Christmas Presents - Part 2

4. Fort Kit

When I saw this idea for a fort kit, I knew it would make a perfect Christmas gift for my three little nephews. I changed it up a little bit, but the idea is the same. The boys get a king size sheet, rope, and a book to share. They each get their own box of fort "supplies" - flashlight, glow stick, clothes pins, clamps, and snacks. I think their favorite part will be the glow sticks.

5. Nail Art Book

Our sweet niece just turned 13, and she is probably the most fun person I have to make presents for. This year I collected various nail tips and nail art tutorials from around the internet and compiled them into a book.

6. Baby Shoes

Remember these shoes I made for Baby Love? Rose was born with huge feet. (No lie. Her feet grow out of her sleepers before the rest of her body does.) So these large shoes already fit her, and they look so cute, I decided to make her a couple more pairs for Christmas.

Every girl needs a pair of red shoes.

7. Miscellaneous

I also knit some mittens for my sisters, made two collaborative fabric books with my mom for my nephew, and designed a photo book for Timmy to keep at the store to show off his baby.

Whew.

December is such a busy month. I really am going to start my Christmas presents for 2012 early.

Christmas Presents - Part 1

Christmas is over and the last of my homemade presents are finally completed. After a frantic rush to get them all done in time, I really am going to make all of my Christmas presents for 2012 in January this year. I already know what I'll be making…

I love making presents. I love giving handmade gifts.
Here's a few that I made this year.


1. Felt Flowers

I used this tutorial to make felt flowers. One became a pin for Mom, and the other made Rosemary's Christmas dress complete.

2. Polaroid Magnets

I saw some ideas for making Polaroid magnets on Pinterest, but they all seemed a little too complicated. For my magnets I printed a bunch of photos on cardstock and laminated the photos. Then I took big white magnet sheets and cut them into rectangles and glued the photos onto the magnets. It was incredibly easy, and they look absolutely adorable.

3. Paper Stars

My mom re-taught me how to fold beautiful German paper stars. My family has been making these stars for as long as I can remember, but it is one of those projects that require a refresher because it can be a little confusing at first. We dipped them in wax and added strings to create gorgeous ornaments. I found an online tutorial on how to make these here.

Oh, Christmas.

The treasure of Christmas was especially beautiful this year. 

Two blue eyes and a sweet baby face full of smiles completed 

the crescendo of happiness that comes in an annual melody of joy.

Oh, Christmas. Each year you get better and better.

Happy Christmas!

As 2011 comes to a close, I'm amazed at what this year has brought. So many blessings and beautiful moments. I can easily say that 2011 has been my favorite year of life so far, and I have high hopes for 2012 to be my next favorite. 

I wish I could send a Christmas card to every one of my blog readers!
May you have a perfectly Merry Christmas, each and every one of you!

(Oh, and I obviously have no idea where Hawaii is.
Kind of sad, considering it's one of my favorite places in the world.)

Some Thoughts. And an iPhone.

1. I convinced Timmy to give me one of my Christmas presents early. He got me an iPhone. All I really wanted for Christmas was an iPhone, and it's just as amazing as I thought it would be. I'm so spoiled! After he gave it to me he wanted to lock it up in our safe so that I couldn't play with it until Christmas. ... That did not happen.

 (Trying out my new iPhone camera.)

2. Here's a site that lists some amazing free font finds:

http://www.goinghometoroost.com/?s=free+fonts&x=0&y=0

3. We decided to get Rosemary three presents for Christmas. Something to read, something to wear, and something to play with. (It turned into quite a few somethingS to wear, because baby girl clothes are hard to resist.) This is a tradition we plan to continue. It represents the three gifts Jesus received and I think it's such a wonderful idea. (I can't take the credit for it, I've heard it several places this year.)

4. When I mentioned that we were planning Rosemary's first vacation, you didn't think we would be going anywhere other than Hawaii, did you?? From March 3-13 we will be soaking up sunshine on beautiful beaches. I can't wait for Rose to meet the Pacific Ocean! And the best part is that my parents are going to be coming with us! Dream vacation come true!

(Snuggle time with Dad.)

5. We bought bunnies for Christmas presents for some of our family this year. Gospel for Asia has an amazing "Christmas Catalog" where you can buy anything from bunnies to camels to water purifiers for an Asian family. We went with bunnies because not only are they adorable, they can feed an entire family and provide them with a stable income (from selling bunny babies). I designed some cute little cards to let our family members know about their special gift.

6. New favorite blog here:
http://www.travelingtriplets.com/

7. My brother in law, Caleb, is an amazing musician. He is giving us a CD of Christmas songs he recorded for Christmas. I know this because he told me and gave us a sneak preview last night. When he's famous, I want to be his graphic designer.

http://www.myspace.com/colormehonest

8. Apple Wellness is, finally, getting a real website. And it's going to be awesome. Stay tuned for this awesomeness to go live sometime in January.

9. My favorite time of day is morning. Rosemary looks so sweet with sleepy eyes.

 (Sleepy Rose.)

10. Rose is 25 inches long now and over 14 pounds. Everyone who sees her comments, "She's so BIG! I mean, HEALTHY!" Nobody can say that vegan babies aren't healthy. *smile*

Our Sugarplum Fairy.

Cozy Car Seat Cover.

Now that it's freezing cold outside, we like to keep Rose cozy as we travel. At first we were just throwing a blanket over her car seat as we raced inside. But the wind kept blowing it around and our poor little dear would often end up with a gust of cold air disturbing her little cocoon of warmth.

And so our car seat blanket was invented. I bought some pretty fabric and gathered some pretty scraps and quickly assembled a quilt using 8.5 inch squares. I made it long enough to cover the length and width of the car seat. I used quilt batting for the middle, a pink sheet for the backing, and quilted it together using the "stitch in the ditch" technique of quilting in the seams. My favorite part is the white binding and rounded corners. 

And then I added the magic tabs. These clip onto the handles of the car seat, ensuring the blanket doesn't fly away with even the gustiest of breezes. 

According to Tim, this has revolutionized our lives.

I'm not sure about that, but it has made carrying her around outside less of a balancing act. And it comes off easily to become a quilt to lay her on when we're out and about.

Fun Random Fact: The pink floral fabric is from a house dress that the lady I was named after wore. Beatrice Curtis. She was like a grandma to me, and I think it is really special to have a part of her in my baby girl's quilt.

Loving Rosemary.

Rose gets kissed on her cheeks a thousand times every day. Every time we pick her up we whisper sweet lovey thoughts in her perfect little ears. She is surrounded, immersed, and saturated in pure adoration. We are very good at loving Rosemary.

 

And, last night a new milestone was celebrated. 

Rosemary rolled over.

1-2-3

One 

reindeer Rosie.

Two 

lovebirds kissing under the mistletoe.

Three 

stockings by the fireplace.