Christmas Presents

So this post is all about how amazing I am. Well, sort of. :) This project did not originally start out so big. See, I like to cross-stitch. It's a craft I can do while we watch TV or while Brek is sleeping. Just after Christmas last year, I finished a couple really big projects. And I was in need of another one. The problem is, I want what I cross-stitch to be of value. There are all those nice kits at the craft store and whatnot, but I wouldn't know what to do with them once I finished them. You get the idea?

So anyway, I was looking for a project, and I happened to have borrowed a Disney Princess book from my mom with cross-stitch patterns. At the time, I only had 6 beautiful nieces (and no nephews). So I thought I could cross-stitch their favorite princess and then turn that into something. And I settled on aprons. So that's how this started - I was making 6 aprons. 

Then during a conversation with my mom and sister, they both told me that they wanted me to make them another apron. (I made them aprons back when I was in college, pre-mission. I used towels. It was a fun pattern I got from a roommate.) So that was 2 more aprons I needed to make. And then my brother got re-married, so that added a sister-in-law, plus 2 nephews. And once they got added, I figured I might as well get the rest of the men in my family. Which brought the total to 15.

Shortly after we moved here to Nebraska, as I was thinking about the project, I really considered backing out. My depression was "flared" up, or however you want to say it, and I just didn't want to. But by then I had almost finished all 6 princess cross-stitches, and my oldest niece is almost to that age where princesses are not so cool anymore, and I figured this was the last year I could get away with something like that. So I sucked it up and got to work. And boy was it work! But I think it all paid off, and here's the photogenic proof of my craft-i-work. I like how almost all of them turned out, and that's saying something, tho they are far from perfect or even close to perfect craftsmanship.

For all of the aprons except for my 6 nieces, I picked a material for one side, and a towel for the other. The aprons are reversible, with a pocket on each side. And the straps are adjustable too, so you can wear it where you want. 

This is my dad's

His material is measuring tape, cuz he's a contractor.

This is my mom's. It was the first one I did, so I actually altered the pattern after it was finished and made the neck line a bit thinner, which I think works out better. But I still love this one. Even tho I'm not totally into pink, I really love this one and think it seems so fun.

This is my brother David's.

His material has lizards (I think) playing sports, soccer and baseball and stuff. I think it's really fun.

This is my brother Mark's.

His is Star Wars.

This one is for my sister-in-law Eliana.

I tried to do a little pucker thing. I proved to be much more difficult than I thought, so I didn't try it again.

My new nephews are 11-year-old twins - Cody and Colby. They both really like sports. I did one in green and one in blue. To be honest I can't remember which one liked which color, and I was pretty sure I mixed it up when I mailed them all wrapped. The green one is probably my least favorite. The shades of green really don't go well together, but I couldn't change it, and I'm hoping said nephew won't mind too much.

 

This one is for my brother-in-law Dustin 

His material is Batman. It's really hard to find "cool" or "manly" materials. I wish I had grabbed a picture of him wearing it at Christmas, especially after he wore it outside to take the dog out. :)

This one is my sister Tracy's.

And now for my 6 princesses. These ones are not reversible, but the back layer is also a towel so it will still be nice and thick and absorb well.

This one is for my niece Heather.
Her favorite colors are brown and purple (the towel is purple, you can see it along the bottom.)

This is for my niece Katie. Her favorite colors are pink and blue. 

This is for my niece Anna. She's 2 and doesn't really vocalize favorites yet, but it followed the same design as her big sisters, so I picked this one for her. It actually turned out that the red material was double sided. It was so cool to work with. You can't tell in the pictures, but I used that and so the pockets and the neck strap are the opposite material as the main body of the apron. I think it turned out awesome. Her towel is also red.

And yes, I made my son model for me.

He stands up on this couch so he can look at himself in the mirror.

Love his cheesy grin!

This is for my niece Adelynne. Her favorite colors are blue and purple. I didn't have as much material for this one, so the inside of the pockets are a yellow rose material, which I thought was fitting for princess Belle.

This is for my niece Amy. Her favorite colors are yellow and pink, but I thought the teal towel went better with Ariel's design, so I used it instead of a pink towel. I only wish the yellow wasn't as see-through.

And finally:

Aurora, for my niece Aurora, who we also call Rori. Her princess is pretty much a given.

And yes, I had Brek model for me again. Rori's was so tiny and cute. I've never made something so small before.

He makes such a pretty princess.

Again with the cheesy face. :)

And well, since we celebrated Christmas with my sister and her family, we got to be there when they opened up their aprons, and I got pictures of my nieces wearing their's.

You can see Brek and Joe and Amy and Dustin and Tracy's foot, and my parents on the computer..

Adelynne holding hers up.

And then trying it on. Hers turned out practically perfect, so I love it!

Amy is showing her apron to Grandma and Grandpa on the computer.

Putting it on.

Mommy tying it in the back. 

And smiling for Aunt Amy. Brek's smiling too.

So there they are. My sister-in-law Eliana sent me a picture of their whole family wearing their aprons. But it's on my phone and I don't know how to put that on the blog. Oh well. I love my family, and I'm happy they all like their aprons. 

Still to come, the rest of December, which is mostly Christmas. Stay tuned.

