Chenille Scarf

Finally back to sewing! I cancelled my November sewing class because I wasn't feeling up to it. Good thing I did, because that night was when we checked into the hospital to have a baby.  :)

I wanted to go back in December, and my friend had missed the night she signed up for, so we were able to go together on the 18th. It was great to have a night out again! The project for this month was a faux chenille scarf. I had no idea what it was or what it would look like until the night of class. When I saw the pattern I didn't love the look of it, but thought it would still be a good idea to learn a new sewing technique so I headed over to the rack of fabric.

 We were told to get two yards of yarn-dyed flannel. Unlike regular flannel, yarn-dyed is the same look and feel on both the front and back. I picked out a light blue with dark blue and beige plaid.

The instructor told us what to do and we started cutting...come to think of it, I didn't even use the pattern I bought! That's okay, I guess I'll have it for future reference if I want to make another scarf later on. Anyway, this project couldn't have been easier. We layered strips a certain way, then sewed down the length of them back and forth until we reached the edges. Then we used a fun little tool to cut the flannel between the seams. After the scarf was washed and dried, it was soft and frayed on both sides to give it the faux chenille look. Some people cut the seams at the end to give it tassels. I couldn't decide if I wanted them, so I left mine solid. Here's the finished scarf....

It turned out to be a pretty cool project! I was going to make a few for gifts, but it was too close to Christmas and I didn't get time. I'm glad I learned how to make them, though.  :)

2012 is Over Already?!

Wow, this year went by fast! They say the older you get the faster time goes by...I think I'm starting to see the truth in that!
The last time I was able to log in was to announce Elise's birth. Let's see...what has been going on with our family since then...?

Well, to start with, Elise has been such a sweet and easy baby. She loves to be held and snuggled and just last week she started smiling. Is there anything sweeter than a baby's first smiles?? Those big wide, toothless smiles that just melt your heart and make you smile right back at her. :) And she's been sleeping for 5-6 hours at night, which is wonderful!

Parker seems to love his little sister and sometimes will ask to "Hold it Baby?" (translation: hold the baby?)

He's been a helpful big brother, bringing her toys and burp cloths, and always telling me when she's crying. Sometimes he will ask her what's wrong or try to tell us she needs a bath.  :) Hopefully they're close enough in age that they'll be good friends in a couple years.

I think we've adjusted pretty well to having two little ones! There's more laundry, more crying, WAY more diapers, and it usually takes an extra half hour to get out the door when we try to go somewhere. But you know what? I wouldn't trade it for the world! I took me a while but I'm finally realizing that housework and errands can wait. Baby snuggles and toddler playtime are more important.

Christmas was fun this year, as always! Parker helped Kyle put up our tree the day after Thanksgiving. He was very busy carrying branches back and forth and once the lights were on we let him help hang a few of  the ornaments, including the Phineas and Ferb one he picked out at the store.

Parker was having a great time walking around the tree looking at all the pretty lights and ornaments. But soon Kyle discovered him behind the tree, sitting on a present picking at the paper! So we had to put a gate around the tree to keep him out until Christmas. I think one of the highlights for him every day was turning on the lights. I've always loved Christmas, with the tree and all the decorating involved but I think it's even better now that Parker is old enough to enjoy it, too. Seeing his excitement when the lights come on or when he gets to go up close and touch the ornaments makes it so much more special! 

Since Parker is able to make simple projects, I wanted to start a new tradition of having family time to make holiday decorations. The first thing we made was paper gingerbread men. I got them from Target's dollar section. Basically it was a large gingerbread man cutout and it came with two sheets of stickers for the gumdrops, icing, etc. They only had two, so Parker and I each made one. 

 Then a few days later we all made Christmas trees. I picked up green foam sheets at Joanns and cut them into tree shapes then pulled out an assortment of buttons, pompoms, beads and star stickers I already had here. I put drops of glue on Parker's tree and let him decorate it. He was actually doing pretty well until he got distracted by the stars...he pulled them all off the tray and decided he was in charge of handing them out. He was a little stingy with them, so we had to swipe a few when he wasn't looking...  :)  

Notice the pile of stars??  :)

Elise was 'helping' Daddy with his tree. 

The last thing I did with Parker was bake Christmas cookies. I didn't have time to make them from scratch though, so I cheated and bought a package of the Pilsbury kind that had trees in the centers. I let him put them on the cookie sheet, which he thought was super fun. But when I took the tray to put it in the oven he got a little upset--he wanted to eat them right then. Poor little guy. But he cheered up pretty quickly when he soon got to eat a cookie that he helped make!

Christmas morning was pretty relaxed. Parker woke up early but was content to play in his bed for a while so we could sleep in. After we were all up and had breakfast we started opening presents. Parker was having fun for a while, then he started getting a bit restless so we opened a couple of his new toys so he could play. And he loved the bows. When we were finished with gifts, I looked at the couch and he had pulled out all of the bows and had arranged them by color! Who needs all those gifts when you can just play with the boxes and bows?  :) At least he realizes what gifts are now, unlike last year. We didn't mind that he was a little slow opening them. It made it last longer. I'm sure next year he will be tearing them open! 

So that was our little Christmas together--a quick look at some of our family time over the past few weeks. We've had a wonderful year overall and have been blessed in so many ways! I'm so thankful for my family and look forward to seeing what 2013 brings. Happy New Year!!

:)