Just for fun, I put together some more American Girl coloring pages. These are pretty simple. They remind me of my childhood, which is always a happy thing.
I love the historical girls.
I spent hours of my childhood reading book after book. I often did read along with my doll in hand. I love the original Pleasant Company logo that you see here.
I thought I would post a blank of the logo, so you can add in your own specialization or personalization. These would make fun name tags, or I could even see them work as a birthday invitation!
These next coloring pages are super simple, and not meticulously done like usual. I think they are fun, and work just as they are. I LOVE American Girl. I am a child at heart I guess.
Meet Molly, another very special American Girl! Molly McIntire is a girl growing up during the difficult days of World War II.
I love that American Girl has released each historical character's set of 6 books into one convenient hardback book. I don't know if they still have the books in print, but I do know you can find them inexpensively on Amazon and Ebay if you don't mind used books. This makes it much easier to collect them all. In the past months, I have been able to purchase them all! I feel like a kid again, excited to read my favorite stories.
These past few days, I have worked on turning Molly into a fun coloring page too. This always takes hours and hours of time, and I've dedicated most of my days to getting this coloring sheet perfect. I think the hard work has paid off and it is worth it to see this beautiful picture ready to color. In the future, as I read more of the story collections, I will be turning each girl into a coloring sheet. You can check back later for more pages!
To tell you a little about Molly, I copied these words from American Girl Wiki which tells you a little about her stories... To Molly, World War II is mostly a distant inconvenience in her daily life; it is only when she is introduced to Emily Bennett that she sees that the war is truly affecting other people. She is not very good at math (especially multiplication), hates turnips, and is afraid to swim underwater. She struggles with her looks later in the series, as she wants to look different with curls. Molly is a great tap dancer. In the book, she was the best dancer in her class, even over Alison. Molly misses her father very much. Even though she loves her parents, she often finds it hard to get along with her siblings, often getting into disagreements. Molly also finds it hard to get along with Alison, and even Emily Bennett at one point in the story because of their differences. She always wants to be original, and is obsessed with glamour, especially from England. Molly is a big schemer, often the ring leader when she and her friends make plans. Molly's mom calls her a "chatterbox," in comparison to Emily. She is prone to daydreaming and fanciful ideas. If case you haven't seen the books I was talking about, you can buyMolly's Story Collectionon Amazon. This is such a great deal to get all 6 of Molly's beloved books in one convenient hardback book!
Who is your favorite American Girl?
Interested in some more American Girl coloring pages?
Meet Kit, my daughter's favorite American girl! Several years ago, my daughter celebrated her 10th birthday with Kit Kittredge. I read all the books so I could gather enough information to put on an extra special party. I planned the party for months. My daughter loved it!
I love that American Girl has released each historical character's set of 6 books into one convenient hardback book. I don't know if they still have the books in print, but I do know you can find them inexpensively on Amazon and Ebay if you don't mind used books. This makes it much easier to collect them all. In the past months, I have been able to purchase them all! I feel like a kid again, excited to read my favorite stories.
These past couple weeks, I have worked on turning Kit into a fun coloring page too. This was no easy feat. I invested hours and hours working on the coloring sheet whenever I could spare some time. I think the hard work has paid off and it is worth it to see this beautiful picture ready to color. In the future, as I read more of the story collections, I will be turning each girl into a coloring sheet. You can check back later for more pages!
To tell you a little about Kit, I copied these words from American Girl Wiki which tells you a little about her story... Kit is very much a tomboy who enjoys baseball, and her favorite player is Ernie Lombardi, the catcher for the Cincinnati Reds. Her stories take place during the Depression. Kit is interested in everything and fancies herself a reporter and factual writer. Her favorite place is the newsroom of the Cincinnati Register. Kit's father must close his car dealership and join the large number of unemployed. In an effort to make ends meet, her mother takes in boarders; Mrs. Howard and her son Stirling settle into Kit's newly redecorated bedroom, while the girl makes the best of her new space in the attic... Lots of adventures happen in the pages of Kit's books! If case you haven't seen the books I was talking about, you can buyKit's Story Collectionon Amazon. This is such a great deal to get all 6 of Kit's beloved books in one convenient hardback book!
Who is your favorite American Girl?
Interested in some more American Girl coloring pages?
