DIY Embroidered Christmas Tree Skirt

A couple years ago, I saw a picture of a tree skirt that had painted hand prints in a bunch of different colors. I thought it'd be kind of cool in black and white, but then I thought about embroidering the handprints instead. I always get so busy with DIY stuff in December, so I waited to work on this in January. I had some plain white fabric that I dyed with avocado pits to make the pale pink. I kind of winged it on the sewing portion of this. It's not perfect, but it does the job.

I traced the girls handprints on paper and played around with placement before drawing the outline.  Each handprint took me about 30-45 minutes to embroider and it was so easy to work on here and there while watching tv or downtime throughout the day. 

I finished embroidering towards the end of January and put it away in storage. It was such a joy to unpack and put the skirt out this year. I love picturing how the handprints will multiply through the years and will bring a smile to my face every time I pull it out.

Christmas 2019

The Christmas season was a whirlwind.  We started Christmas early with Cincinnati Zoo's Festival of Lights opening night. We put our tree up in mid-November and slowly decorated it slowly over the following month... so slowly that we actually never finished hanging up all our ornaments this year. Over the years, I've learned that starting things early allows us to enjoy all of our favorite things about this season without becoming too exhausted and cranky. Ben and I both work full time and with both the girls in school, we already have a lot of things going on even before adding in the crazy holiday activities.

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is the opportunity to DIY easy things and creating a handmade holiday in our home. A couple years ago, I purchased a bunch of clear plastic ornaments from Michaels and we decorate a couple each year to gift and hang on our tree. We start by painting them, followed by drawing designs with paint pen, and finish off with a clear coat. It is fun to watch the girls' styles evolve over the years. Cora used to end up finger painting her ornaments and now that is something Ida does. I also love making sculpey handprint Santas each year and I can't wait until my tree is full of them.

Every couple years, I like to add some handmade gifts to our list. When Cora was 3, she painted a nutcracker for my dad... so this year it was Ida's turn. She had so much fun having painting time with mommy and was so focused on covering every single spot of that nutcracker. I don't think I took any after pictures (oops), but here is the step-by-step of how I did this with Cora.

Ida's school has a Breakfast with Santa fundraiser every year. Cora had plans to see Frozen 2 with my Aunt and Uncle, so Ida and I had a little date. We ran into Cora's friends (that Ida loves) so we ended up spending the whole time with them getting face painted, crafting, and snacking. Ida surprisingly liked seeing Santa and ran straight up to give him a hug. It was nice to get extra time with just Ida and I know Cora loved getting spoiled hanging with our extended family.

Over the last couple years, we have made it a tradition to decorate gingerbread houses as a family. It is nice to get together, have a little project, and snack on candy. 

Every year, our extended family makes potato sausage together. Cora was really interested in the process this year and loved diving in to help during each stage.

Christmas Eve and Christmas were both full with lots of family time. Our extended family celebrates on Christmas Eve with church, dinner, and exchanging presents. The girls were wound up on all the together time and treats and loved running around with cousins. We didn't make it home until close to midnight. Cora ran in the house to set up cookies and milk for Santa and went to bed so fast so she wouldn't be awake when Santa arrived.

On Christmas Day, both girls slept in until around 9:30, so we had a lazy morning opening presents and hanging out. My parents stopped by for a bit and then we went over to visit my Aunt and Uncle. We spent the afternoon being lazy, making Indian food, watching tv, and napping. In the evening, my extended family got back together and enjoyed food and games and hanging out. 

I had the week between Christmas and New Years off of work. I had a to-do list of projects and outings I wanted to do, but we totally ignored the list and spent most of the week in our jammies hanging around the house. Cora insisted that we make a trip to the Cincinnati Art Museum, so we stopped by for a little bit one weekend morning. Overall it was a really great/relaxing holiday. We enjoyed all the extra time we got to spend as a family and activities we got to attend... but boy were we excited to get back into our regular routines.

A Baby Boy Quilt and a Peek at my Quilting Process

It's been about a year since I made a quilt and I was excited to jump back in for a baby quilt for a new babe in the extended family. This is not my best quilt craft-wise (the squares don't all line up), but definitely one of my favorites design-wise. I love the fabric I used for the binding (which I also used for my nephew's quilt) and also love the color combo of the pieces used for the front.

I use mostly the same process for all my triangle quilts. First, I cut out 64 - 6"x6" squares. I had a lot of counting help from Cora... along with lots of chatting about the baby. Next, I match up the squares, pin them, and draw a line down diagonally across the square. I use this line as a reference point and sew lines down both sides of that diagonal line. After sewing both sides, I cut down the drawn line and I have two squares complete. 

After completing all the squares, I lay them out in the chevron/herringbone pattern then stare at the layout for about 15-30 minutes. Depending on what I want for each quilt, I spend a lot of time rearranging the squares. For this quilt, I didn't want any of the same color touching and spent a lot of time making sure each color is balanced and spread out among the quilt front. Once I settle on an arrangement, I give it a little bit of time to make sure my eye isn't getting stuck on one particular place. This is probably my favorite part of the process.

When the layout if finalized, I pin the rows and write a little 1^, 2^, 3^...  on the back of each row so I know where is lines up on the quilt. Then I get to sewing that all together. When the front is finished, I always feel accomplished... until I remember how much more work that I still need to do.

Once the quilt is finished AND IRONED, I will baste the quilt (pinning the front, batting, and back together). My process for this varies, but lately I have been taping down each layer by the corner. I work my way pinning from middle to edges while constantly smoothing out and making sure it's as wrinkle-free as possible... then comes the quilting.

For this quilt pattern, I like to work in vertical stripes and a chevron pattern which looks like herringbone on the back. Because I like the way it looks when I do two lines of stitches, it takes twice as long as it probably should take to quilt the blanket.

I trim off the excess batting and fabric, then start working on the binding. I like a thick binding, so I start with strips of fabric about four inches wide. I fold the two sides in and iron through the entire strip, then fold it in half and iron again. I pin the batting around the edge of the blanket and double stitch it together. 

Once the binding is done, it's time for a quick wash! This part is a little nerve-wracking (I'm always worried the entire thing will just fall apart), but I love the way the quilts come out all wrinkly when they're finished. 

My little model was not happy about holding up the quilt for me.

Throughout the whole process, I spend my time picturing the sweet baby using the blanket and I make sure to send the baby and momma little prayers and good vibes.