Holiday 13 Ideas House

 {This is not my house}

Are you thinking about and planning for Christmas? I know I already am. Maybe this photo tour of the Bachman's Holiday 13 Ideas House will offer you some inspiration. This time around the theme is "A Cozy, Contemporary Nordic Celebration"… simplicity, a clean white or ivory slate with layers of fresh green and traditional reds… Northern European influences, metallic accents, natural driftwood pieces...

Are you interested in 'visiting' some of the previous Ideas Houses? If so, these are just a click away: Fall 13, Spring 13, Holiday 12, Fall 12, Spring 12, Holiday 11, Summer 11, Spring 11, Holiday 10, Summer 10, and Spring 10.

 On the front porch, vintage metal cart used as a winter accessories storage, screen door transformed into a chalkboard

 Hot chocolate bar, mini sled used as a serving tray

 In the living room, fabric inside cabinets appears as stacked wood

 Salvaged wood as art, mittens layered with stockings on mantel

Wall hangers display Christmas cards

 Baby cradle holds presents, presents wrapped with paper placemats and decorative tape

 In the dining room, salvaged wood mounted on wall as candleholers

 In the kitchen, hanging red heart vases, lantern holds soap and lotion

 Large vintage tray used as a kitchen organizer

 Vintage bed spring hung as pot rack, dentist cabinet used as kitchen organizer

 In the main floor bathroom, drawer used as toilet paper holder

 In the gardener's room, live plants become wall art

 Paper placemats hung as wallpaper, roll of moss garland appears like a holiday wreath

 Hanging bottles vases embellished with craft paper, decorative tape, and rubber stamped images

 Chandelier made of small terra cotta post and garland

 In the tablescapes ideas room, traditional Christmas gathering, place setting 'wrapped' like presents

 Winter wedding with white "fur" throw blanket on wall and table

 In the upstairs bathroom, driftwood snowflakes accented by painted shadow, birch baskets for towel and soap holder, copper leaves accented with stems and berries as shower currain embellishments

 In the master bedroom, headboard made from cedar shelves

 Birch branch used as ornament hanger, jewelry holders made from birch rounds

 Christmas tree accented with copper wire

 My favorite room in this house is the girl's bedroom with a soft turquoise and white winter wonderland fairy theme (I could stare at it all day long!), stuffed reindeer, galvanized wash basin used as tree base holder, framed fairy hanging as ornament, gift wrapping embellished with decorative tape

 Vintage vanity shortened and used as play desk

 Window valences decorated with ornaments, paper and crystal snowflakes

 Stickers became art work with a painted faux frame and vintage door pulls, vintage garden table and chairs used as coloring space

 Large basket used as nightstand, bird cage turned into a miniature fairy garden, metal owls used as bookends

 Sparkly taxidermy

 Porch posts used to make a canopy bed, accented with lights

 I'll leave you with my favorite photo…

And what is your favorite thing from the Holiday 13 Ideas House?

PS I hope you get a chance to visit this Holiday 2013 Ideas House (there are so many more ideas to see than are in these photos) it is open November 7th - December 15th, 2013.

Even More Little Geraniums

I can't stop sewing these Little Geranium dresses (here are my 1st 'bouquet' and 2nd 'bouquet').

Earlier this month I was reorganizing my fabric stash and came across pieces that were less than a third of a yard. Just enough to make baby dresses, I thought. This batch of dresses were made from simple quilting cottons except for the gray which is a mystery fabric (it has a bit of stretch), the bodice lining is simple white cotton blend. These baby dresses were made for and will be donated to Dress A Girl Around the World.

If you are ever interested in sewing up a Little Geranium (free pattern, size 0-3 months), here are the amounts that are needed. Just something to keep in mind when you are going through your fabric stash and are wondering what could be made from those smaller fabric pieces.

5.5 X 6 inches (2 of these are needed for the bodice back)
6 X 10 inches (1 of these is needed for the bodice front)
11 X 34 - 11 X 44 inches (1 of these is needed for the skirt)

Do you have fabric pieces in those sizes in your fabric stash?

PS this little blog celebrated it's 4th birthday yesterday ~ thank you for reading, subscribing, and for all of your sweet comments over the years :)

Marzipan Day of the Dead Skulls

 Kids can make their own festive and yummy snack for Day of the Dead {Mexican holiday celebrated November 1st (All Saints' Day) and November 2nd (All Souls' Day)} with these marzipan skulls. They are super easy to make and very inexpensive.