Meet Samantha, another one of my favorite American girls! All four of the original girls are a favorite with me. I read Kirsten, Samantha, Molly, and Felicity's books cover to cover repeatedly. These girls represent a magical time in my life. I was transported to different places and times with just the turning of a page.
I love that American Girl has released each historical character's set of 6 books into one convenient hardback book. I don't know if they still have the books in print, but I do know you can find them inexpensively on Amazon and Ebay if you don't mind used books. This makes it much easier to collect them all. In the past two months, I have been able to purchase them all! I feel like a kid again, excited to read my favorite stories.
These past few weeks, I worked really hard turning Samantha into a fun coloring page. This was no easy feat. I invested hours and hours working on the coloring sheet. I think the hard work has paid off and it is worth it to see this beautiful picture ready to color. In the future, as I read more of the story collections, I will be turning each girl into a coloring sheet. You can check back later for more pages!
To tell you a little about Samantha, I copied these words from American Girl Wiki which tells you a little about her story... Samantha is an orphan living in the early twentieth century. At the start of the series, she is living with her old-fashioned wealthy Grandma. Samantha only remembers her parents a little bit. Samantha is curious and asks a lot of questions. She is very interested in her parents and their lives, as they died in a boating accident when she was five years old and is compared in looks to her mother. She has a rough side such as climbing trees and feels it is very hard to be a young lady. Samantha is rather bold and mischievous and playful, generally going places she should not, sneaking off, and even standing up to her mocking neighbor, Eddie. Samantha is beguiling and bursting with ideas, and is very imaginative.
If case you haven't seen the books I was talking about, you can buySamantha's Story Collectionon Amazon. This is such a great deal to get all 6 of Samantha's beloved books in one convenient hardback book!
Who is your favorite American Girl?
Interested in some more American Girl coloring pages?
I've decided to branch out a little in my love for the American Girls. When I was young I read all the books. As an adult, only Felicity stuck with me. I couldn't remember much about the stories of the other historical characters.
Over the past week, I have purchased the story collection for several of the girls. Right now I have Kirsten, Samantha, and Addy. Over the course of the next couple weeks Molly, Josefina, Kaya, and Kit's story collection books will be arriving in the mail. I'm excited for all the reading I will be doing. I'm even more excited to read these books aloud to some very special little girls.
I love that American Girl has released each historical character's set of 6 books into one convenient hardback book. I don't know if they still have the books in print, but I do know you can find them inexpensively on Amazon and Ebay if you don't mind used books. This makes it much easier to collect them all.
This week, I worked really hard on turning Kirsten into a fun coloring page. In the future, as I read more of the story collections, I will be turning each girl into a coloring sheet. I also can't wait to share these coloring pages with those same special little girls. You can check back later for more pages!
To tell you a little about Kirsten, I copied these words from Amazon which tell you a little about her story... Kirsten Larson and her family arrive in America in 1854, after a long sea voyage. Everything looks so different from the life Kirsten knew back in Sweden--the ways people talk and dress seem strange! Getting lost in a big city and parting with her best friend only add to Kirsten’s worry. Will she ever feel at home here? It is only when the Larsons arrive at a tiny farm on the edge of the frontier that Kirsten believes Papa’s promise--America will be a land filled with opportunity for them all. If case you haven't seen the books I was talking about, you can buy Kirsten's Story Collection on Amazon. This is such a great deal to get all 6 of Kirsten's beloved books in one convenient hardback book!
Who is your favorite American Girl?
Interested in some more American Girl coloring pages?
For the past week, I have poured my heart into making these coloring pages of Felicity, my favorite American Girl. By the time I was 11, I had finally saved up enough money to buy the doll and books. I read each book from cover to cover, over and over again. I loved the stories, and I loved my Felicity.
I have been pouring over the books for hours, trying to make them into coloring sheets. I even used a flashlight to try to see every tiny little detail. Each page has taken me an entire day to perfect and prepare. This was not an easy job, but I really had a blast working on them. It brought back so many good memories! And I'm kind of sad to see the project over.
If you haven't read any of these books, check them out! I'm certain your local library has some copies of them. Before I had money to purchase my doll and books, I repeatedly checked them out from our library, along with many of the other American Girl books.
