Merry Christmas!!!!

Our Christmas card for 2012

Christmas Projects!

Cards!
Stockings!

A coat!

We are sending out Christmas cards this year and I am really excited!  I have been gathering addresses and labeling envelopes and someday I will actually send them.  We printed our cards through Sam's Club because we were able to get the best deal and they aren't too shabby looking.  Ideally I would love to use a site like Tinyprints or Paper Coterie because their cards are beautiful but they are expensive. I'll post a picture of our Christmas card a little later. 

Appliqued felt stockings are kind of a tradition in our family.  My Gramma Keller made stockings for all of her grandkids and I carried on the tradition for Josh, Avery, James, Parker and Lindsey.  It's a little bit more work to make a stocking, especially since I like to personalize the stocking.  For Mina's stocking I wanted to incorporate the Nutcracker because I have so many fond memories of performing in that ballet.  I started out the process with some thumbnail sketches:

This helps to solidify ideas and pinpoint what works and what does not.  After that I picked the design I liked the best and started cutting out the felt pieces.  I used straight pins to experiment with the layout.  It is kind of daunting at this point because it makes me realize just how much work there is to do!

Then the sewing and embroidery starts.  I decided to start with the Mouse King toy in the lower lefthand corner.  I cut the rest of the pieces and started to sew.  I like to use a little bit of stuffing to give the stockings more dimension.  I'm also going to use beads and sequins to make it look even better.

All he needs is his sword!

The last project is to make a coat for Mina.  I love the look of a tailored coat but I don't want to spend that much on a coat that will only be worn for a short time.  I really like the lines of this swing coat from BabyGap.  I have an old sweater that I am going to transform into a coat.  Stay tuned...



Happy Thanksgiving!

Missing!

The following items are currently missing:
Mina's white hat with bear ears on top
My long sleeved white tee shirt
Mina's rose headband
My mini Fresh rose lip balm
Mina's bow headband (found!)
Mina's grey striped shoe socks
My mind
My car keys, luckily I have a spare set


I think that is about it.

Dress rehearsals are this week for Five Carols and JingleJacks. I'm thankful we have Thanksgiving off!

Busy, busy, BUSY!

Somehow November is almost half over.  I'm not sure how this has happened.  Maybe the fact that I have been really busy is to blame.  Here are some things that have been taking up my time...

Day light savings time.

  Okay, technically this has added time but when you are feeding a baby at 2 AM, early is early.

Being politically involved

Luckily I didn't have to drive up to Providence to vote even though I missed the deadline for registration.  Something about moving a week after giving birth will lead to oversights, like, updating your address on your drivers license.  I managed to update our Netflix and my InStyle subscription but NOT my license.  I know where my priorities lie...

Mina is becoming slightly more mobile.  Watch out!

I've made a couple of trips up to Weber State's Costume Shop, check out their serger area.  It is so pretty and well organized.

The reason for visiting the Weber costume shop?  I'm in the middle of designing a show.  It's a pair of one act Christmas musicals called "Five Carols for Christmas" and "JingleJacks."  Jim Christian is directing his show at CenterPoint Theatre in Centerville and I'm the lucky one who gets to design the costumes. 



Four of the five Carols



The JingleJacks

The show opens a week from next Monday November 26th closes Saturday December 22nd. Tickets are available at the Box Office and on-line (click here.)  The show is double cast so you can see it twice!  

And a funny picture I found while looking for a pencil:

Early 90's at its finest. I was so blonde and my teeth were so tiny.  I can't remember when I started losing my baby teeth, obviously after this picture was taken.

Happy Halloween!

We had two Halloween parties on Saturday so I hurried and finished Mina's costume Friday night.
I am pretty happy with the final result!

Progress

Mina's Halloween costume is moving right along.  I posted some pictures on Facebook of the costume and of Mina's second costume fitting.  Here is my process of making a little costume.

I made a tiny sketch of the finished costume.  I think this is really helpful because sometimes it is really hard to keep a handle on the final product.  I usually make a few notes of how long certain measurements are or other logistical things.  

After that I draft a pattern based on the costume piece.  Here is a picture of the skirt pattern piece traced on to the interfacing fused to the gold fabric.  The fabric wasn't very sturdy so I added a layer of interfacing for integrity without making it uncomfortable for Mina.  Even though it is a robot costume it is still a baby's costume.

All of the triangular skirt pieces came together to form the skirt.  I'm glad I always understood fractions in school because I use them a lot!

Mina's first costume fitting!

This was a shot of the costume around the time of the fitting.  I was trying to figure out if the spacing for the pom poms would effectively mimic the hemispheres on the Dalek.  I think it worked even though the color is a little jarring.  I remedied that with a few layers of gold spray paint.

After I sprayed the pom poms I hot glued them on to the skirt.  I only burned my fingers a little bit.

And another fitting!  Sorry the picture is blurry.  2 month old babies don't have the best leg control.  Or anything control.

All that is left is the hat and a few last embellishments on the onesie.  It's going to be great!