Crafting and Pinterest

Almost 2 1/2 years ago while home in CA, I went through my mom's stash of craft books and kits and materials. One of the things I picked out was a cross-stitch tree skirt kit of different santas. Instead of doing them all on one piece of material as a tree skirt, I stitched each santa on it's own piece, with the intent of making them into stalkings. I finished the first 3 very quickly (1 of them only took me a week), and then I put the other 2 aside because I needed to do some copying and adjusting before I could sew them. Originally I was also going to wait to turn them into stalkings until our family was complete. Well, that planned changed when we found out our family dynamics were going to change with the adopting of an older child, and so I decided I wanted to finish the kids' stalkings as they joined our family. So I finished the last 2 santas, and then Joe and I went thru my mom's material stash and picked out some materials we liked. Then we went to the fabric store and picked out materials for the lining and the trim. And after lots of looking at different styles, I created my own pattern, and finally finished-finished my first stalking. I know the picture is sideways, but I'm really proud of how it looks and I just love it. Now I just have to wait to use it! :)

I'm sure all of you know and are on Pinterest. I have really enjoyed it. Probably too much. And with Joe being off of foods, for some reason I've been a little more adventurous in trying new recipes. And I've also not been afraid to throw out the bad ones, and then not admit to all of the yummy ones I've consumed. :) I haven't taken pictures of all of them, but here's one I did capture:

Healthy peach and strawberry cobbler. I liked it better the 2nd time I made it with Honey Bunches of Oats instead of Frosted Mini Wheats. And I put ice cream on top instead of yogurt because that's what I had. :)

I have also done a few crafty things from Pinterest too. Here's a tunic top I made. I still can't decide if I really like it or not, but I think it turned out reasonably well.

And for a non-Pinterest craft, I made my cousin Brittany a baby quilt for her little boy. I really like how it turned out.

Back, all flanels

Front, all cottons

I know there's been some more baking and crafting, but that's all I've got for now.

And That's January...

Remember this guy? ...

He has friends now:

 

 What a cute little dinosaur village!

I've got one more cut out, but still need to be assembled, and then 1 more after that.

I'll be sure to take a picture when they're all done.

Joe brought home a keyboard from work that wasn't being used. Brek's favorite thing is to turn on the demo button and let it go on for forever. These are some cute shots from the first day we had it:

Dolly is playing piano too!

Love that I captured this moment between father and son!

And a sweet smile for mommy!

A few weeks ago, we got to join our friends, Brek and Brooke, and a crowd of family and friends, in celebrating their little boy's birthday. Garrett passed away in July, and would have been 3. It was really fun to watch and participate. Brek (our son), LOVED watching the lanterns.

The best shot I got all night.

Joe was kinda nervous about them catching things on fire, but there were 2 that got caught in a neighboring tree. The lantern completely burned up in just a couple minutes, and the tree was no worse off than before. It was a relief to know that they were safe.

We arrived just as the first bunch sailed off into the night sky.

It really was just as beautiful and magical as the movie Tangled portrays it. Highly recommend lanterns as a fun way to remember and honor loved ones.

This was how Brek was bundled up for the outing. I love his little hat. He looks all Russian.

Here's Joe trying to teach Brek about horse-y rides. It lasted about 5 seconds.

Eating a banana from the peel.

 We've almost got him using his teeth to bite on a regular basis now. Usually he just sucks on the banana instead.

Just a sweet picture

He looks a little manic in this one.

 To add to my dinosaur craftiness, I took this dress which doesn't fit me anymore...

and turned it into...

 

It was surprisingly easy and I love the length and feel of it too. I've got 2 other similar dresses that I want to turn into shirts. Not sure when exactly I'll get to them tho.

 I've also been enjoying things on Pinterest, and decided to try out this yummy recipe for chocolate peanut butter cups. Here's my filling all rolled out and ready to freeze:

And here's the yummy finished product:

 

I changed the recipe just a little and did 1 cup milk chocolate chips and 2 cups semi-sweet. I just like milk chocolate better, so that's why I did it that way. Next time I'll make them smaller because they are REALLY rich. Even I need a glass of milk with them, and I'm not normally a milk-drinker. They were pretty darn easy, but definitely took some time; not an immediate-satisfaction sort of treat, but still worth it in the end. We're still enjoying them, and it's been almost an entire week. Tasty treats don't normally last that long in our house.

 This cute little guy turned 18 months. He is 32 inches long and 25 pounds.

At church, little ones finally get to join the nursery once they reach 18 months. We've been taking him in for the past few weeks, and staying with him. This week he got to go all by himself. I was told he ran out of the general meeting early, signing the word "play", and knocking on the door to go in. He loves the toys and social interaction. He does pretty well sharing and playing with the other kids too. We're happy because now we get to sit through the adult meetings and hopefully get a little more "grown-up" content AND interaction. :)

I tried to take a few pictures to capture the milestone before he headed off to church.

Love this one, even tho it's blurry.

Today, we've been cleaning and getting things ready for Grandma to come and visit. Brek took a really long nap, but woke up super happy and playful. (LOVE!) He played in his crib for about 30 minutes before I finally convinced him to come out and eat lunch. Then he went back in and played for another half hour or so.

Bouncing

Up close. Love those eyes.

Giving "loves" to his lion.

My monkey behind bars.

Loves for my Russian bear "Bublik"

Just cute.

Even the ball got "loves" and kisses.

I'm a little too slow to get the kiss in action.

Kisses for elephant.

Signing "help" because he threw the ball out of the crib.

Kisses for lion. Again, too slow.

Well, I've never before taken pictures and posted them the same day. Go me! Hope the rest of you are staying warm and having the crazy kind of days we have in our house. :)