I wanted to give you a look into each book. I encourage you to read them if you haven't already. They are very simple for a new reader to enjoy too! All of the descriptions I have given under the pictures are taken from Amazon. They are not my own words.
In Meet Felicity, Felicity falls in love with a beautiful horse named Penny. When she discovers that the owner is cruel, she is determined to find a way to save Penny.
In Felicity Learns a Lesson, Felicity's mother decides that it is time to send Felicity for lessons in being a gentlewoman. At first, she does not wish to learn such things, but as her lessons progress she comes to enjoy all of the little things that she is being taught. However, as the colonist begin to chafe under British rule, Felicity finds her ability maintain politeness tested.
In Felicity's Surprise, Felicity is invited to a dancing lesson at the governor's palace, the most wonderful honor she can imagine. Mother promises to make a beautiful new gown for her. As the splendid event draws near, Mother becomes dreadfully ill. Felicity spends all her days caring for her, sadly accepting that there will be no new gown and no chance to go to the palace. No chance, that is, until a glorious surprise reminds her that Christmastime is a time when hopes and dreams do come true.
In Happy Birthday, Felicity, spring brings Felicity's tenth birthday and a visit from Grandfather. He gives Felicity a precious gift--a guitar that had belonged to her grandmother. Felicity is so enchanted with the guitar that she disobeys her mother and takes it out of the house to show her friend Elizabeth. Her parents are angry when they learn what she's done. They refuse to believe a message Felicity has overheard that means danger for the colonists. Felicity risks her parents' anger again when she decides to alert the colonists herself!
In Felicity Saves the Day, Felicity loves summertime on Grandfather's plantation. She can be outside all day--riding horses, playing with Nan and William, and exploring the woods. One day Felicity finds a secret note. It is from Ben, her father's apprentice, and it asks for her help. Ben has broken his apprenticeship agreement and is running away to join George Washington's army. Felicity begins a dangerous adventure when she goes to help Ben. She must use all her strength, courage, and wisdom to try to save the day.
In Changes for Felicity, 1776 starts off with good news. Her beloved horse, Penny, is going to have a foal! Felicity has one worry--Jiggy Nye. He has been cruel to Penny in the past. Will he be cruel to her again? Soon Felicity has more worries. Her family believes in independence for the colonies. But the family of Elizabeth, Felicity's best friend, believes in loyalty to the king. Suddenly, Elizabeth's father is jailed for being a Loyalist. Will Felicity and Elizabeth's friendship survive the many changes that both girls face?
The American Girl books are some of my favorite memories from my childhood.
Open up a book, and try one! You won't be sorry!
I love that American Girl has released each historical character's set of 6 books into one convenient hardback book. I don't know if they still have the books in print, but I do know you can find them inexpensively on Amazon and Ebay if you don't mind used books. This makes it much easier to collect them all. I feel like a kid again, excited to read my favorite stories.
If case you haven't seen the books I was talking about, you can buyFelicity's Story Collectionon Amazon. This is such a great deal to get all 6 of Felicity's beloved books in one convenient hardback book!
Who is your favorite American Girl?
Interested in some more American Girl coloring pages?
Have you ever read the American Girl books? They were always a favorite of mine when I was in grade school. I could read a book in 30 minutes or less. I felt like I was so accomplished. For each girl there are six different books. The only thing that changes between each girl is the name. For example, Meet Felicity, Meet Kirsten, Meet Samantha, Meet Molly, and the list goes on. The last book was always entitled Changes for ... Each girl would go through something significant that would change her life. She would always learn a lesson from the change.
This past month has brought a lot of new things for our family. I said goodbye to summer vacation, and set my kids off to school. This always comes with many tears (from me). I have trouble letting go. I know it's for their benefit so I force myself to do it, but that doesn't ever mean it's easy. I'm still wondering, when does it become easy to say goodbye? Will I always struggle with change? It happens every year; you'd think I would be used to it by now.
Gabe is officially a third grader, and my only kid in elementary school. Ariel has graduated to middle school, and she has joined the youth group at our church. With this change, has come much new responsibility for Ariel. She is more independent and to be honest it scares me!
