December 29, 2010

All Those Christmas Cards

I LOVE traditional Christmas cards. Isn't it so fun to receive so many beautiful cards during the month of December? I very much anticipate the mail's arrival in December just to see who I'm going to hear from. There's just something special about receiving updates in an old-fashioned way from those you love.

In the back of my mind I've hoped to find a way to display all of the cards, but I hadn't settled on anything until this year.

I ran across this project on a blog I've really been enjoying recently, delia creates. She got the idea for the wreath here. It's such a simple idea - only requiring a piece of cardboard, x-acto knife, wrapping paper, tape, clothes pins, hot glue and ribbon.

I whipped it together one evening in about an hour while enjoying a movie. It's so easy and so cute.

December 28, 2010

Jammies for Jude

Each Christmas one of my favorite family traditions was receiving a new pair of jammies to wear the night of Christmas Eve. My mom is quite the seamstress and she would sew all of us a new pair every year. Often times we got to go to the fabric store with her and pick out our fabric and design. We waited with anticipation to see what she created.

I've decided to carry on the tradition at our little house. So, this year, for his first Christmas, Jude received his first pair of homemade jammies.

I made a onesie and a pair of pants, which I felt was the easiest way to avoid a one-piece that either zips or snaps all the way down the front. Too complicated.

I scored at Walmart recently and bought a couple of bolts of fabric for only $5/bolt. Did anyone else score in this deal too? So exciting. Anyway, the red knit is kind of vintage-y, soft and perfect for a long john look. It was a challenge to sew with, but as I struggled with it I kept telling myself it was "good practice". Which, it was. I ended up making two onesies and two pairs of pants until I could get the right fit all the way around.
I used my onesie pattern that I drafted. I also used this pants pattern, which I've used several times before. To add to the long johns look I added cuffs to both the sleeves and legs. Again, these additions were a bit of a challenge, but worth it in the end.

When it was completed I drew the little trees and freezer painted those to the front. I have to say my little guy sports the jammies well, although you might not be able to trust me on that. In this case I'm not only a biased mother but also the biased sewer. The main thing I guess is that I really enjoyed starting this tradition with him. I'm already looking forward to next year.