Pajama Pants {Make Your own Pattern-TUTORIAL}

I hope your Christmas was merry and bright.  Mine sure was.  Now I am just trying to get back into the regular swing of things.  I have a tradition to make Christmas Eve Pajama Pants for my kids each year.  They really are simple--and you can EASILY MAKE YOUR OWN PATTERN!  Here is a tutorial:

Supplies:
Flannel (or other fabric of your choice)
Thread
Pins
Sewing Machine

Step 1:  Take an existing pair of PJ pants that currently fit.  Fold them in half.  Fold your fabric into the center.  Place the folded pants on the fabric, with the straight side lined up with the fold of the fabric.  Pin in place.

 Step 2:   Don't cut along the folded side.  Cut the fabric.  Along the top and the bottom, add 1 1/2" for your hem and elastic casing.  Along the side opposite the fold, add 1/2" for the seam.  Make sure you stretch the elastic out before cutting around the top, otherwise the waist will be too small.

 Step 3:  Fold in the other side of your fabric to the center.  Take the piece you just cut out.  Line up the  folds and pin in place.  Then cut out the 2nd piece of fabric.  It is important to use the piece you cut out rather than the existing pants to assure your pant legs are exactly the same size.

Step 4:  Take each leg piece and fold right sides together.  Pin from the crotch down to the bottom.  Sew a 1/2" seam where you just pinned.  Repeat with other leg piece.

 Step 5:  Turn one of the pant legs right-side-out.  Then place that one inside the other pant legs so that right sides are together.  Pin the 2 pieces together around the crotch line.  Make sure your center seam lines up.  If your fabric is a little off up at the top, that is okay.  Sew using a 1/2" seam.

 Step 6:  Separate the pant legs.  Hem each leg.  First, fold up about 1/4" of fabric, and then fold again about 1".  Pin this in place and continue folding and pinning around the bottom of each leg.  Sew close to the edge so that your stitch will catch both folds.

 Step 7:  Sew your elastic casing.  This is done basically the same way you did the leg hems.  However, make sure you leave about an inch gap where you will feed your elastic through the casing.

 Step 8:  Measure your elastic.  Measure your elastic to fit comfortably.  The feed it through the casing. This is most easily done by pinning a safety pin on one side.  Insert that end into the casing.  Slide the safety pin around.  Once you get back to the opening,  Overlap the two elastic ends.  Zig-Zag stitch several times over the elastic (only sew the two elastic sides together--don't sew it to the PJ pants.

Step 9:  Sew over where your inch gap was.  And that's it!  You're done.

 Now for fun, you can add a little detail to your PJ shirts.  Love it!  Nothing like a comfy pair of jammies!

Christmas Decor

I love Christmas time--a time centered on Jesus Christ, our Savior.  It is great to be able to decorate my house reminding me of His birth.  Of course, we have to throw in a little Santa too!

Merry Christmas and happy decorating!

Baby Girl Needed a Stocking!

With a new baby born into our family this year, I needed to dig through my fabric to find my "Christmas Stocking" fabric.  I had just enough to cut out one more stocking.  I guess that means we need to be done having kids.  Hehe.  Or I'll just have to hope I can find a match.

I keep my stockings pretty simple.  Just some red and cream felt, a little embroidery floss, and some love!  Here is what little miss Reese gets:

 And here are all of them hanging waiting for Santa:

19 days...

The countdown has begun.  It's hard to believe only 19 days until Christmas--kind of crazy!  Here is how we do our countdown and advents at our house:

 I use my same "Thankful" frame, only this time I hang the countdown.

Pretty easy...just some scrapbook paper & a little distressing ink.  

Now the Advent Calendar:

 This is my version of the Dollar Store cookie sheet.  I painted it, Mod Podged some paper.  Then I made a grid--one rectangle per day and labeled the date--just like a calendar.  

 I used various Christmas items--stickers, chipboard, ornaments--anything I could find that was about the right size.  Simply add a little magnet, then each day my kids take turns picking the item to go on the calendar for that day.  

 It won't be long and this will all be full!  Christmas will be here before we know it!

Happy Countdown to Christmas!

