Merry Christmas!

Christmas Crafts

 Surprisingly, I've been doing a lot of crafting lately.  I still feel that I don't have much time for it, but joining Pinterest has inspired me.  Ah, Pinterest.  I love and hate you.  Pinterest has given me many wonderful ideas, but its highly addicting!  In my last post, I introduced the cozy little blanket that I made for my nephew.  And below is the coordinating quilt that I made for Finn.

I just cut different sized strips of fabric and sewed them together.  Using my Cricut machine, I cut letters to iron on to the top piece.  I sewed them in place just to make sure they wouldn't come off in the wash.  After that I sandwiched some light batting in between the top I made, and a piece of red minky.  I didn't want to quilt the whole thing because of the dot texture on the minky fabric.  So I just used the stitch in the ditch method.  The final touch was to add the binding.  This doesn't get any easier for me.  Plus the added texture of the minky fabric was extra tough to work with.  But it is finished, and I love it.

 How could I not make that adorable quilt for this happy little boy!

 My next project was just produced tonight.  I had all of the materials lying around, so I went for it.  It's a cute little ornament with Finn's picture on it.  I took a wood block from the craft store, sanded down the corners, and added some gold paint to the edges.  After that, I cut out some Christmassy scrapbook paper and a little picture of Finn.  I glued the paper on with Mod Podge, and added a layer over everything to seal it all in.  After it dried, I screwed in a little hook and tied on a piece of ribbon.  This project took no more than thirty minutes, and now I had a new ornament to put on my tree!  I'm thinking about making one of these every year so that Finn will have an entire collection when he's grown up.

There is one other project that I have completed recently.  It is a Christmas gift for someone who may or may not read this blog, so I will hold off on posting it until after the holidays.

Merry Christmas!

Winter Blanket

As usual, there hasn't been much time for crafting at my house.  But I did find a little time to whip up this little blanket for baby August.  The top piece is flannel, and the back is minky.  So soft!  I also added an A so August knows that its his.

Boo Boo Bash '11

Happy Easter!

Party Time

Finn attended his very first birthday party today.  The party was for our neighbor's son, Danny, who turned one today.  Neither Finn nor Danny can move around much yet, but Alice was crawling circles around the boys.  There was toy stealing, face slapping and even a little biting (see below).  I'm not quite sure how you urge an eight month old to share.  

We're working on it.

 At least we got one good picture.  And by good, I mean that all three of them are looking at the camera.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I am very much looking forward to celebrating this day with Finn every year!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day Craft

 I've been searching for an outfit for Finn's first Valentine's Day.  All I've been able to find is onesies for little boys that say "Heartbreaker" or "Lover Boy" or something else ridiculous.  So this morning I decided to make something myself.  I took a plain white onesie, some red fabric, Heat'n Bond and white embroidery floss and got to work.  After ironing the red heart to the white onesie, I added some simple stitching to the border of the heart. 

 And to complete the outfit, the red and white striped pants from Finn's Christmas outfit.  Not bad for a quick morning project!

Happy New Year

The stockings are ready.

 Finn's stocking is finished with six days to spare.  I've had the materials to make him a stocking since the beginning of November, but just found the time to work on it this weekend.  I miss crafting/sewing/creating.  It took me a little longer than expected, probably because I'm out of practice.  Below are a few pictures of the finished product.  I can't wait to help him hang it on the mantle on Christmas Eve!

The inside of Finn's stocking.

 After finishing Finn's stocking, I began to feel guilty for never making Gretzky one.  We've been using a store bought stocking for him for six years.  I had plenty of leftover materials, so I whipped one together for him as well.

 I removed the bell from Gretzky's store bought stocking and attached it to his new stocking.  He knows that bell, and comes running when he hears it ringing.

Finn Meets Santa

 Today, we took Finn to meet Santa.  I had been looking forward to this holiday party, knowing that I'd get a picture of our boy with Santa for the first time.  Santa seemed okay on the surface, but the minute we handed Finn to him he seemed uncomfortable.  You'd think that Santa would have held many babies in his career, but he couldn't get rid of our Finn quick enough.  Sadly, this was the best shot I got of the two of them together. 

 Finn even wore his new shoes for the occasion.

 We opted out of the "sleigh rides" because it was a bit to chilly for Finn.

Cookies, a bath and a birthday

 Today was a great day to stay inside.  It was a pretty chilly 4 degrees, so I spent the day baking Christmas cookies.  I baked two kinds of spritz, monster cookies, and chocolate drop cookies.

 

 After baking for several hours, we took a break to give the boy a bath.  As you can see, he's at the stage where everything goes in his mouth.

 Clean as a whistle!

 I also have to acknowledge what a special day it is in our family.  It's Gretzky's 7th birthday!  He spent it by laying in front of the fire and chewing on his new bone.

Happy Birthday Gretzky!

Snownami 2010!

 The snownami has finally subsided.  We didn't do much today, just stayed inside and kept warm.  I did watch The Santa Clause, The Santa Clause 2 and The Santa Clause 3.  Three very cheesy, yet entertaining movies that must be watched every Christmas season. 

 Gretzky is not very happy about the snow, he's a big baby.

Finn was happy hanging out inside with us all day.

It's that time again

I just couldn't help myself.

Photo Shoot

Thanks to Aunt Theresa, we had a little photo shoot with Finn today.  Hopefully one of these great shots will turn into our Christmas card for this year.  Here are a few highlights from today.  Oh, and Finn just happens to be wearing the hat and sweater that Theresa knit for him.  Adorable.