I Made It

It's been a CraZy couple of months. I thought retirement would mean slow mornings, piddling around and then cooking dinner. HA! Not the case. It's been nonstop since May, with good and not so good, and I feel like I'm never caught up.

After traveling most of the summer, Fall was to be the beginning of glorious nothingness. I couldn't wait. Life had other plans for me. Kenny's dad's health took a turn and we had to quickly ready our house for hospice care for him. Almost immediately, he became worse, which lead to 2 weeks of hospital rotations for the family. He died in the hospice unit at the hospital and plans for the funeral were made. The family was going to be having lunch at our house which meant we needed to remove all the hospital equipment from our family room and return all the furniture that belonged there. I don't really remember much of that week. A week after the funeral, we left for a quickly planned trip to Italy with friends who have a home there in the village that his grandfather was from. It was a great trip (pictures to come). The day we got back, a promised trip to the beach for the boys and a few days in San Antonio. Home for work for a few days and then back to SA Reid's party. A 2 week reprieve and then back for Helena's party. Needless to say, the holidays have caught me off guard.

Lucky for me, Reid never wore the chicken costume I made for him last year so I didn't have to make one for H.

I wanted them to have something for fall, so I took a look at Pinterest and made a couple of turkey shirts and then started on the Christmas stuff. I saw a cute shirt with a purse on in made of ruffles while in California (surely you heard about my trip to LA to see Dancing with the Stars and dance with Gilles), so I tried to replicate it as an ornament for Helena. I added a pair of green cord bloomers to go with it. For Reid, I wanted something a little more "big boy". I made my own chenille after seeing this great diy on Lil Mop Top but on a much smaller scale and using just one color. I found a green plaid flannel that wasn't too Christmas-y that went well with Helena's bloomers. I LOVED the way it turned out! I ironed on with fusible webbing and the stitched it on, along with a brown felt trunk. I liked it all so much, I made matching shirts for all kids that are in a play group with Meg.

I sewed the flannel onto a piece of t-shirt that I used for the backing. I sewed diagonal lines across all 5 layers on the bias. The hard part was cutting thru the 4 layers and not cutting thru the bottom layer. I had a couple of mishaps, but was able to cut around them when I made the trees. After I cut the fabric, I washed it and dried it. It turned out GREAT, fluffy and soft. I cut out the triangle "trees" and used fusible webbing to attach them to the shirts and did a quick stitch around them. I have a little of the chenille left if you want some. Send me a message and I'll share!

Nellie's was a little more difficult. I used a sheer nylon, cut strips to make ribbons and then ruffled them. I stitch them onto a round piece of matching red satin-y stuff. Hard. Time consuming. Frustrating. But sooooo cute. I edged them with matching bias tape, attached them with the fusible webbing and then stitched them on. I embroidered a hook with metallic thread.

So now starts the Christmas countdown. My neighbors have a tradition of making their gifts for the adult family members. I love that idea! I tweaked it a little to work for our family. No store bought gifts for any adult, which makes Meg happy because it takes a lot of the shopping burden (and cost) off her shoulders. B is not so keen on it. He was kinda hoping for some cash and gift cards :) Kenny and I are also making all our gifts for the babies. We'll see how that works! So far, I've been able to stick to my guns. I am buying small things for their stockings, so that's been fun. The hardest part will be the gifts for the adults, something they really like and not just say, "oh, I love it" just because they have to (Although I really doubt they'd do that. Not gift appreciation fakers, those 3).

I'll be posting the gifts as I get them done. If toy have any great ideas, let me know!

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