Super Easy Fabric Gift Bags

Fabric gift bags.

After we opened all the Christmas presents this year, I was struck,as I always am, by just how much trash we were left with. It was a lot. 

The cat, surrounded by Christmas trash.

In an attempt to have a slightly less ginormous pile of post Christmas trash next year, I decided to sew up some super simple, reusable little cloth bags.

Another of my famously lame photos. You get the idea though, right?

I made a 20-25 in this size, which would fit cds, movies, small articles of clothing, etc. They'll be tied with a ribbon. 

I could have gotten fancy, and added gussets and trim to the bags, but since half of our presents are missing the tags, and have torn paper by the time Christmas arrives, I figured this was fancy enough for us.


(FYI, one bandanna yields two of these small bags, with an already finished edge. You can't get any easier than that.)

I'll be making some bigger ones later.

We'll still be using some wrapping paper, especially for gifts outside our immediate family. (Most of our friends and relatives would probably just dismiss this as another one of our hippie ideas, and not reuse the bags.) 

At any rate, every little bit counts, right?

T'was the Week Before Christmas...

And all through the house, there was coughing, and sneezing, and vomiting, and well, you get the idea.

We're going on our second, (or maybe third, I've lost count,) week of passing around a cold and a stomach bug. It's been brutal.

We had a wonderful Christmas though, surrounded by our favorite people, lots of good food, and all the usual festivities.

I'm going to lay low for another week or so, while we (hopefully) recover. I'll see you next week, when we officially start back to school.

Even More Last Minute Gifts (With Pattern Links)

I'm still cranking out last minute gifts here, and thought I'd share the links to a couple of projects I've been working on.

Ridged crocheted scarf.

I saw the tutorial for this sort of faux knitted scarf on via Pinterest, and had to try it out. It's really neat and different looking. I love it, even if it did work up pretty slowly...

I made this little hat for a niece. It took a couple of hours start to finish, and it's super cute. I think I may make a couple of more for gifts, and then make myself one after the Christmas rush. (Slouchy Hat pattern here.)

Gingerbread Garland

I finally tried my hand at the cinnamon applesauce ornaments I kept seeing on Pinterest, (recipe via Martha Stewart,) and made a little garland for my kitchen. Cute, easy, and it smells great!

Gingerbread garland.

These would make really cute package decorations too...

Lots of Last Minute Gifts. Yikes.

I added about 15 homemade gifts to my "to do" list at the last minute. You know how it is, you keep thinking of people you sort of want to acknowledge, but for whom there's no room in the budget.

I dug through my yarn stash, determined to use up some odds and ends, and turned to one of my favorite crochet books for quick, easy, cool looking patterns.

Hats and scarves are fairly generic, I guess, but they're practical, and I'm using nice, soft, wool yarn.

Here are some hats made with the Boy Beanie pattern. (Psst...this pattern works fine for girls and women too.)

And here are a couple of scarves made using the One-Skein Scarf pattern. (These can be made start to finish in one diligent evening. They're pretty too.)

Five down, lots more to go...

What are your go-to assembly line gifts?

Happy December!

I have a confession to make.

Coloring sheets from What's in the Bible.

We put up our Christmas tree about a week before Thanksgiving.

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!

We decided to buy a small, live tree this year. If we manage to not kill it here in the house, we'll plant it in the back yard later.

The kids have been saying that it's "the best tree ever," but the effect is pretty Charlie Brownish. Hubby and I have been snickering every time we walk past it.

Wreath Wall

I saw a picture on BHG of a wall of minimalist grapevine wreaths, and sort of fell in love with it. I just so happened to have several plain wreaths, and no particular talent for arranging flowers and do dads on them, so this was my sort of project. (My mother, on the other hand, makes gorgeous wreaths covered in artistically displayed do dads.I miss doing the Christmas craft shows with her.) 

Here's our version.

Lousy picture without flash, courtesy of my iPhone.

I think I'm going to pick up a couple of more large wreaths the next time I hit up Hobby Lobby, but I really like the way this turned out.

Easiest Burlap Wreath Ever

I promised some more burlap crafts a while back. Here's an easy one.

I started with a foam wreath base from the Dollar Tree, and covered it with strips of burlap cut from an old sugar bag. (I used hot glue to secure it.)

