Merry Christmas and Happy 2012!

We wish everyone a Merry Christmas!   This year has been wonderful for us and can only continue to get better.


The kids are really going to miss seeing Santa at the Scarborough Town Centre:

They had a blast playing with their stockings:

They had fun writing to Santa and getting a letter!

We baked and ate a lot of Gingies:

But as parents, nothing makes us happier than watching the two of them play together and take care of each other.

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Holiday Treasuries on ETSY

I do feel honoured that people find my items worthy enough to be featured in an ETSY treasury.  Here are several more that have been curated by some very nice people!  There seems to be another theme here and that's called "spot the fabric".  I can actually tell now who uses the same fabric as I do.  Cool huh?

This one is called Red & White Stripes... Click here to view more information

This one is called Kandy Kane Kaos.  Click here to view more information

 

This one is called White and Grey Christmas.  Click here to view more information

This one is called Handmade for Good Little Boys and Girls.  Click here to view more information

This one is called Candy Cane Kisses.  Click here

Have a nice day!!

Sew, Mama, Sew! Contest Winner

Thank you all for entering the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway!  I was really happy to see so many responses and I loved reading each of the comments.

Using the Random org number generator, the winner is:

# 61 Brooke Crook.   She said "I plan to use this for my little boy and his toys!"   Congratulations Brooke, I've sent you an email.

Again, thank you to all who entered and for your comments.  I'm sorry I can't give one away to each of you.

If you would like to give this as a gift to yourself or to a little one, I am offering Sew, Mama, Sew! readers a coupon code that will provide you with 15% off on any toy leash in my Josh & Teo ETSY shop.  Just make sure that you enter the code SEWMAMASEW15 before you check out of my shop to receive the discount.  This code will be valid until December 23, 2011.

Have a great day!

Jenny

p.s.  I will be participating in the Spring 2012 SMS Giveaway so be sure to check back!

Tutorial: Easy Christmas Stocking

Today we are going to make personalized stockings!

Skill Level: Easy
Items Needed:  Stocking, Felt, Scissors, Needle, Coordinating Thread, Glue Stick

Average Time: 10 minutes

Monkey is interested in all things Christmas.  Last year, he was just beginning to understand but this year, he’s actually asking us questions.  When we first told him about the stockings, he ran to his room and started putting little toys in his socks.  He’s the best!  So I figured, it’s time to go get some Christmas stockings.  With not a lot of time left before Christmas, I decided not to make one from scratch.   They are probably the easiest thing in the world to sew but I have an even easier way to personalize our Christmas stockings.

I went to the Dollarama and got these.  Most people know that I love to DIY most of my projects.  But sometimes, it’s not necessary to DIY the whole thing.   These stockings are cute enough for the kids – probably could be sturdier – but totally do-able.

Choose stockings that have the fold over top.

Buy a sheet of inexpensive felt from Michaels or another craft store.  Felt is great because it doesn’t fray.  Jersey is also a great choice but anything else will most likely fray and won’t look good over the long run.

You can free-hand draw your initials onto the felt but I like to sample some of the newer fonts and designs that are available for free on the internet.  Open up a word processing program and choose a large font size (150-200) and your font.  I used a font called “Ravie” for our stockings.  To save on ink, in font properties, click on “outline” so that you only print the outline.    

Cut out your initial and trace it onto the felt.  I like to turn the initial around so that my pen marks don’t show on the final product.

Glue the initial onto your stocking.

Hand stitch the initial to the stocking

Voila!  You are done!  

There's still time to enter Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway!  Click here for my contribution or click on the link below to see some other great stuff!

Sharing and Caring

This past Friday, Monkey had his very first dentist appointment.  He said the experience was "nice" and was so excited to get his loot bag (a.k.a.  toothbrush, floss, and colouring book).   We were so proud of him, especially since it was his first time!  Something happened that made us even prouder.

Monkey has always been the sweetest kid around but even more so on Friday.   After his dentist appointment, he was allowed to visit Dr. Status' treasure chest of fun toys.   He picked a toy for himself and was ready to leave when the receptionists told him to pick another for Baby Bunny.  Hubby said that he dug and dug through that treasure chest to find Baby Bunny the perfect toy.  What did he do?  He searched for a toy that was almost the same as what he got.  He wanted his little brother to have something that he also really liked too.  He even bypassed a dinosaur toy!!

Here's a pic of the toys.  Monkey's toy is the big one and Bunny's is the little one.  How sweet!

Baby Bunny loves Monkey and sometimes when we drive, they hold hands

Friday was also fun because it snowed again!  Not enough to make snowballs, not enough to shovel, but enough for it to come down like rain.  It melted but that's ok!  He kept trying to catch the snow.

So we are still playing with the pom poms until the real stuff comes down.

Kids are the best!

p.s.  Don't forget to enter the Sew Mama Sew Giveaways!  Click the link below to enter

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!!!

Sew Mama Sew is doing a Giveaway Day!  There are SIX pages of giveaways open all week, from December 12-December 16.   You can choose to enter to win goodies from the following categeories:  Handmade for the Home, Handmade Baby and Kids items, Handmade Bags, Handmade Accessories, Handmade Sewing Supplies, and Other Craft Supplies. 

It's such a great way to visit some crafty blogs as well as enter to win tons of handmade goodies.   

