New Cricut fun!

So I've been wanting a Cricut machine for a LONG time and I finally got a really cute green one for Christmas. It's gotten a lot of use already and I love it! I started out with birthday invitations for Camille's birthday next week. It was a lot of work but I learned some ways to use it and some ways to not use it. Camille said, "Aren't people just going to throw these away?" Probably! But I wouldn't have done it if I didn't have a new fun machine to use!

Then I made the little super hero girls to give as a party favor attached to a picture of the birthday girl and friend.

I made use of the black vinyl that came with my Cricut to make a cute saying on my laundry room wall. Grant is concerned that I'm going to label each room in the house. But, I won't. The laundry room just happens to have a blank wall and I liked the saying that I found!

Each of the kids chose a few pictures for me to practice for them. This is a cute train.

I found a possible way to hook the Cricut up to the computer and use some software that gives you endless possibilities. I'm excited to try it!

Felt Food Exchange

I have some talented family and friends so I knew I could organize a felt food group and get some good stuff! We spent the fall making our food and then we exchanged it in time for Christmas.

My pizza creation. I also made a pan and a box for those I exchanged with, never got them put together for myself!

From Omaha, Nebraska- My sister Dani's baking set with baker's hat.

From Canby, Oregon- my talented friend's breakfast set.

From Powell, Wyoming- a new friend's campfire/s'mores set.

And from Powell, Wyoming- my crafting friend's lunch set.

The happy recipient of a neat gift!

American Girl Clothes

I can not pay $30 for a doll outfit and I admit that I don't even pay that much for a new outfit for my own daughters. So, when they drool over the outfits in the American Girl catalog, they know they aren't getting any! I do wish I could buy them one of each outfit, but that won't happen in this lifetime. SOOOOO... I break out my creativity and my pattern making up skills (didn't know I had them until now) and try to copy cat the outfits in the catalog. This was my first attempt to copy something from a picture and I have some room for improvement, but overall they turned out pretty good. I saved about $25 on each outfit, minus about 5 hours of my time. Hopefully it'll feel like a "priceless" moment on Christmas morning.

American girl outfit- $30

My outfit- $2.50, plus 2.5 hours of my time. I can see that the shawl needs to be shorter- I've shortened it twice already! Back to the sewing machine. Those boots were HARD to figure out. Don't know that I'll attempt any more of those.




American Girl outfit- $28

My outfit- $5 plus about 2.5 hours of my time. I still want to find or make the little white socks. The ribbons on the shoes kinda bug me too but they'll have to do for now!

I have one more outfit in the works but it's proving to be a little tricky. Hopefully it'll be done by Christmas....

Pinecone garland

I saw a pinecone garland at a Christmas shop in Omaha, NE a few years ago and loved it. I also immediately said "I could make that!" My parents in OR have an abundance of pinecones every year, thanks to many pine trees in their yard so I asked them to save me some. My mom gave me two large garbage bags full and I got to work wiring them to a piece of rope. I'm still not convinced at where I hung them up in my new house but they do add some "festive-ness" to the house and they are a little different from traditional garlands. Also reminds me of OR!

Sweet treats

Every Christmas I want to give people who I appreciate a small gift and this year I saw a great cookie in a jar recipe at this website. I modified it a bit and spent part of an afternoon with two of my kiddos putting some together. I was lucky to have an abundance of jars so I didn't have to purchase those, found some fabric at a craft fair for cheap, used what I had on hand for all of the ingredients except the M&M's and chocolate chips. Hopefully I can make another batch next week for all of those teachers, bus drivers, piano students, and friends that we appreciate.