Mission Accomplished

I have occasionally had big ideas that are a little bit of a challenge to get accomplished.  And for some reason the Christmas season brings out the craftiness in me.  I guess I just feel like I'm giving a better gift if I put a little of myself and my time into it, instead of just my money.  This year is no different, although I must say I do like the results better (I'm actually getting decent with that little sewing machine).  Past years I've embroidered pillows, I've made things with mod podge (however you spell it), I've made candles and gifts in jars, I've made cookies and candies, and my projects havent always worked out well.  The difference this year....I really didnt feel like paying for patterns to make the things I wanted, so I had to put a few more creative juices to work (remember...I run a daycare and to get more than 45 minutes a day to work on projects is usually a sheer miracle...and I still have the 2 year old on weekends!)  So here's this years projects:

An apron, chef's hat, 2 potholders and 2 oven mits.  Got patterns (well instructions really there was no pattern to speak of to cut out the pieces, I had to make that myself) off the internet for the hat and apron, and anyone could figure out the potholder.  Just looked at one of my potholders and made them smaller.  The apron is completely reversible with a pocket on the back side even. The back is out of the red and white fabric.  If you can't tell, there are cherries and little ice cream cones on the green fabric.  I love it;)

Ok, I did buy a pattern for this.  A baby doll nightgown and an Emily nightgown to match.  This was the easiest of my projects.  I had instructions and they were pretty easy to follow.  The only problem was I'd only cut out half the ruffle for Emily's and I didnt have any extra material.  This idea was an afterthought because I had leftover owls and recently we've had to give baby a bath, and put her jammies on and put her in bed every night before we can go to bed so I think she'll like it.

Here's a baby doll diaper bag.  I made 5 of these.  I couldnt find a pattern online that I liked, so I just figured out how to do it.  If I were doign it again, I'd make the outside pockets a little bigger, because by the time I got all the seams in there they aren't super big, but baby doll stuff isn't all that big anyway.  One of the little girls isn't even a year old but I thought she might like to put toys or something in it until she gets big enough to want to use it for her babies.  I didn't however make all the other stuff for her, I got her a present that was a little more age appropriate.

Four dresses with little pink tights.  Used the pattern that I'd gotten to make Emily baby doll clothes for her birthday. 

4 little sleepers and hats.  These were also from a pattern, and fairly simple.  Some of you may recognize some of this fabric. I think the blue snoopy is still from Blaine's baby quilt, the garfield is from Cameron's:)  Like I said, time, not money went into this project.

4 Baby doll changing pads.  They velcro shut and then open up just like a real changing pad.

4 baby doll blankets.  Was having technical difficulty with the sewing machine on these so I hand quilted them and put the binding on by hand.  Took a little longer but looks good. 

4 little wipes holders.  These were the most challenging as I kept changing what I was doing.  The wipes are travel kleenex.  i'll have to put a note to the parents on these though cause they do have buttons and I dont want the girls to pull them off and eat them.  (really there is only one that might do that if the button fell off and they are on pretty securely!)

4 bibs and 4 burp cloths....these were pretty easy, I didnt have a pattern for these either, but we have tons of bibs around here and burp rags come in almost every shape and size!

8 baby doll diapers.  These aren't perfect, but they will work, and I know Emily will like them.  She's always trying to put her diapers (which I keep meaning to put away) on her babies, and they are just way too big.

Here's all the bags, stuffed full.  Total project cost:  approximately $3 per kid, time, well, we won't even try to figure that out, lets just say I was very happy to get this done on Wednesday!  And since typing this took a while, no wonder it seems as though I haven't had any free time, making it took a little time too!  But I think my crafting for the season is over.  I just need to actually wrap presents and get the stuff ready for our little Christmas party on Wednesday.

Now I think Emily and I are going to get ready, go pick up our Angel Food boxes and maybe stop and get some donuts on the way home.