embellished.

Before you write or draw with chalk on the boards, you have to shade the whole surface with chalk and then wipe it off with a dry cloth. This enables the chalk to adhere to the surface better.

I made a set of chalk holders for each grandchild.

Don't they look pretty all packaged up with a mentos treat?

I'm hoping they will be a big hit!

Mandarin Oranges and Pomegranates and grandchildren

While our family was visiting, we went to a mandarin "satsuma" orange grove.

I had never seen mandarin orange trees until I moved to California.

We took some photos while we were in the orange grove.  Notice how Kennedy has her leg lifted?  That means she is very happy!  Whenever she gives her family a kiss, her leg goes up....lol!!!

Kennedy loves to pose for photos, she wants her arms around Bridger and Charlotte, but Charlotte is not cooperating and Bridger is trying to talk Charlotte into keeping still!  A rare occurence.....that little 2 year old is always on the go!

Charlotte won't cooperate, but Bridger will!  Bridger is such a good sport with his sisters. By the way, that is Bridger's "smile" for the camera.  He isn't being impatient or anything, I think that he thinks that he is smiling naturally for the camera :)

Kennedy adores her big brother, he still has that fake smile!

Finally, a natural smile from Bridger :)

There were even some pomegranate bushes!  I have never seen one before!  Most of the pomegranates were cracked like this but we were told that they were still perfectly fine to eat.

The lady who worked at the grove told us to immerse the pomegranate in cold water and scoop out the seeds.  The juice won't stain your skin and the seeds float to the stop.  Good to know!

We have been eating a lot of mandarin oranges, they are sweet and juicy.