Marzipan Day of the Dead Skulls Tutorial

What you need:

• Silicone ice cube tray with skull shapes (I bought this one for $1.00 at a dollar store, but others with skull shapes can be found at large craft stores for about $10.00)
• Marzipan (I bought some at IKEA for $2.29)
• Cake/cookie sprinkles

 What you do:

• Take a small amount of marzipan and with fingers press into the mold

•  Pop the marzipan skull out of the mold (the 7.1 oz. package of marzipan made 14 skulls)

• Decorate with sprinkles

Bon appetit!

PS When decorating the plate I added orange flower sprinkles because marigolds are the traditional flower for Day of the Dead. I also added some Mexican treats that I found in the Mexican section of a regular grocery store: Canel's chewing gum and de la Rosa peanut marzipan.

For Day of the Dead Skull Crayons go here. For even more Day of the Dead ideas go here.

Jasper Vest and Jodhpur Pants

 

My girl is modeling her newest outfit that I sewed her during Kid's Clothes Week. It's Clever Charlotte Jasper Vest & Jodhpur Pants... in size 5. Very satisfying results.

 I love the pleated side panels on the pants (which give a feel of European styling). I followed the method that Cindy from Siestas and Sewing did, by topstitching around the side panel and also where the upper and lower leg panels join. I really like how that gives the details more definition because these pants are all about the details.

 I was first drawn to this sewing pattern for the unique pants, but after sewing up the vest, I fell in love with it, too. The asymmetrical zipper vest has a slightly oversized collar and gathered back with buttoned tab. This vest is made up in some nice thick soft wool because where we live it gets cold. It has a silver metal fashion zipper and also 2 cat paw shank style buttons which are silver metal (and made in Italy). The wearer of this vest adores cats, so I was delighted to find these cat paw buttons.

 There were problems along the way with sewing up these pieces, but I'm super pleased with how they both turned out, so I guess all is well that ends well. This style pleases me so much I hope to sew some more in the future.

 Project details
Pattern: Clever Charlotte Jasper Vest and Jodhpur Pants (sizes 2T-8)
Size: 5
Modifications: The hem on the pants is .5 inch instead of 1 inch
Fabrics:
Pants: khaki twill (school uniform bottoms are to be khaki, so she will be wearing these pants to school)
Vest: raspberry pink wool, lining in cotton gray with white polka dots is from the Captain Phillips Collection from Blue Hill Fabrics

 I also whipped up a little matching hair accessory, the pattern is the Oliver + S bow hair tie. (The long sleeve t-shirt she's wearing was store bought).

How did KCW go for you?

Day of the Dead Skull Crayons

 Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebrated November 1st (All Saints' Day) and 2nd (All Souls' Day). Sugar skulls are very popular as decorations. I was inspired by the sugar skulls and came up with this craft to do with kids. We have made DIY Ice Cube Tray Crayons before.

I bought the silicone ice cube tray with skull shapes for $1 at a dollar store, but others with skull shapes can be found at large craft stores for about $10.

 DIY Day of the Dead Skull Crayons Tutorial

• Gather similar colored crayons
• Remove the paper wrappers
• Break the crayons into small pieces and place them in a small glass jar
• Place the jar in a small pot of boiling water on the stove
• Once all the crayons have completely melted pour the melted crayon mixture into the silicone ice cube tray
• Wait for them to harden, then remove from ice cube tray

Now the kids can enjoy coloring with their new skull crayons. Have fun crafting with your kids for Day of the Dead.

Barbie Reversible Circle Skirt Tutorial

 Last week when I was reorganizing my fabric stash, I came across some 7 inch diameter circles of fabrics. They were the centers of the circle skirts from the striped dress and plaid dress. I thought they would be perfect for circle skirts for a Barbie doll.

Barbie Reversible Circle Skirt Tutorial

What you need:

• Two different pieces of fabric cut into a circle, I used 7 inch diameter circles (In order to get a longer skirt, cut out a bigger circle)
• Rotary cutter with pinking blade
• 1.25 inch diameter circle paper punch
• Disappearing ink fabric marker
• Scissors
• 5/8 inch or 1 inch fold over elastic

 What you do:

• With right sides together, sew .25 inch (or edge of presser foot) all around the outer edge of the circle.
• Trim using a rotary cutter with pinking blade.

• To create the 1.25 inch diameter circle paper pattern piece, use a 1.25 inch circle paper punch. (Or use a compass to draw a circle).

• Place that circle pattern piece in the center of the fabric circle, trace it, and then cut it out.

• Turn the circle skirt right side out and press with iron.

• Take the fold over elastic and fold it over the raw edge of the waistline, sew around with multiple step zigzag stitch (it is suggested to use a 2 or 3 stitch length and a ball point needle). If you have never sewn with fold over elastic before I recommend watching a YouTube video to learn how.

• Cut off the excess fold over elastic.

 Slip the reversible circle skirt on a Barbie.

Enjoy sewing your Barbie reversible circle skirts!