The start of this school year was especially hard for me because I know it's the last time I will have my special first day of school IHOP breakfast with Zechariah. It's the last time we will start a new school year together at home. This year the tears wouldn't stop because I knew my life is going to be changing. It may not be this month, or next, but in less than a year's time I will no longer be the normal stay at home mom. All three of my children will enter school. Things will be much different.
I don't know if I'm ready for it. In fact, I'm fairly certain I'm not ready for it. I have done a lot of reflecting on this over the past month. I've been reevaluating things. Where is my time going? Who am I spending it with? What am I spending it on?
I want this next year to be focused on the things that matter most to me. I'm trying to balance a lot of things. While I have two kids in school, I still have one at home that I want to spend as much time with as possible. I really desire for it to be quality time, rather than just busy time together.
I want to commit to being the best KidZone / Club2190 teacher possible. That means a lot of planning and preparing for my elementary aged students on Sunday and Wednesday evenings. Granted this isn't every week, but when it is my week or my lesson, I spend quite a bit of time and effort beforehand getting ready.
Another part of working with KidZone, I was in charge of the puppet ministry for Kid's week. This involved making special "signs" to emphasize part of the songs we're performing. It also takes a little bit of choreography for when the puppets should go up, and who should be speaking. It's amazing how a bunch of little things, can take up so much of my time.
I was scheduled seven times to be in KidZone this past month. (Kid's Week is this month) For the month of September I'm only going to be there twice. So my commitments will come and go. Some months will require more time than others. No matter how much I am in there, when I am there, I want to give it my all. I don't believe in doing things half-way.
I also want to focus a lot on my friendships. I know that God has placed three very special ladies in my life for a reason. Whether it be book studies, or craft days every now and then, or babysitting; I want to be there for them as much as humanly possible. God has called me to be their friend.
My last area I'm working on is my relationship with my husband. This is probably one of my highest callings, to be the mother and wife that God desires. To be constantly putting myself second, and them first. You cannot go into a marriage expecting to give only 50 percent. It will fail. There are days when you will probably only give 50 percent or even less, but then there are days were you must step up and give 90 to 100 percent. You gotta give whatever it takes. It's work. But it's a job that is well rewarded. There is not a day that goes by where I don't thank God for my husband. He is above and beyond what I expected. When I first met him, I never knew I could be this happy. That hasn't come about without a little work and a lot of obedience to God. I will forever keep my marriage as the highest earthly priority. God comes first above all else.
So with all that being said, life is changing, but I am changing with it. I don't plan to stay the same person I was last week, or the week before. I want to grow every day and become stronger. Every day I want to be closer to God, and following the plans He has for me.
This weekend is goinnullg to be spent partying! All three of my children have a different friend celebrating thenullir birthday. My daughter's friend has an American Girl doll and I thought it would be fun to make her some new doll clothes for a gift. I was able to quickly sew some pajamas, a leotard and tutu, and this new spring dress. (Don't tell her, but I only paid $1 for everything. Doll clothes use so little fabric that you can usually just use your scraps.)
The one I will show you how to make is my own pattern. Ariel wanted to sew her friend a dress and I knew we were going to need to keep it simple. I started to help her use one of my Simplicity doll patterns, and then decided it was beyond the simple sewing skills of my daughter. We threw it out!
This is what I came up with, a very basic dress that my daughter could sew, but one that is still pretty. Ariel calls it a formal dress since it's so long on the doll. In order to make the pattern, I decided I should make another dress for Ariel's Kit doll. Now her and her friend will have matching dresses!
When you print out the pattern pieces make sure you print actual size. Don't scale it down for the page, as it will be too small for your doll. Even fractions of an inch will be too tight. I made the dress very form fitting.
I like to make the cuffs of the sleeve a contrasting color. You could even make the bodice pieces a different fabric.
The skirt pattern piece is missing a tiny little corner. It's just barely too large for a letter size piece of paper. Your printout should take up the entire sheet of paper. I taped on the tiny piece that was missing.
Here's what all of your pattern pieces look like:
To start off, I first sewed the shoulders, with the fabric right sides together. I try to do 1/4 inch seam on most of this dress. The clothes are so tiny that when you do anything larger, you lose part of the dress.
You want to do a small hem on the neckline.
Before you sew your cuffs onto the sleeves, you first need to iron them in half lengthwise. Next pin them onto the sleeves with all the unfinished edges together. The cuffs should be a little bit longer than your sleeves. Trim off the excess.
