Christmas Countdown Calendar

I'm a little behind on my Christmas crafts, so far in fact I bought all the supplies for this craft last November and didn't get around to it.

 I was flipping through Joann online and I saw these countdown calenders and I thought it would be perfect for Advent. I nabbed one for each of my girls as well as some Christmas scrapbook paper.

I was trying to figure out the best way to number the drawers when I opened the package and DUH! it comes with the sticks to number the drawers.

 I just measured one of the boxes then cut the paper just smaller. For the finger hole I used a 1 inch circle paper punch and cut a half circle at the top of each. I mod podged the paper onto each drawer, let it dry, placed the number sticker on, then mod podged over the sticker as well.

The girls are so excited for December 1st so they can start opening the drawers and stop peeking through the finger holes. 

Linking up at:

Pinkapotamous

Whimsy Couture Empire Dress - Pattern Review

Back in October I did a pattern review for a long sleeve Empire Dress by Whimsy Couture. It is definitely one of my favorite online pattern shops. I saved this post for a while because the fabric I chose it scenes from the classic Rudolph movie and when I sewed it it wasn't even Halloween yet.

When we lived in Texas the local Walmart was getting rid of their fabric section *HOW DARE THEY!* and I nabbed a few really cute fabrics at next to nothing including 4 yards of this awesome pattern. I wasn't really sewing much back then or I would have grabbed way more fabric than I did. Live and Learn.

I had been looking everywhere for a cute and simple long sleeve dress for the cold months so when I spotted this pattern I knew I had to make it.

With no zippers or buttons (aside from the faux one in front) this was super easy and great for twirling. I even had enough of the fabric left to make a matching dress for my 5 year old as well. So far every time the girls wear them they get TONS of compliments and I was able to complete each dress in an evening. Can't beat that.

What are you sewing for the cooler months? Do your girls have an aversion to pants like mine?

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Weekend Wonders

Snowman Applique Shirt

My youngest will be 3 on December 2. I can hardly believe it! She is having a snowman themed birthday party and has the cutest birthday dress. I can't show you yet because I'm guest posting about it over at Sugar Bee Crafts on December 8th so It's a secret for now. I can however show you the applique shirt I made for my oldest, Madeline, so she could join in on the snowman fun. She chose a purple shirt (her favorite color) and I went from there.

 This little guy was super easy to make and came together in about half an hour. The snowman is from the same soft fleece as Abby's birthday dress and the nose and scarf are scraps from other projects as well. I Ironed interfacing to the back of my materials before I cup my shapes to give them a little bit of weight. I just traced around 3 glasses for the snowman pieces then hand drew the scarf and nose. The eyes and and belly are obviously black buttons because who doesn't have buttons just lying around? I used pinking shears to cut out my snowman to make it a little more girly but since it's fleece it really wasn't necessary.

Before I sewed the pieces onto the shirt I ironed a piece of interfacing to the inside of the shirt so it wouldn't be so stretchy and the buttons wouldn't pull so much. Then I laid down my snowman body all down, stuck a pin through each circle to hold it in place and sewed as close as I could get to the edge with white thread. Then I added the nose and scarf and just sewed close to the edge with a coordinating color thread. All that was left was the buttons. Super easy and cute project. The best part is that it is not exclusively a Christmas shirt so it can be warn all winter long.

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The Winthrop Chronicles

Tell Me Tuesday

Sugar Bee Crafts

Thanksgiving Faux Mantel

Our house doesn't have a fireplace so I usually decorate the kitchen table or the island for the seasons/holidays. Recently I inherited this hutch from my Grandma so I'm excited to have a set place to display my 'mantels' that won't have to be moved out of the way to have work space.

I was able to replace my cookbook shelf and my art closet I had in my dining area with this one piece and it looks so much better now. I'll be posting later about how I reorganized our art supplies. I love the pictures I have displayed. They are my Great Grandma and my Dad's senior pics. :)

For my Faux Mantel I used the same place mat and Fall letters found here. The rest of the pieces are Good will finds. I fould the 4 candlesticks for $.99 each and the Cornicopia for $1.99. The flowers are left over from a flower pen gift that the PTO provided for teachers.

Are you still decorating for fall or have you already skipped to Christmas?

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Make It Pretty Monday

Erasing Permanent Marker

Have you even walked in and seen a mess like this before? I went to let the dog out and came back to my 3 year old "drawing" on my desk with permanent marker. It was one of those moments that make you just want to scream. 

 The first thought that came to mind is that dry erase markers take permanent markers off of white boards maybe it will work on the desk too.

I colored over all the black spots and said a little prayer then I wiped off the mess with a baby wipe.

I took off most of the permanent marker as you can see, but The downside is that now my green dry erase marker has a black tip. With out a camera flash you can barely see it at all.

Have you ever tried this trick for removing permanent marker?

Washi Tape Clipboards

Last month I ordered a 6 pack of Washi tape from Pick Your Plum and I finally got a chance to use it. This is my very first Washi tape project and it definitely won't be my last. This stuff is awesome!

 I had this 3 pack of boring old clipboards that were just begging for a makeover. I thought they would have a perfect second life for my girls to draw on in their art area in the kitchen.

 I just alternated the stripes so that the 2 on the outside are in the same pattern and the middle one is the opposite to give it a little interest. Then I just stuck a nail for each in the bottom board for the window and Voila! Easy and done.

Maybe I'll use some of the Washi tape to make matching pencils for these......

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Weekend Wonders

Hi Sugarplum!

Princess Costumes

I tried for over a week to get some good shots of the girls in their costumes since I worked so hard to sew them, but in the end it rained every day and these were the best I could get. :)

For the dresses I used McCall's pattern MP284. The Rupunzel costumes I adapted from the Snow White one by omiting a couple for steps and adding the ribbon to the front and the sleeves.

The adorable hooded capes a made with a pattern by Seamingly Smitten. Her Etsy Shop has this pattern a  bunch of other adorable patterns.

Here is Rupunzel and Sleeping Beauty. You can't tell from the pictures but the dresses are made from glittery special occasion fabric from Joann's.

I tried to use the crown pattern that came with the dresses but I don't know if I chose the wrong material or what but they came out aweful so we picked up some foam crown and the girls each got to decorate their own. They were pretty proud of themselves.

It rained the whole time we were trick-or-treating and it was about 39 degrees out so I wanted them to have a 'coat' that was still part of their costume. The downside was that they couldn't wear their crown. They didn't seem that bothered though.

Hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween!