Christmas!

Here are some pictures from our Christmas morning! It was our first real christmas as a family in our own home so it was pretty special! We had a great breakfast that Brandon made for us and then opened our presents before we had to hit the road and visit all of our parents. Anywho, here they are!













































Tonight, we're going to Pappadeaux (my favorite restaurant ever) and then to see a play! I can't remember if I told you guys but I closed my second store so that I could just combine the two! And my special surprise is that I opened a new storefront!!! Here's a link for you to check it out, tell me what you think. It's integrated with Etsy so I still have my store there but I have a little website that I can customize and show off my stuff! And then when people check out, it takes them right back to Etsy. Pretty cool, huh? If you have an Etsy store, you should definitely check this out: CraftLaunch. Well, I'm off to enjoy my weekend. 

Friday! Friday! Friday, ooooooooh! 

DIY Christmas Gifts

Here are a few christmas presents I made for Eliza and Brandon. Starting with the shirt I made for Brandon. Here's how I did it!


My pretty mommy helped me with the pattern. She gave me this paper stuff to use and sketched out the pattern I had in mind. (cause she's a pro)


Then, I taped my pattern to the shirt. 








And pounced it with some black fabric paint. I let this dry for about 30 minutes, moved the pattern (lining it up so that it's not crooked) and did the rest of the shirt. 


It's still a little crooked but I like it! And so does Brandon (atleast I think so...) I love that it looks handmade. 
This next one is what I made for Eliza! I used one of her favorite dresses as a pattern. I have had this pretty pink paisley jersey fabric for a while and it was perfect for this project! 





So first, I cut out the skirt (basically a rectangle). Making sure to that it's two layers. 


Then, I did the same thing with the top. 


I dug this pretty tulle-like fabric (soft though) out of my closet to go over the bottom of the skirt. I cut it a bit longer than the skirt part. 


So here's all my pieces. 


Then, I basted the mesh fabric to the bottom skirt part. Making sure that it's evenly distributed (the ruffles that is). 


Then (separately), I sewed the side edges of both skirt pieces to make it a complete skirt. 


Ta-da! Skirt! 





Then, I got my top piece and sewed the side edges (print side facing each other)


And then I marked the middles of the top and the skirt so that I could attach it to the skirt in the right places (this is my lazy way of avoid having to do the whole baste and then pull the strings to get the ruffles thing)


I then pinned the top to the skirt (with right sides facing each other). 


And sew! 


Then, I cut some straps, sewed them on, and then made gathered the skirt in 4 different places to give it a princess-y look! 

It's pretty freakin' cute if I don't say so myself. I do have to adjust the straps though.... but other than that, perfecto! I made a few other things for christmas gifts but these were my favorite! 

Today is Thursday! Which is my favorite day! Because we eat wings! And I have an obsession with wings!

Also, I've got an exciting surprise coming up!! If you follow me on twitter than you know (:

And before I forget, I got a new signature (down below). You like??

House Tent & Christmas Pictures

One of our (probably most favorite) advent activities was to make a fort! And we actually decided to make our whole living room (and bedroom but I don't have pictures of that) into one huge fort! These pictures don't really do it justice but you can get the picture











My edited tree: (ie no tinsel)



(some other holiday-eee shots of my house)




And then some pictures of christmas cards in the making! I posted some pictures from my phone but those were awful, sorry about that.











 Today was my first real day of work and boy did it feel good to do actually do stuff! Also, my backup purse (my previous one's strap broke about a week ago).... well the strap on that one broke today too. Sooo, I made a trip to Goodwill on my way to work and got myself a brand new one (well new to me atleast). I'm so glad I went today too because I found a Dooney & Bourke bag for $19.99! Scoooore. And I really really like it, I'll have to share pictures later. Or you can follow me on twitter and see it yourself! 
In other news, I started school yesterday. I think I'm a mix of excited and uneasy about it... I only took two online classes this semester because I kind of overdid it last semester. I wish I could take more so I can just be done with it but for my sanity, I chose to slow down this time around..... Oh! Also, I just died my hair and I think I'm in love. Think dark auburn. 
Well I think that's about it folks. The week is halfway over! Here's to Wednesdays! 
xoSam