This year I'm really happy to be participating.  I wasn't able to last year since Baby Bunny was just 2.5 months and I was so busy with a newborn and a toddler entering into the "interesting" 2s.    

Here's what you are going to win:  A Toy Leash from Josh & Teo Handmade for Babies and Mamas

Great for holding Sophie the Giraffe but also useful for holding snack cups and other toys!  Also great at playdates when you're trying to figure out "is that my toy or your toy"? 

Contest Details:
This giveaway is open internationally and ends Friday December 16th at 8pm EST.  A  random number generator will choose one winner. 

Entries:
1st Entry - Leave a comment in the box below.  Tell me who you plan to give this toy leash to!  

2nd Entry - Follow my blog.  If you already follow, that counts as a second entry too.

Please leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry.  For each entry, leave your EMAIL ADDRESS in your comment, which may be written as:  jenny (at) hotmail (d0t) com, if you're worried about leaving your real address in cyberspace.


I will announce the winner in a blog post on December 18.  If you left an email address, I will contact you for your mailing address.  The order will ship by December 24th.

12/16/2011 - 9pm EST.  This contest is NOW closed

Tutorial: Easy Pom Poms

Today we are going to make pom poms!  These little poms are so easy to make and are lots of fun to have around.  Most people make these for scarves or hats but we are using them as indoor snowballs and as Christmas tree ornaments.

We had our first snowfall last Thursday and boy were the kiddies excited to see snow.  Monkey kept asking me if he could go outside and make a snowball.  We didn't have enough snow for a snowball so I thought, why don't I make the kids some yarn pom poms so they can have a snowball fight inside the house? 

Skill Level: Easy
Items Needed:

Yarn

Cardboard

Pen

Scissors

Average Time: 10 minutes

Step 1:  Make a template for your pom pom.  
Use a glass jar or something round and trace a circle onto the cardstock.  Cut and make 2.










Step 2:  Place the two discs together and wrap the yarn around the discs. 

Step 3:  Carefully snip the yarn at the out edges around the entire disc.  Hold on tight!  Step 4:  Slip a piece of yarn in between the discs and tie a knot.

Step 5:  Pull the pom pom through the disc.  If there are some longer pieces of yarn, trim with scissors to get a nice round shape.

You're done!  How easy was that?



Now you can decide what to do with it.  I made my poms small enough for the kids to hold.

I made a really big one but it didn't turn out as nice as the tiny ones.  I used the big one at the base of the little Christmas tree and hung some little ones.







Of course little Monkey had some for our snowball fight. 

Let me know how it turned out for you!  Enjoy your pom poms!

Dinosaur Sandwich and all Things Dinosaur

We are officially in Dinosaur phase and I'm wondering... was I ever in this phase or is this just a boy thing?  Recently, we were cleaning out the basement and rediscovered the coolest thing ever!  A dinosaur sandwich cutter from Williams Sonoma from Auntie V.  It's tall so you can cut sandwiches but I'm sure we can make cookies with it too.  It also comes with a handy case which can be used to hold his sandwiches.  I "heart" Williams Sonoma.

Monkey thought I was the best mom ever!  He decided to make a turkey and cheese sandwich and I let him help me cut it out.

He also wanted dino to have some eyes so we used chocolate chips.  Then he said dino should have eyes on both sides.   Such a smartie! 

So did he eat the whole thing?  Yes!  After all, once you cut out the dinosaur, it's like half a sandwich!  Who ate the rest?  Dada of course!

Continuing the dinosaur trend... we have:

Dino PJs

Dino Water Bottle

and Dino Toys, Socks, books, etc...  

He still hasn't forgotten his dino birthday cake.

I wonder what the next phase will bring? What are your kids obsessed with?

ETSY Holiday Treasuries

Here are some treasuries that we were featured in recently.  There's something about red and green stripes at this time of year :o)

This one is all about the colour green.  Click here to go to ETSY. 

p.s.  Not sure if you can tell but at least 3 of us are using the exact same fabric!

This one is the first children's toy treasury that I have been featured in. It's called Vivid Child's Play.  I love the sewing machine and the Vespa scooter.  Click here to view.

Here is another treasury called Christmas Wish. Click here!

Here's red again in a treasury called "Pop Red".   I love the felted mushrooms.  Reminds me of the Smurfs (the original!!).  Click here to get to the treasury.

Recipe: Sugar Cookies

Today we are going to make sugar cookies.  This is my go-to recipe whenever I want to make cut out cookies.  So yummy and easy to make! 

Skill Level: Easy
Items Needed:

Mixer

Baking Sheet

Parchment Paper (if desired)

Cooling Rack
Plastic Bag/wrap

Rolling Pin

Cookie Cutter

and Ingredients (only 6)!

Average Time: 45-60 minutes

 

Get a Little Buddy to Help out

Ingredients:

3/4 cup soft butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1/4 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar

Add vanilla and egg

Add flour and salt

Mix until you have a dough. Divide and flatten into discs.  Put the discs into the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface

Let little helper try it too!

 

Use fun shapes.  Since it's still fall, I used leaf cutters.  But this recipe is so easy to use for all season and holidays!

Score the "leaf" with a knife so that it looks even more realistic.

Bake in the oven at 325F for about 13-15 minutes.  Cool on a cookie rack and enjoy!

Make lots of different shapes for variety.

Put it in a nice tin and bring it to your next party!