I like to use the zigzag stitch to close my seams and keep them from fraying too much. I iron the seam toward the sleeve. Then I do a quick gathering stitch on each sleeve.
Pin your sleeves on the arm holes, and then stitch them with a 1/4 inch seam. You really need these sleeves on tight! The dress is so tight, that you'll be tugging quite a bit on the arm holes to get the dress on.
Now we sew the armpit. On this seam I try to keep it very small, and I reinforce it with a zigzag stitch. If you do an entire 1/4 inch, you will have trouble getting the dress over the doll's body.
You need to hem the back bodice pieces. This time I do a double fold for the hem, but still keep it small. You need as much as you can get to get the dress on the doll.
Now that the bodice piece is finished, you need to work on the skirt. I used a 1/4 inch seam here. Once you're finished you can flip the skirt to the right sides showing.
This really is a very simple dress. We're almost done! To attach the bodice and skirt, I placed the skirt in through the neck hole. You need to line up the seam you just sewed on the skirt, with the back bodice pieces. I first pinned the back closed then I pinned it to the skirt. This part is kind of tricky to sew as the opening is not very large.
The pieces should be the same size. I noticed when my daughter did the sewing; the skirt was a little bit too large. You can take in a little on the waist, but I would try to make your seams smaller on the bodice instead. (The parts that you hemmed on the back bodice pieces or on the armpits) Again if it's too small, it won't fit over the doll's body. This dress is very snug!
You're almost done! Depending on how long you want the dress, you need to do the skirt hem. I did a double fold about 1/4 of an inch, 1/2 inch total.
The only thing left is to decide how you want the dress to close. You could sew snaps on, or use Velcro. My sewing machine sews buttons on really easy, so I opted for one button at the top.
I love how the dress turned out! I think the part I especially enjoyed was how easy it was to make. I've made my daughter some complicated doll clothes in the past that take me all day long to make. This one only takes about 1 hour to put together. (Two hours if you're like my daughter and new to sewing) Simple, but beautiful. You gotta love that!
Every year I love to make homemade gifts. Whether its food, toys, art, clothes, blankets; the list could go on and on. I'm always looking for a new craft to catch my attention.
Last year I did a post about our Homemade Christmas, and it was very popular all year long. I'm always amazed at the blog posts that continually get clicked on. The ones I love a lot are usually forgotten or only clicked on 2 or 3 times. And the ones I think won't amount to much, are viewed time and again, month after month. My Christmas post was one I thought might be popular at Christmas time, but not necessarily in the middle of July and August. All year long it was chosen from the linking list.
I decided I must make it a tradition. I'm going to walk you through our homemade Christmas again. We are always up to something, so I might as well document it. Sit back, relax, maybe grab yourself a cup of tea and spend the next 20 minutes reading, linking, listening, because this post is a big one.
My first Christmas craft began at the beginning of the month. Every first Wednesday, I spend the morning hanging out with my friends crafting. It's wonderful! We have snacks, drink tea, and make beautiful things.
This month we made these fabric wreaths. It was very time consuming to cut out all the circles, around 110 to 140 of them, depending on the size. I do think it was worth it though. The tutorial I found it on used brads to hold the circles in place. Those are very expensive when you're buying the quantity we needed. Instead I found buttons worked just as well. It gives it a country look. The wreath I made with my friends I hot glued the circles together and the buttons on. The ones I worked on with my kids I used my sewing machine to sew the buttons on which held the circles together. You may not think it, but my sewing machine was much faster than my glue gun. The wreath also didn't have as many of those tacky glue strings.
Gabriel has had two teachers these past several months, as his assigned teacher's father was dying. She spent quite a bit of time taking care of her dad, so Gabriel has had a substitute for at least half of the time since he started school. We thought he needed to give a gift to both ladies as they are both very special to Gabe.
The wreath above was for his substitute teacher, Ms. Jessica. We found out her favorite color is red, and she was okay with us adding a little pink in too.
The wreath below was for his regular teacher. We didn't get to find out her favorite color since she was gone so much. We took a wild guess with pink and green. Wouldn't you know it, we were exactly right! I love how God works! His teacher was impressed that Gabe cut out all the circles himself. It made the wreath all the more special.
