What became of Christmas – a very belated post

January found our advent tree looking like this:

Look closely and you will see that time stopped for us on December 22nd, when family rolled into town.  Follow that with a trip out of town and a bout of illness, and I’ve been away from the computer for a while!  So here is a quick rundown of what I managed to put together as far as handmade gifts.  For my sister, I made another buttercup bag:

I was so happy with how it came out, and I think she was too!  The t-shirt flower is just attached with a pin, so it can be changed out if wanted.  The strap was an old belt; the lining an old shirt… I am making a slow but steady dent in my “to recycle” pile of old clothing.  Another one to add to that score: a scarf for my mom!

I didn’t get a picture before I gave it to her, but here it is in action, on Christmas morning!  I made it using this tutorial, from an old cashmere sweater that she had given me to make into pants for the boys.  :)  Well, LB won’t wear “fuzzy pants”, so I found a different use for it!  If I find the time, I might just have to make one for myself….

For LB, I was running out of time, but I quickly put together an apron for him.  Not just any apron, this is an apron that matches mine and BB’s; it signifies his promotion to bona fide kitchen assistant!  He was, well, not overwhelmed when he opened it.  Not as exciting as the huge and wonderful toys he received.  But when the commotion died down, he was thrilled to don his apron and “do cooking”, as he calls it. 

As an aside, the very first sewing pattern I ever bought was for an apron.  I can’t believe I spent the money on it!  I’ve made 3 now with no pattern, and it’s super easy.  The only thing I did differently for LB’s was make the neck band of elastic.  Toddler heads are so big!  Now we all have a matchy-matchy set of green linen aprons.  Yay!

For BB, I also didn’t have much time to make something, but I knew a LOT of lego was in our future, so I made a lego sack. 

Not a great picture of it, but you can see the idea.  Toss the legos on the sack (the white circle), pull the strings, and voila!  The legos are contained in a sack.  It’s too bad I don’t have a picture of the outside; it’s a very cute flannel print with monsters.  The one thing I did differently than the tutorial was to put 2 buttonholes on each side, so that the rope can’t get pulled inside the casing.  It’s working out very well to contain the explosion of legos so far!

So, that’s a brief update from the domestic front.  If I have a chance, I have several other (more recent) projects to post!