The Progressive Apron

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O and I painted these aprons when we painted the kitchen towels. Again she really liked making the handprint tree, but she was not interested in decorating the tree :) My plan for the aprons (each grandma gets one, we made one for me, and one for O) is to add another handprint decoration each year. I will write O's name and the year by each one. O and M (my niece) are both decorating my mom's apron. The aprons came from Hobby Lobby.

Christmas Sachets

O and I had so much fun making these sachets for our family and friends on Monday morning. The idea for these sachets came from here. Thanks, Theresa!

I traced around a salad plate and cut out 8 circles of fabric.

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O enjoyed trying to cut Rosemary for the sachets. This was difficult for her, but she got better at it as she kept trying.

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Putting the Rosemary on the fabric circle

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Putting dried orange peels on the fabric circles. O's favorite part of this project was cutting the ribbon. She was so excited to be able to easily achieve cutting success! (we need to do more cutting activities!)

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And they're done...8 small, sweet smelling handmade gifts! O was VERY proud!

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"Hand" Painted Kitchen Towels

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These towels are another of our handmade (well...handpainted, since I bought the towels) gifts. O enjoyed making the handprint, but she wasn't interested in decorating the tree. After weeks of trying to get her interested in decorating the tree, I finally did it myself :) I hope our family and friends like these special keepsake Christmas kitchen towels :)

DIY Keep it Steady Game

When I saw the review of this game on Z Recommends I thought that it looked like a lot of fun and VERY easy to make. Luckily, I was right!
To make this game you need a pack of dowels (12 inches long), a saw (I used a miter saw and box), paint, mod podge, sandpaper, a wooden curtain ring, and a block.
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To make this game, I sawed the dowels in half and sanded the ends. Of course, O had to help!

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Then I painted the ends using 6 different colors and painted the block using the same colors. I taped the edges of the block, so I'd have a neater paint job. Then I coated the block with a layer of mod podge to give it a sheen and to make it more durable. I planned to eventually paint the whole sticks instead of just the ends, but now I've decided that I like the look of just having the ends painted :)

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The game fits nicely in a pencil case :) I made 2 of these games at the same time. It was easy, fast, and fun! I hope O and M like them!

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Family and Friends Memory Game

I finished this game last night, and I am really pleased with how quickly it came together. I hope O is going to love it! To make the game, I printed pictures as thumbnails, placed a wooden disk on top of the picture, and cut around it. I then glued the picture to the disk with mod podge. The next day I coated them with another layer of mod podge. Fast and easy! I ran out of wooden disks long before I ran out of pictures, so this will be a work in progress :)

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These disks are pretty small, so you wouldn't want to make this game for a child who still puts objects in his or her mouth. This picture of me is goofy, but it's one of the 1st pics O ever took and I think she did a pretty good job :)

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I originally planned to make a drawstring bag to store the game in, but then I decided that this box would work nicely :) I like how the picture disks look all crowded in the box :)

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A New Spin on Scrabble Tile Necklace Pendants

If you read craft blogs, then I'm sure you've seen the scrabble tile necklace pendants. They are really cool, and they are everywhere :) I decided to give it a try using O's artwork. I'm really happy with how easy it was and with the finished products.
I asked my niece to draw a special picture for my sister that I would use to make a necklace. She was thrilled and got right to work!

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This is a picture of O's marble painting.

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This is one of O's first drawings of lots of O's! I love this one, and it's going to be hard to give it away :) I think I'll make one like it for myself!

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This is O's handprint painting that she made for my mom's birthday. I printed it a little too big, so she's missing a little of her pinkies. Oops :(

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Another handprint painting that O made as a thank you gift.

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This is a picture of O's silhouette. This is another of my favorites, and I may keep this one for myself :)

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These pendants were VERY easy to make. I printed the pictures as thumbnails (or a contact sheet), cut them out, and glued them to the scrabble tiles using mod podge. After a day or so, I painted them without a layer of mod podge. After another day or so, I glued the bail on using super strong glue. The bails were hard to find, but I finally found them at Hobby Lobby. They weren't exactly what I wanted, but I didn't have any choices :) Also, I would have liked to coat the pictures with diamond glaze, but I couldn't find it anywhere! Enjoy! If anyone else makes these using your child's artwork, I'd love to see a picture :)

We Finished!

My mom and I finally finished making O's doll diaper bag and all of the accessories this weekend! It was such a relief to be finished, and we are pleased with the finished products :)
We had a difficult time figuring out how to make the bag. As usual, we didn't use a pattern, so it took us a while to figure it out. It would have been quite simple if we'd had any idea what we were doing!

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Here's all the loot!

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I decided at the last minute that O's doll, Baby Emma, needed a doll of her own. I traced around one of my mom's nesting dolls to make the pattern, but she lost a lot of her shape when she was sewn. She has a little bell inside since every baby needs a rattle :)

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A Gingerbread Cottage Felt Board Scene

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I admit it...I'm obsessed with making things out of felt :) Sadly, I was much more impressed with the felt gingerbread village than O was, so I decided to make a 2d gingerbread scene for her felt board.
I love making felt board scenes. They come together so quickly and easily, and it's nice to finish a project in one sitting :) I admit that I'm still using cheap felt, and I've realized that ecospun felt (made from recycled plastic bottles) is MUCH better quality that typical cheap felt. It's thicker and it doesn't shed (so far). I'd like to make the switch to wool blend felt, but I just haven't done it yet :)

My Etsy Favorites

Since you may still have shopping to do for extra special gifts, I thought I'd share a few of my Etsy favorites. I love to look at Etsy for ideas and to shop for handmade items. It's really a wonderful place!

These art blocks are amazing. I also love Lissa's wood people family and this rainbow quilt. I bought 2 of her cloth balls for O for her 1st birthday, and they are wonderfully well-made. Lissa is definitely one of my favorite Etsy sellers!

Okay...maybe I'll share more than a few of my Etsy favorites! This leafbuddy is adorable.
These cotton crochet veggies look yummy!
I love these needle felted wool baby necklaces.

I've been reading about a new law that may go into effect in February that will make the regulations so strict that these and many other sellers of handmade items will be put out of business. Click here to learn more about how you can help prevent this law from putting makers and sellers of handmade toys out of business!

Easy Oil Paintings for the Artistically Challenged

I painted this painting of O in utero shortly after she was born, but I decided to share it since it would make a fun handmade gift. I've always planned to do more oil paintings using pictures, but I just haven't painted much since O's been born.

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Here's how I did it...I printed an 8 x10 of my favorite 3d ultrasound picture. Then I placed a piece of carbon paper on top of an 8 x 10 canvas and put the photo on top. Then I traced around the image with a pen (pressing down fairly hard and evenly). I then removed the image and carbon paper and painted in the lines. It was fun and easy. Obviously, it's not perfect! I'd prefer you didn't notice her hands or feet :) I promise that she has 5 toes on her right foot, not 3! I could never decide how to finish the painting, so I never did anything. Now I've decided that I like it the way it is :) I'd love to do more of these paintings. I really love to do oil paintings, but I don't like to be interrupted once I start painting which is an impossibility at this point in my life :)