Ariel chose to make her wreath a very traditional Christmas wreath full of reds and greens. I know for a fact her teacher was overjoyed with her wreath too. They all couldn't believe the kids made them.
Once a month we have a Friendship Group from church that meets in our home for a spiritual discussion. Aside from our normal monthly meeting, we also have a mid-month, a fun get together. For our mid-month in December we chose to do a Christmas drawing for the kids. They each needed to make their "friend" something.
I love how the drawing turned out for my kids. Ariel got a little girl who is friends with Zech. She made her an adorable owl that we found the pattern here.
Gabe and Zech both got one of their best friends. How neat is that?!? Everyone knows my boys are huge fans of Mario and Luigi, so they made Mario and Luigi hats for their friends. The sewing was pretty basic and it was an opportunity for me to teach each of them how to sew.
One of my big sewing projects this Christmas was these bags. I made them for all my friends and tucked fun surprises inside. They were very easy to make. The first bag took me around an hour, but after that I got quicker and quicker. I think my last bag I clocked at twenty minutes!
I bought 1/4 yard of each color fabric, three fabrics total for one bag, and found that I could make two bags out of my fabric. These two blue and green bags were my favorite, but I couldn't quite place who to give them to. They didn't seem like the type for any of my friends, so now I have two beautiful bags to use for myself.
I don't know if I've said this before, but I am a huge bag lover! You will always find me purchasing the pretty recyclable bags in grocery stores and clothing stores. I honestly don't have enough stuff to fill my bags, but I love to collect them and switch them out. If you have somewhere to go and need a bag, why grab a Wal-Mart sack when you've got this beautiful bag to carry your things in? I was so excited at Christmas because one of my friends made me a bag with my blog on it, "My Cup Overflows with blessings". I love it, and I'm looking around for the perfect thing to carry in it.
The brown and blue bag was another one of my favorites. I found someone very special to give it to.
After careful examination, I think it's hard to pick a favorite. I loved them all.
It was a simple enough sewing project that Ariel also used them for her friend's gifts. She very diligently sewed a couple bags of her own. I wish I would have remembered to take their picture before they were given away.
This purse was a sacrificial act of love. I will never make another one, but I am glad I made this one for my friend. She's a fancy girl, so she needed a fancy purse. It took me almost 8 hours to sew it!! It seemed so simple on the tutorial that I had to try it. It was my first time working with interfacing; so that was kind of fun. I also loved the magnetic snaps that clip in so easily.
Every year we make cinnamon ornaments. It's a tradition. The kids love to have that extra something to attach to their gifts they give out, and they smell wonderful! If you've never made them, you should! You simply use equal amounts of cinnamon and applesauce. You roll them out, use cinnamon in place of flour if the dough is sticky, and then cut different shapes. Make sure you leave a hole at the top so you can string your ornament later. I use a toothpick or a straw to do this. We bought new cookie cutters for our ornaments this year. We had snowflakes, ice skates, mittens, Christmas bulbs, angels, Christmas trees, gingerbread men & women, candy canes, bells, snowmen... lots to choose from. The one thing I would recommend that I forget every year, put wax paper down on your cookie trays when you're letting them sit to dry. When you place them directly on the tray, the backs always turn black no matter how new the tray is. We let ours dry for 3 or 4 days, each night turning them over. If you make them early in the season, your house will smell strongly of cinnamon for a couple weeks!
This is the first time we've strung popcorn and cranberries. It's not as easy as it looks on the movies. I think to make a strand that would circle a Christmas tree from top to bottom would take hours! We spent over 1 hour, with three people stringing, and still didn't accomplish very many feet. The popcorn breaks too easily! It was fun to try though. We fortunately didn't need a lot as we weren't trying to make it for our own tree. We were following the idea in our ADVENTure of Christmas book. We decorated a bush in our backyard to feed the animals and birds with.
Another fun idea from the ADVENTure of Christmas, we made a tree cake, and lit up the lights. You simple put a little drop of peppermint extract onto each sugar cube and light it up. They glow blue for a few seconds. The more peppermint you put, the longer the sugar cube will burn.
