Cutie Patootie Boots

I have the girls' outfits for Christmas all picked out, but I really didn't have any fun shoes or slippers or anything that really went with the rest of the outfits.  Since they are baby feet, I didn't want to spend a lot of money on something they may only be able to wear for a few months at the most.

I have seen several tutorials out there recently for making your own baby boots. There are some really cute ones on one of my favorite blogs Kojo Designs.  These ladies are amazing!!  If I can one day aspire to have half their talent, it would make me a happy girl for a long time!  :)

I was going to try out their tutorial, but I don't really have any shoes to sacrifice - much less TWO pairs of shoes to sacrifice - that really fit the girls and would work for that application.  But they did inspire me to find some other options.  That's when I stumbled across this pattern from ithinksew.com.  I love it!  Just what I was looking for with things I already had on hand!

So of course I had to make a pair for both of the girls.  I think they turned out alright!

The pattern is not only a really decent price, but it was easy to follow and comes with several different sizes. I also like that they offer adult size shoe patterns.  There are so many to choose from that I am sure I will be busting out some more shoes for the girls.

I did make a couple of adjustments to the pattern for these. They are really pretty nifty in that they just velcro close along the side.  The buttons are just for decoration.  But I found that while the flap closed just fine along the side with the velcro, it left an opening at the top of the foot.  It is probably just how I sewed them.  So I just tacked the flap to the top of the foot right in the middle.  That way the flap will stay where it should over the foot when it is closed, but I can still open them enough to get the girls' feet in there.

The other thing I did was used the smallest size - 0-3 months - for both girls.  Maddie's feet are the same size as our other little angel's feet even though they are 4 1/2 months apart.  I have found it rather frustrating in shopping for baby shoes of any kind that they tend to run very big if you go off of their age to size.  The 0-3 month size fits both girls just fine.  They may not have much room to grow, but in all honesty, these probably won't be worn after this winter anyways.

I also just used an old sweater turtleneck I had that was in the donation pile to make the outside of the boots. I used some fleece I had on hand to make the inside lining.  I didn't use any interfacing as it suggested as they hold up pretty well on their own.

So we shall test these bad boys out soon enough.  If nothing else, they will certainly keep those tootsies warm!

More Recent Projects

I think it is safe to say that I have rediscovered my love for crafting. It has been hard to find time to do anything worth posting about for a while now. And though if you are paying attention, you will see that I am writing this post at about 10:30 pm on a Wednesday, I am still getting to bed at a relatively decent hour....I mean, I can sleep when I'm dead right? :)

Honestly, most of my recent crafts and projects have been so easy that I can get them done in the hour or so after all the kiddos get to bed (and Maddie is of course generally the last one down!).

I have been finishing up a few Christmas projects I wanted to get done. I still have a handful that need my attention, but I wanted to play a bit first. So this last project was for me! I totally stole the idea from my Boss's Boss who wore the most adorable jingle bell necklace and bracelet to the Children's Holiday Party at work recently. I was in love! She told me where she got it and I am sure I could have bought it for what I paid to make it, but I like the colors in mine a little more. Sometimes crafting is not necessarily cheaper - but it does let you customize!

So without further ado...my festive Jingle Bells!

Of course they couldn't have been easier to make. You will need:

• A handful of jingle bells in the sizes and colors you prefer (I got mine at Hobby Lobby and used the bigger ones for the necklace and the smaller ones for the bracelet. The earrings are a combo of both sizes).
• Chain - I used chain I had on hand and just cut the lengths to the size I wanted for the necklace and for the bracelet. You could also make it that much easier and use an already assembled chain necklace and bracelet.
• Split rings or jump rings (I had split rings on hand)
• For the earrings you will need an pair of ear wires or your preferred earring and smaller chain to make the layers.

Assembly is simply putting the bells on the chain using the split ring or jump ring.  I spaced them out on the bracelet evenly, but I used different spaces in between on the necklace.  I wanted something that was a bit more "whimsical".  The earrings are just assembled with different lengths of smaller chain to keep the bells staggered.

I know that is not much of a tutorial, but I didn't take pictures as I was going along.  It really was a pretty fast and easy assembly (if you use jump rings it would probably go even faster.).

I am going to bust these babies out tomorrow at work.  I hope they keep me in the Christmas Spirit.  :)

Christmas Everywhere!

You know how you tell yourself every year that you are going to keep it simple and take your time and not stress when the holidays come?!? You know how you never listen to your sage advice at 10:30 pm the day before your kids Holiday parties at school or parties at work?!? Is that just me??? :)

Well, we have been busy the past couple of nights trying to cram in our last minutes crafts and baking and prepping and wrapping and taking care of babies and everything else in the mix. I was still trying to throw projects in to the mix last night on the way home. Patrick looked at me and said "enough!". So I had to cut a few things I really wanted to do, but since I was up until midnight last night anyways, I guess that was ok. :)

So we made ornaments, cookies, garbage candy, fudge, pumpkin bread and these adorable (or at least the idea was adorable!) Rudolph Sausage Balls.

(if you look closely in the background, you can see some of Alex's sugar cookies!)

I think they turned out ok. I would have preferred those Christmas Tree shaped pretzles because I think they would have looked more like antlers. I couldn't find them anywhere in my sprint through the Walmart. These pretzles kind of make them look like mice, but I guess they could also be Christmas Mice! :) Anyways, they were super easy to make:

Make your sausage balls (I made a double batch as Gabe and Alex were both taking these to their parties today). You can find a recipe online just about anywhere, but I use the following for a double batch:
4 cups of bisquick (I have also used pancake mix in a pinch!)
2 lbs of sausage (two small "rolls")
2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (I actually just throw in a few handfuls until it looks right.)
mix, roll in to balls, bake at 350 degrees for about 15 - 20 minutes

Once your sausage balls are cooked, and while they are still warm, take a knife and cut a small slit in the top. Stick your pretzles in the slit so they stick up like antlers. If you do it while they are still warm, they "stick" to the pretzles a little better to keep them in longer.

Once your "reindeer" have cooled completely, you can put on a nose with one of those gel icing tubes or get creative and use just about anything (mini m&m's or red hots or anything red!). I used a glitter gel icing tube I found at Walmart and just put a smidge on the sausage balls where a nose would be.

Done!

You could also go a bit further and put eyes on with a black gel tube or mini m&m or something like that. I was already "in trouble" for not keeping it simple last night so I didn't go that far.

I think this wasn't a bad trial run. I may have to experiment some more to come up with some better ideas - you know maybe when I don't have so many irons in the fire!

I still have a few more things to get done for Christmas this year, but we are on the downhill slope for now - unless I see some more cute ideas I just HAVE to try out!

Merry Christmas!

Linking up to the following:

Projects I have been working on

I know it has been a while - a long while - since I have posted. But with four kids at home (two babies!!) it is the rare occasion that I can get online for even a few minutes, much less in enough time to make a blog post. But with Christmas coming up, I have been working on a few projects to keep my sanity - a little anyways. Here are a few things I have been working on...and a few things I will have up in my Etsy store once my "good" camera is charged. For now, you must deal with the not so great photos from my phone. :)

Leg Warmers/Leggings
RUFFLES AND BOWS!!

RUFFLES AND FLOWERS!!

Christmas Themed Clippies
Snowmen (one for each girl of course!)

Christmas Trees

I am putting the leg warmers up in my Etsy shop soon. I have a few other projects in the works that I will try to post about soon as well. I am linking up this post to the Ribbon Retreat Blog December Linky Party.
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