Snow Day Craftiness

So what do you do when it randomly snows two feet overnight? I decided to make Christmas stockings. Actually, I was already planning on making the stockings that day, but not being able to go anywhere definitely reinforced the plan. You see, a few weeks ago I decided that I would make a Christmas tree skirt, so I bought a whole bunch of fabric only to realize later that we actually bought a tree skirt last year. Oops. Good thing that I also had it on my list to make stockings as well.

Last year, Justin's mom gave us his stocking that he'd used growing up, so I decided to make one for me and Colton to match. (Warning: Those who are not so interested in craft projects, should probably just scroll to the bottom at this point and look at the finished product.) I started by cutting 2 1/2 inch strips of 5 different fabrics, sewing them together and then ironing them flat.

Then I realized, I should probably have some kind of pattern, so I traced Justin's stocking onto newspaper. This is good because I ended upcutting out two front quilted pieces, two back pieces, four pieces of muslin and four pieces of fusable fleece. I guess I should point out right now that this project took me all day.

Once the front piece was cut out, I had to sew on the toe and heel and embroider around them. (Justin's mom used lace, but it turns out that I don't actually have any lace on hand. Justin thought maybe I could cut up a lacy shirt, but it also turns out that I don't own any lacy shirts...)

Once the front was entirely done, then I just had to attach it to the fleece and muslin and quilt down the front. Then I attached it to the back. I included the picture to show that I actually used pins. Sometimes the quality of my sewing workmanship is seriously hampered by the fact that I am too lazy to put in pins. It just seems like so much effort to pin stuff just to unpin it again. I guess the efficiency of not pinning is undermined by the ineffeciency of having to unpick things and redo them. Anyway, all that was then left to do was sew on the top, and voila! Two of the cutest darn Christmas stockings you have ever seen!!

And what was Justin doing all this time? Well, he was taking care of Colton and finding us the perfect mortgage...because while I was sewing, the offer we put on a house was approved!

Watch out Bob Ross

I'm not exactly sure what possessed me, but I recently decided that it would be a good idea to paint a very large tree on the wall of our nursery. No, I have never actually painted anything, but I do have a deep and abiding love for Bob Ross and all the happy little trees he painted playing in the sunshine.

So how did someone so un-artistic as myself manage to paint an 8-foot tree on the wall? Well, I found this picture online:

Then I drew a grid on the picture and Justin helped me draw one on the wall. With the grid in place, I just had to go block by block and plot some points of the outline of the tree. Then I connected the dots and started painting:


Trying to blend the colors was the trickiest part. Here's the final product:


For an extra special touch, I "carved" our initials on he trunk. I did this because we are in love.


Here's the final comparison:










You may notice that my tree is a perfect reflection of the model tree. I decided that the big part should be on the left. Why? I don't know. It just seemed like that's how it should be. Anyway, the idea is that I will eventually gather pictures of our immediate families and hang them in the branches. Get it? It's a family tree. I'll post the final pictures of the nursery when I get it done. It's kind of still a storage room at this point, butI still have seven whole weeks...

Look what Justin made!!

Well, as if Justin didn't already do everything, we can now officially add "artist" to his long list of qualifications. Believe it or not, he made this from scratch. Well, he didn't make the license plates, but he did cut them out and build and paint the backdrop. We got the idea for this about a year ago when we saw a similar work of art at the National Portrait Gallery.

Anyway, Justin decided that he could make one...and it turns out that he was right (which is good because the one at the Portrait Gallery cost $4,000). Besides the suggestion I gave him to actually plan which color of license plates he was buying (so that all of the Western United States didn't end up the same color) he did the whole thing himself. And it fits in so nicely with our vibrant red couches. Bravo, my love! (Watch out Dan Bradshaw--you're not the only "arteest" in the family now!)

Here's a better view...

And here it is when I used the flash...you can tell which license plates were really old because they didn't reflect...

Pretty sweet!!