Ariel made several crafts at her gifted class this year. She was so excited to give me and Titus this blue snowflake. It's made out of borax! I asked her how she made it, and she couldn't remember the exact measurements. I Googled it and found a nice tutorial for you.
Everyone loves SLIME! Another great borax recipe! Ariel made this red slime at Gifted for her little brother, Zech.
My next girl craft day in January I will be making more of these fun picture tiles. I made this one for my brother. It's so simple to make, and very inexpensive. You probably have most of the supplies lying around your home. I got my 6x6inch tile from Home Depot for less than $1. You just need some scrapbook paper and stickers, your favorite photos and some Mod Podge glue. I used a foam brush to apply the glue as it doesn't give as many brush strokes as a normal paint brush. Once you have everything glued in place, you give it a final coat of Mod Podge to seal all the edges. I found the stand at Hobby Lobby for $2.99, but with a 40% off coupon, it's only $1.80.
All my ideas and crafts are found somewhere else, or done by someone else. A friend of mine gave our family some "Conversation Stones" for a Christmas gift this year. I loved them so much, I had to make some for my mom. They are perfect for family dinners! We've used our set many times already. I used my Mod Podge glue again, and simply glued the papers to the back of clear stones. I couldn't find the large size like my friend used, but the small size will actually work just as well. You can print a tiny font, were talking size 7, and the stone actually magnifies it. I came up with a list of 60 questions so the game will randomize a little between each time you play.
Here are the rules:
Start by having the first player draw a stone.
Depending on which stone is drawn, the player must do the following:
• Question. Answer the question on the stone.
• Name. Name something you like about the person named on the stone. (I’ve included a “guest” stone for when you have company join the game.)
• Blank. The person who drew the stone must come up with a question that each person in the group answers.
Continue around the group until all stones are gone, or until everyone has had equal turns.
I wanted to come up with something extra special for my husband this year. I love my gifts to come from the heart, and for him I needed it to be spectacular, over the top great. The personal, homemade, I can see how much work you put into it, are the best kind of presents. I live for these things. It's how I get and give my love.
I found the perfect thing. My husband listens to music and books on tape while he works. I had just finished a book I thought was phenomenal. It's called Rooms by James L. Rubart. I really wanted my husband to read the book. It was one of those stories that has the potential to change you and change the way you think. So, my gift of love, I read the book to him. I read for hours and hours (somewhere between 9 & 10). For days during nap-time I would read to him, most of the time without breathing. You never realize how much noise breathing makes until you're trying to speak into a microphone.
My reading certainly wasn't perfect, but I think that's why he likes it so much. There were times I couldn't help but cry as I read, times I would stumble over a word, times I made up my own pronunciation of a word, and times I couldn't help but laugh at myself.
This video is a short part of my introduction and part of the first chapter. If you're looking for a good read, I highly recommend this book!
I was especially pleased to find on Christmas morning that my husband had put the same effort forth on a gift for me. He wrote me a couple songs and recorded himself playing and singing them. I had to twist his arm to let me post one of his songs here. He's pretty bashful when it comes to his music and other people listening to it. I'm very proud of him, and I love that he would put himself out there for me. I find it very romantic...
I would have liked to make more gifts for my boys, but boys are hard to sew for. There isn't much you can make them either. They like plastic, metal, and wooden toys. I don't know how to work with any of those things. For my daughter, I went overboard and sewed for days straight.
She has two American girl dolls, Kit and Annette. First, I made them each a leotard with my own pattern (wow that was hard), and then three tutu's. I didn't picture the purple and pink tutu.
I thought each of the girls needed some nice warm winter jammies. Ariel has a pair of purple penguin pajamas so I felt like the girls needed some to match her. The first set is always hard to make, but the ones after go so much more quickly. These two were pretty easy. I had made a pair of orange and green pajamas from Molly's clothes patterns several months ago. That first pair was beyond difficult, but now that I knew the pattern it was a cinch.
During the summer months I had made lots of dresses and warm weather clothes for Ariel's dolls, so this Christmas I really wanted to focus on winter! The girls each needed a winter coat. I love the snowflake buttons I was able to find. I think they complete the jacket. These coats were also patterned from Molly's clothes.
I didn't picture this because it felt a little inappropriate, even if it's a doll; I made tons of underwear! I made a pair to match every outfit I've ever made, plus a few white panties. This pattern I also came up with myself because Molly's underwear pattern was way too small for our dolls.