Simple Ornaments

Each year I make ornaments for my kids.  Usually I am kind of scrambling to get them done by Christmas Eve.   However, this year I beat the rush {amazingly}.  I saw some similar ornaments on Pinterest.  Here they are:

Pretty simple.  A little felt cut into varying sized circles.  Hand-stitching on a few of the circles.  Hot Glue it all together and add some stretchy cording (or ribbon, twine, jute, etc).
You've gotta love Christmas time!
 (Oh, and I am currently loving Sarah McLachlan-Holiday station on Pandora--just in case anyone was wondering)

Twiggy Stars

A couple of weeks ago I got together with a couple of my sister-in-laws.  We were in need of a quick, easy, and cheap craft.  I was visiting my in-laws who live in the woods, really!  So we went and gathered some twigs, and this is what we came up with:

 They were super simple.
Start by breaking your sticks to be all about the same length.  You'll need 5 groups of about 3-4 twigs (depending on your preference).

 Tie each group together on each end.  Then form your star and tie the different sections together.

It doesn't get much easier than that...or cheaper!

Happy Thanksgiving

I started my Thanksgiving prep today--bread cut up for stuffing, pies, and place cards.  Tomorrow I just need to mix up the rolls and make a salad.  Can't wait!  I LOVE Thanksgiving.  I hope you all have a good one!

Harvest...Thankful...It's Fall!

I think this is my favorite time of the year for decorations.  I love the thankful theme!  Here is how my house is decorated these days:

 I got the Thankful block idea here.

 I love my Thankful frame.  Each week everyone in my family thinks of something they are thankful for.  It is good to have a little reflection time.  I can't say I came up with the idea.  I copied it from somewhere, but for the life of me, I can't find it.  So please, if you have seen it somewhere and know, please let me know so I can give credit!    Yay!!  I found out where I got it.  It was from Heather over at WipperBerry and you can find the tutorial here.  Don't you LOVE it!!!

Leaf cards hung with simple Mod Podged clothes pins.

 A little jute strung through little eyelets.  Simple!

Leg Warmers

I hope you all had a great Halloween.  We had fun, but personally, I was excited to put away the Halloween decor and get the rest of my Thanksgiving decorations out!

Anyway, I thought I would share a few Halloween pictures of my kids--and the FANTASTIC (at least I thought so) leg warmers for my girlies.

 Halle wanted to be a ballerina.  Since it has decided to get COLD around here, I decided she needed the perfect accessory--leg warmers.  I cut off the arms of an old sweater that I never wear.  Love getting a use out of it!

 I had bought this spider costume a year ago when I was still pregnant and didn't know if I was having a boy or girl.  Well, while the costume is cute, I knew it needed something to make it look a little "girly."  I had just finished making these little leg warmers from THIS tutorial.  Once again, the perfect accessory!  I love how they turned out (and I love that they really did just take 10 minutes!).

 I am definitely going to be watching for cute little knee high socks to make more of these cute little things!

A Taggy Blanket {tutorial}

A friend came to my house awhile ago, and her baby had the cutest little taggy blanket.  I loved the small, square size and decided my little Reese needed one of her own.  So, I dug out some fabric and ribbon scraps, found a little time (30-45 min-but you could probably do it faster!), and this is what I ended up with:

 And here's how to do it:

 1-- Cut your fabric.  You could easily just use one solid fabric per side, but I wanted to use up scraps, so I made mine quilt-style.  My brown square started out about 8 1/2".  My small squares started 4 1/2".

2--Sew your small squares together.  I used a 1/4" seam. (Ignore this step if using single piece of fabric).

 3--Cut ribbon, lace, or ric-rac (about 2"-4" each).   I used 16 total-4 per side of the square, but this totally depends on you.

4--Pin the ribbon onto the right side of the fabric (either the front or back).  The ribbon needs to be pointed in toward the center of the square.

 5--Sew the ribbon in place by sewing a 1/4" seam around the square of fabric.

6--Now take both squares of fabric.  Pin right sides together.  Sew around with a 1/4" seam.  Leave about a 3" section so you can turn right side out.
**Sorry, I didn't take pictures of these steps.

7--Turn right side out.

8--Sew a topstitch all around.  This makes a nice finish, plus it closes up the hole you used to flip the fabric.

Ta-da.  You're done.  Easy, easy, and your baby will LOVE it!