Christmas Decorations

***Little behind on my posts - going to try to catch up over the next few days.***

Thanksgiving was great. And like most people, once it is over, it's immediately "Christmas Season". Yay! I know many have traditions of decorating the day after Thanksgiving, but we weren't in a big rush this year, plus we weren't home most of the day after and Lance worked late (which is probably the real reason). Once we found an evening that Lance had off and we weren't super busy, we pulled out all of our decorations.

I love decorating for Christmas. There is just something about having a tree full of lights and decorations scattered throughout the house that just makes everything feel so much more...homey.

Will enjoys helping us put up the tree and hanging ornaments. 

Yes, we are fake tree people. I find them so much more convenient and cheaper. Maybe one day we'll try a real tree once, but for now, we are happy with our little tree.

 Don't mind Will not wearing any pants. It seems these days he is pant-less more often than not. (At least he stays dressed whenever we aren't at home.)

We bought him some snow boots and this quickly became Will's outfit of choice.

I swear I dress my kids.

 Blake knew what time of year it was. When she was in the bubble bath, she tried doing an impersonation of Santa Claus. 

I made stockings for Lance and I several years back. But since we now have two additions to our family, I decided it was time to make updated ones. These look WAY better in person. All of the names are in gold string across the top and the patterns stand out a lot more. The two one the ends are checkered-ish, while the middle two have polka dots.

 Another of my favorite things to do during the Christmas season is curling up under a blanket and watching a good Christmas movie.

 As this is Blake's first Christmas, she was very dazzled by the lights and succeeded pulling the bottom layer off of the tree several times.

We love decorating for Christmas, even though the kids may not look like they are enjoying it.

Recent Projects

It appears that I get the "crafting bug" while I am pregnant. For me, it's one of the best ways to pass time while also preparing a few things for the baby. It came as no surprise that there were about 4 times as many crafts/ideas to do for little girls as opposed to little boys.

With Will, most of my crafting was focused on his nursery...making, blankets, etc. But with baby girl, I've done a lot more accessory type things. It's definitely given me something to do and really helps get me more excited for her to come.

Here are a few of the things I have been working on the past few months:

My first project I did was to make this blanket. It's often referred to as a bubble quilt or a biscuit quilt. It was very time consuming and I spent  many hours on it. Though I made a massive mistake (which most people wont notice hopefully cause it's on the backside), I'm happy with how it turned out.

I've also been making some skirts for her to just wear around. I have never really seen little babies in skirts, but thought it would be fun to throw one on her every once in a while. Fun way to dress up a onesie while just chillin' at home.

I've had some fabric lying around forever and wasn't sure what to use it for, so I decided to make a new carseat canopy.

I love seeing little babies with bracelets, so I had to make some bracelets. You can't just make one...so I made quite a bit. And I have a ton of beads still, so if anyone wants one, let me know. And it's hard to tell, but each of these are different colors.

And if you know me at all, you know that I love little girls in headbands and flowers. Might have got a bit carried away with the flower making, but I've had fun experimenting and trying different styles.

I made all of the flowers with little clip/barrett attachments so they can be attached to any headband. That way I can exchange them as needed and make them much more versatile.

And finally, this hat was made for a friend, but I like it so much I wanted to post it. I've been debating whether to make another one for my baby, but figure she already has enough hats and hopefully warm weather will come sooner rather than later.

Well, I think that covers most of the projects I've been working on. Definitely getting anxious to be able to use them! 

DYI Shirt Dress

While browsing the internet, I came across this blog called Elle Apparel where she has several tutorials on some really cute skirts and dresses.

            Isn't that super cute? If you click on the picture, you can find the tutorial of how to make it.

Then while I was shopping at Wal Mart, I saw some decent fabric that I thought would look cute and it was on clearance. I decided to go ahead and give it a try.

I was so excited about it that I hurried through it and didn't do a very good job. I'm not exactly thrilled with the final product, but it was a good start. If I were to attempt making another one, I know several things I would change that would make it a bit better. I love the long sleeve with tights look, so I think I'll attempt making a long sleeve one eventually. Until then, here is how mine turned out.

Hopefully the next one will turn out a little bit better, though I was feeling brave that day and wore this out to the store.