Christmas has finally arrived! It's amazing, thrilling, and very tiring all the work that goes into one day. It certainly is a day to remember!
Our church normally has a Christmas Eve service every year, but as Christmas fell on a Sunday this year, it was decided that we would forgo the Eve service and just focus on the Christmas day one. Our family was pretty sadden by this fact, and decided we would take matters into our own hands.
We had our own candlelit Christmas Eve. It was a beautifully peaceful evening. We found several YouTube videos of our favorite Christmas songs, like Born is the King, and sandwiched them around some other things. Gabriel read us the story of Christmas from Luke chapter 2. We watched a moving video of Mary's prayer for baby Jesus. We closed our special service with a tradition from my childhood. We listened to "Come on Ring those Bells!" Ariel was our bell ringer; Gabe was our Christmas tree lighter. It was a very special night.
Everything about Christmas was memorable. We read from our Jesus stocking and presented our gifts to Him. It started our day off perfectly and centered our focus on the right thing. It was only after all His presents were read to Him, and all His birthday cake was eaten, that we all opened our party favors! Boy, did the kids love it. I heard "This is the best Christmas ever!" mentioned on more than one occasion.
In the spirit of keeping things homemade here, I wanted to share with you my family's Secret Santa gift exchange. This was our second year of doing this, and it was just as fun as the year before. I think it was my favorite part of Christmas gifts all day... seeing the homemade gifts and the thought that went into each of them.
I'll go in order of the day, how we opened the gifts:
My sister had my husband. She baked him a pecan pie, his favorite!! In four days it was gone from the fridge with no help from anyone at all!
Gabe couldn't wait to give his gift to Stefanie!
He made her some "conversation stones" and put in the jar all the names of her host family in Colorado for her to play the game with.
He also made her an ornament for her tree. Gabe always tries to make everything blue and brown because he knows she likes those colors.
Ariel had her brother, Gabe!
She made him a custom designed light switch cover. This fall he played soccer and loved it. I see many more soccer seasons in our future.
Zechariah had Papa! I was most excited for him to give his gift as I spent several hours perfecting it.
Psalm 91 is a very special chapter to my dad. I helped Zech say the entire chapter. I would say a word, and then he would say a word. We did this for 16 verses! Then I edited out my own voice. Zechariah was most impressed when he listened to it for the first time. He couldn't believe it was just him sayin' it!
Alex is a friend of our family's from church. He joined us for our very special Christmas. Since he's always around, he was able to participate in our drawing too. He had my brother, and baked him a brownie cake!
Mikaela had my mom!
She knitted her a scarf! I'm so impressed because that's something I've always wanted to learn, but haven't had the time.
I believe Titus was the only one this happened to. He drew Zechariah's name two years in a row! He does an awesome job coming up with cool toys for him.
I thought it was very clever how he fashioned this game after a Christmas tree.
My mom drew my name.
I LOVE the wreath that she made me. If you notice it has a representation of each family member. The guitar at the top is my husband. My daughter loves birds, hence the owl. Gabe is constantly drawing in notebooks and has a HUGE pile of them in his room. Zechariah has always had an interest in cars. And lastly, I sew. The wreath also has daisies all over it which are my absolute favorite flower. They are such a happy flower. I LOVE IT!
My dad was given Mikaela's name. He started her a blog. How cool is that!
I made something for Alex.
Guys are hard to figure stuff out for, especially when you're not related to him. I came up with a no sew blanket. Titus helped me choose the colors. I was going to go for something a little brighter, like blue and green, but he informed me that was too girly. Grey and black were his suggestions. In the end, I think he was right. It's a very manly blanket.
And last, but certainly not least, my brother had Ariel's name.
We all were very impressed. He took this photo! And the really cool part, he took the picture of her gift. She actually gets to keep the peacock statue from the picture. On the front it says, "Charm is deceptive and beauty disappears but a woman who honors the Lord should be praised." He also put some really interesting facts about the peacock on the back that made it even awesomer!
It was a wonderful Christmas we will all remember for a long time. I hope you enjoyed being included in the experience.
I know this isn't homemade, but I had to include it just for laughs. Have you ever seen a straw so intricate and cool?
