Juicy Bits

62: a peek at all their holiday finery

I made Aurora a Christmas dress this year.  I don't make a ton of clothes for the kids because, as you know, I don't do anything simply, and there are just so many cute choices out there, that I don't bother.  But sometimes a pattern or fabric speaks to me and I feel I must make something.

This time it was the fabric.  Many of you recognize the print from Heather Bailey's Pop Garden.  I just fell in love and knew immediately I would make a dress for Aurora.  It is red and green but definitely not in the regular Christmas-y category.

I used McCall's 5742 pattern, but altered it a bit.  I changed the sleeves to add the 3/4 length bubble ruffle.  And I changed the lining to be a visible underskirt with it's own bubble ruffle.  I added the sash band on the front, and finally I added the fabric flower and button details.

Anyway, these are a few sneak peeks at the dress and Theo's matching vest and tie. 

I didn't actually take portraits of them all dressed up yet, but I will attempt that soon.  Indoor portraits in the cold are so much harder!

JT

61: they were hung with great care

Christmas is over and now we're deep in the aftermath.  In my house that means hanging around and playing with new toys, tripping over all the opened gifts, and eating way too much bread and cookies.  

How long does it take you to clean up after Christmas?  I'd estimate that here the last of it is picked up on average by the end of June.  We always have that one box of little things that have no real home yet, that lives in a corner of our living room for a LONG time.  We keep the tree up until at least the new year and I'm proud to say we've yet to miss the recycling deadline.  :)

So this is the hearth in my home.  I LOVE it.  Especially with the wreath at the Christmastime.  When we bought the house it was simple white mantle with a green marble surround.  We tore it out and added the "stone".  My uncle did the work, but we helped.  It was much easier than I would have thought.  Basically like a big puzzle.  Now I just love to look at it.

In retrospect I should have lit a fire for the pictures!

I did make the two stockings for the kids.  I went for the homespun look.  Aurora's was made a few years ago, but Theo's is new this year...

JT

60: the holidays are here

Hi all.

I'm just poppin' in to wish you all some wonderful holidays.  I love seeing what they look like at everybody's homes, so I thought I'd give you a little peak of how it's shaping up here.

As always the big day is drawing near and the time to finish all the preparations has almost run out.  No I didn't complete everything on my list, but come 3 am tomorrow night (actually now it's tonight...eek!), I think I'll be in pretty good shape.

I doubt I'll be posting again before Christmas, but maybe I'll show you some more before new year's.  Is it lame to show Christmas decorations after Christmas is already over?  Oh well, I warned you, you'd always be on a time delay.

I really hope you're all enjoying some special times with your families...

JT

59: i can't help myself

My daughter's school holiday party is today.  When sign-up time came around for food I volunteered to make the cookies, because really I wanted another excuse to do holiday baking.

As Aurora loves anything with icing on it, I just planned to make a basic sugar cookie with icing and sprinkles.  But once the dough was made and it was time to bake them, I couldn't not make them shaped.  Seriously.  I tried.

And then I iced them by drawing a snowflake pattern.  All the while I was chanting to myself "they're only 4-year-olds..."  But, nope, I couldn't stop myself.

I added blue sprinkles, although I think I might have liked them better without.  But, I figured the kids wouldn't mind a bit more sugar.

I won't share the recipe because honestly I wasn't overwhelmed with how they tasted.  A bit too eggy.  I've made them before but with more icing, so maybe that masked the flavor.  Now the dilemma is do I use the rest of the dough and make some for sending to friends or trash it and try again?

JT

58: space cowboy

Well, this little outfit for Theo falls squarely in the "project I have no business working on" category.  Really, it's not Christmas related and should totally have waited until after the new year.  My only excuse is that I bought this sweatsuit a while back with intentions of embellishing it, and then I washed it and tried it on him and egads! it just fits him now.  I figured I'd better get to it before it's too small.

 

Originally I figured I would try this as my first embroidery project, but then I realized this wasn't the time to learn a new skill.  Enter Kellie at Don't Look Now.  She has this cute tutorial on art smocks.  I had a plan to do a rocket on the back of the hoodie, and now I didn't even have to draw my own!

Then, not being able to stop shy of overachievement, I added the fun pants details and the little planet on the front.  

  

I think this is super-cute and I can't wait to see him in it.  Whenever I get a picture I'll put it up...

Oh, and as an update, my list has now grown to 48 items, 11 of which I've actually completed and crossed off.  Yikes!

JT

57: making a list, checking it twice

I'm a list-maker.  I think you either are or you aren't.  And don't be fooled, this doesn't mean I'm organized by any stretch.  It just means I like to write it all out once in a while.  Then I freak out about how long it is and how little time i have to do it all.

Like now...just about 2 weeks til Christmas and I still have so much to do.  And I'm not even shooting for an all handmade Christmas, which would be nice.  But I do have much projects and shopping etc. left.

If you're one of those people who finished your shopping weeks ago...well, I don't like you very much right now.

JT

56: mmm...bread...

Have I told of my love for bread?  No?  That's not possible.  I'm quite passionate about it.  Like if I was stuck on desert island with only one food, that's what I'd choose.  But then I'd miss butter.  And cake, of course. 

I often choose restaurants based purely on their bread offerings.  Make it warm and mushy and I'm there.  And I'm offended by people who leave it there in the basket untouched.  How dare they? 

Of course, this little love is not very good for my waistline.  I could never give up carbs.  I tried the Atkins diet once and it made me very very sick.  I do still have a few lingering baby pounds that I've really been trying to shed lately.  So the fact that I got this book, that everyone's already talked about on their blogs, has not helped.

But how could I not try it?  And let me tell you, it does not disappoint.  The only really negative I can say is they tell you to wait til the bread cools to eat it.  What?!?!?  There's nothing better than hot, fresh bread.  I guess it cuts better when cooled, but I just rip it apart in big chunks, so who cares?

My mom has an amazing bread recipe that she makes on holidays.  We all look forward to it.  It's your typical yeast bread with all the kneading and rising, so it's bit labor intensive, but the results are beyond scrumptious.  

But believe me, you don't want to know how much butter goes into those babies.  It's best if you never know.  And I'm not posting a recipe, not because it's top secret, but because I'm lazy and I don't want to go get it.  Really, how many of you would try it anyway?

JT

55: the flirty skirty

Well, I feel like I'm seriously missing my personal goal of 2 posts per week.  It's not that I'm not doing stuff, but I haven't had many pictures to show you.  And I guess this has basically become a "show and tell" blog...which is a good thing, I think.

Anyway, I did sew this apron for use on Thanksgiving.  It's the Flirty Skirty pattern from The Apron Lady.

Of course, I did change it up a little bit.  First I made it reversible, then I tweeked the pockets a little.  

My intent was to have the 2 sides be completely different to fit my schizo style moods.  But in the end I was limited by what fabric I had on hand and the fact that I wanted the strap/ties to compliment both patterns.  So the two I choose have similar colors, but they at least they have very different "personalities".

JT