I used some ribbon I already had lying around to make a bow, and well, that's it. I told ya' it was easy.

The result is pretty minimalist, but I'm sort of liking that look right now.


(We're still working on the kitchen/dining room renovations, and there is stuff everywhere. Minimalism is looking better and better...)

Total cost for this project: $1.

Rice Packs for Gifts

I dusted off my poor neglected sewing machine today while the kiddos were watching a Pokemon video, and whipped up a couple of little gifts.

I'd been meaning to make some rice filled heat packs for a while. They're such a simple, inexpensive gift, but really nice and practical. These are a fairly self explanatory project, but there's a nice tutorial at Elm Street Life.

Rice pack handwarmers.

I'd never thought of making rice pack hand warmers, (to go in your coat pockets,) but after seeing several variations on Pinterest, (like this one, at Jane Avion,) I decided they'd make clever little stocking stuffers. I think I'll tie them up with ribbon, and add a little tag with instructions, (since at first glance, they just look like bean bags...)


These are great assembly line projects.

Make an Awesome Gift for the Kids, for Just a Few Cents

I wanted to share something I've been working on for the kids, for Christmas.

For about the last year, both kids, but L especially, has been really into audio books. We've rented tons of them from the library, and we actually even have some ancient books on cassette tapes still lying around here. :) L listens to them as he goes to bed at night, and as he's playing throughout the day.

I had the idea that I wanted to record myself reading some books to the kids, and burn them to discs to give them as gifts. I asked around on Twitter, and someone suggested that I could do reasonably good recordings using the voice memos function on my iPhone. (Whew, I was hoping for an easy process.)

The hardest part is finding time when the kids are both asleep, and the house is totally quiet.

The recordings turned out great, even I was sort of shocked to hear that my Texas drawl was so pronounced. I simply emailed them to myself, and saved them. (A word of caution here: I was at home using the wifi. I suppose if I hadn't have been, I might have had a data overage on our phone plan, as it's not unlimited, and the files were fairly large. Just something to think about.)

I could have recorded books I liked, but instead, I recorded their favorites, the ones for which there are no available audio books. (Pokemon, and Dr Seuss, so far, in case you're wondering.) 

I'm really looking forward to giving the recordings to the kids, and am going to try to recruit some family members to add their voices as well.

Crocheted Star Garland for Christmas

I know, you're rolling your eyes, right? More Christmas stuff? In August?

Crocheted star garland.

What can I say? I love Christmas. And I'm sick of August....

I found this tutorial for crocheted stars at Jellywares, and whipped up this little garland in less than 24 hours. (That's my kind of project...) It's made of sport weight cotton, and destined to go across the doorway to the dining room.

Each star uses only a tiny bit of yarn, so they're a great way to use up leftovers. The resulting Christmas ornaments would be a cute little added gift, when tied onto a package.

Let's Explore Art Kit

Christmas is getting closer, as evidenced by the massive amount of Christmas decor at my local Hobby Lobby. 

I'm trying to think of stuff to give to the kids this year that has real play value. I've come up with several little "kits" that I'm going to put together for the kids that I think they'll have fun with.

The first one is an art kit, for 3 year old V. I'm posting about it now, while school supplies are dirt cheap. The whole thing cost a couple of bucks, at the current prices. V loves artsy craftsy stuff, and she loves to make messes. Although we have most of these supplies here at the house anyway, I figured she'd like having her own supplies to use as she wishes. (Want to use a whole container of glitter on your collage? Sure, why not?)

The contents are pretty self explanatory, but here's a list anyway:

Crayons

Colored pencils

Scissors

Glue and glue sticks

Glitter Glue

Glitter

Beads and laces

Stamps

Feathers

Sequins

Index cards

Food Coloring (For shaving cream painting and color mixing in the bath tub.)

Anyone else dreaming about Christmas during this heatwave?

Huge Mario Stocking

So I never actually got around to taking a picture of L's Mario stocking before Christmas. I snapped a pic today, before taking it down. He basically dictated what he wanted on it, and I freehand cut them out of felt.

Next year I'll probably do something similar with whatever they're into, but I'll either sew them, or use fabric glue. The craft glue I used for this spur of the moment project wasn't very durable.

Last Minute Crafting, Anyone?

