Caroling

Last night we went caroling with friends from Church. It is the first time I've ever done caroling outside in the cold - and it was everything I dreamed it would be.

Don't believe Eliana's face below - she loved being snuggled up to her daddy, going from house to house singing. I especially loved singing about the birth of our glorious Saviour to neighbours.

Lilah thought the singing was ok, but slept through most of it :)

Sewing fever

Sewing that crayon roll ignited in me a passion for sewing again. So the next day I finally made some new cushion covers. I learnt that I could use things in my home to create a cover, so it didn't cost a cent. I used the never-fail 'Google' and 'You Tube' combination to search "sew cushion covers" and used this tutorial.

For the first cover I used left over material from the (awesome) nappy bag my mother made while we were in Australia:

For the next cushion I attempted creativity and used scrap material, a belt and an old t-shirt. I used an old thin towel for the back:

For the third one, I used two different scrap materials and an old nighty for the white band:

Eliana seems to like them - she pretends they are new friends :) I'm now on the hunt for more things from our house that I can revamp in order to brighten things up over the winter season!

Crayon Rolls

Last night, Nate bought Eliana some crayons and a colouring book for Christmas. A friend had told me about crayon rolls, so I googled how to sew one (don't you love that google can be a verb!) I took the instructions from here. It was a very rewarding project - a great way to use up scrap material, and it didn't take very long - even for my novice hands. I made two in one night.

I made the one below first, but the size was for regular crayons, and therefore a tight fit for the big triangle crayons that Nate bought. I could foresee this causing frustration for Eliana (picture crayons going flying in the middle of church).

So I added an inch to the height of my next roll and a 1/4 inch for each crayon pocket (7" x 22") and it turned out to be a better fit (although the height could be 1/2" shorter).

I think I want one for Christmas too!

Happy Birthday, my love

All reading for the semester is due tomorrow. So - after a special dinner and chocolate cheesecake - this is how we are spending Nate's birthday. Tomorrow - we celebrate!