Fun Christmas Project

I saw this super cute idea on pinterest...of course!  It was so cute and looked so easy that I knew I wanted to make sure I remembered it when Christmastime came.  While at Joann's this weekend I picked up a yard of green and gray felt along with a pack of assorted colored sheets.  I then cut out the tree and backed it with the gray (I only used 1/2 a yard of each). 

 

The fun part was cutting out all the little ornaments and decorating them :)

 

Sissy loved it and has taken the ornaments off and on all night!

Camera Strap DIY

Very excited to say that I hit up Joann's this weekend for a lot of $1.99 a yard fabric!  How exciting :)  Needless to say, I couldn't go long without sewing something...ha!  I have been wanting a strap cover for my camera and  I was dying to make something out of some super cute fabric I got.  After reading a couple of how-tos online, I decided to make it my own way.  I tried it out and it worked perfectly!

 

Since it turned out so well, I thought I would give you a little tutorial on how I did it so you can make one too!

Note:  This is for a Cannon camera strap...if you have another brand your measurements may be a little different.

First of open your fabric all the way up...If you have to buy fabric, you only need about a 1/4 of a yard.

Then take and fold over the end to 4 1/2 inches and cut all the way across.

Next cut off the raggedy end.

 
Now measure and cut 26 inches.

Leave your material folded in half and press it.

Then open up the fabric.  Take each side and fold it back in to the center crease that you just pressed.  Press each side.  When you fold in the second side you want it to come right up to the first side, but you don't want them to overlap.

 

 

Now it is time to fold and press the ends.  First fold over once, about a 1/4 inch, and press.



Then fold over a second time and press again.  Do this on both sides.

Stitch across the fold.  I did 2 rows of stitches to give it a "fancier" look.

Once you stitch both ends, fold your piece in half again on the first crease that you pressed.  You may need to press again.  Line up the open side and sew all the way down.  Make sure that you back stitch at each end to knot your thread. 

Again I did a double row of stitching.  At this point you have a long tube of fabric.  But you aren't quite done yet.

Although the other side is a fold and doesn't technically need to be sewn, I did a double row of stitches on that side as well to finish it off.  It makes it look complete.

Ta-da!  You are done....now just slide it over your camera strap and enjoy! 

 

Life lately...via cell phone pics

Her favorite spot

Playing

 

His first busted lip

 

She loves her daddy!

 

 

Monkey see, monkey do!

One of his favorite things to do lately...

 

Madelyn's 15 month check up...

 

Sporting her latest boo-boo for the doctor

 

Cale's new "huntin boonts"

A new hobby...

As a mom of a baby girl, I am always seeing something cute that she just "has to have".  Yeah right, like she really needs half of what I buy her! But none the less, she cannot leave home in anything less than adorable.  For this very reason, I have started my latest hobby...sewing! 

I have always thought that a sewing machine was this super complicated being that I would never be able to figure out.  Don't ask me why I had the preconceived notion, but I did.  But when my girlfriend asked if I wanted to take a basic sewing class with her, I agreed.

The class was for beginners, Sewing 101.  There they taught us how to load our bobbin, thread our machine, and sew basic seams.  We learned how to make a pillow case.  I was totally surprised how easy it was to work the machine!  Again, I have NO IDEA why I thought it would be so hard.  I borrowed a machine from my sister in law for this class.  I knew if I enjoyed the class I was going to ask for a machine for Christmas.  Well after the class I was hooked!  Tina and I signed up for another class before we ever left the store.  At that point I knew if I was going to continue to take classes, I wanted to learn on my own machine.  So I found one I wanted on Amazon.com for $89 (pretty reasonable, I thought) and asked my hubby if I could go ahead and order it. Of course he said yes :)

While waiting on it to arrive, I scoured the internet in search of easy sewing tutorials.  I found a dress that I thought I could make and just couldn't wait for my machine to arrive! By the time it came I was beyond ready to try it out.  Luckily, it was easy to thread and I was off and sewing.  Madelyn had 2 new dresses in a matter of days. 

I felt very accomplished and proud!  Using just a yard of fabric each she had 2 new dresses for about $15!  Much cheaper than buying dresses, but still just as cute!

 

My next project was a Christmas ribbon shirt.  I had recently ordered her a cute pair of "Christmas-y" pants that I got on clearance and I had the shirt pinned on my pinterest board and it immediately came to mind.  After following the tutorial here, she had a new adorable shirt!

 

My next project is to tackle ruffle pants.  I have watched several tutorials online and I can't wait to try them out!

Family Pictures

This past weekend we had our family pictures made for our Christmas cards.  Our dear friend Kristi took our pictures for us.  I forewarned her that she would be chasing Madelyn and that getting her to cooperate would be a challenge.  Let's just say that she lived up to her reputation!

 

Although Madelyn was challenging, Kristi was able to get a lot of good pictures.  Here are a few of my favorites!