I whipped this up for baby V the other night. She loves to swaddle her baby dolls, but can't quite figure out how to do it by herself yet. I thought this little sleep sack might be a good solution. I finished it in a couple of hours, in one evening, while watching a PBS documentary. There's still time to make one...

You can find the pattern at Suzies Stuff.

Huge Yo Gabba Gabba Stocking

I went overboard on the stocking stuffers this year. They weren't going to fit in the small stockings I made for the kids last year.
I saw some huge stockings at the Dollar Tree, just asking to be embellished. Here's the first one, shown hanging on the wall before the glue had even dried.
I just freehand cut the characters out of felt, and glued 'em on.

Pretty cute, and not bad for a buck, huh? My daughter loves it. :)

Making Messes, er Cooking with the Kids

My sister's favorite color is green. She'll buy nearly anything, if it's the right shade of lime green.
Yesterday the kids and I made her some green treats for her upcoming birthday, green cupcakes with green icing, green candy coated marshmallows, and green ice cream cone Christmas trees.

The kids had fun, and were really proud to present their creations to their aunt. They love to cook and make messes. (And make a mess they did.) I didn't manage to get any pictures of V eating frosting out of the tub with a spoon at the end, but I'm guessing that was her favorite part...

Christmas Cards from the Kids

This morning the kids made their own Christmas cards to give to their favorite people.

5 year old L's cards.

Nearly 3 year old V's cards. (A self portrait, and a monster and a heart, in case you were wondering.)

I'm going to let them dictate the messages to me. I'm sure they'll be interesting. ;)

These were easy and fun for the kids to do, and what grandparent wouldn't be smitten with them?

Last Minute Advent Calendar

I had thought I'd sew up a new Advent calendar this year, but never got around to it. Then I started seeing blog posts showing calendars made of things like toilet paper tubes, and matchboxes, and thought I'd surely have enough time to at least make one of those. I never got around to that either...
Today I realized it was now or never. (Well, not really never, but not until next year, at least.)
Inspired by several blog posts, like this one at The Crafting Chicks, I decided to make one of paper library pockets I had picked up from Dollar Tree a while back.

I used some Martha Stewart glitter I had on hand to make the numbers. The pockets are hung on fine ribbon with paper clips.

It super simple, but I love it. It has all the ingredients for success here: loud colors, lots of glitter, and it was fast and inexpensive.

There's still time to whip up one for yourself tomorrow, out of about $3 worth of office supplies...

If you're wondering what's in the pockets this year, some days have notes about the day's activities. (Christmas Eve=birthday party for Jesus, etc.) Every day will have a Jesse Tree ornament from the Advent Devotional at A  Holy Experience. They'll also be a piece of yarn in each pocket, to line the manger with "hay." (For more info on that idea, check out this post at Live, Learn, Love.)

For more WFMW posts, check out http://www.wearethatfamily.com/ .

Join Us in the Rediscovering Christmas Bible Challenge

My blogging/tweeting buddy from Welcome To Our Wonderland is hosting the Rediscovering Christmas Bible Challenge in the month of December. I'll be joining her, reading a chapter a day from the book of Luke in the days leading up to Christmas.

It's easy to get bogged down by the never ending to do lists in December. Here's to remembering what we're really celebrating...

(There still time to join in. Go link up!)

Custom Coloring Books

Last year, for L's Pokemon birthday party, I made some little custom coloring books for the kids.They were a huge hit. I was going to make some more for the kids for Christmas this year, but came upon an even easier idea.

I found these plastic folders at Dollar Tree. Each one has dividers and 14 pockets. Instead of actually binding a coloring book, I just printed lots of coloring pages in the kids particular areas of interest, and placed them in the pockets of the folder.
(My kids prefer to tear the pages out of their coloring books, so I think they'll actually prefer this unbound version.)
I know this sounds super simple, but kids are constantly hounding me to find and print them some Mario or Pokemon coloring pages. I have a feeling these are going to go over well.
In case your kids just happen to be into the same things as mine, here are links to a couple of the coloring page sources I've used.

Mario Coloring Pages at Cartoon Jr (Look around the site, as there are coloring pages for virtually every other theme. The Hello Kitty picture I used on the cover here came from there also.)

Pokemon Coloring Pages at DLTK

Hello Kitty Coloring Pages at Coloring-Book