"It's All About That Place": Aloha

A few weeks ago, the girls' school had Hawaiian Day, but only told the parents the afternoon before. I don't really buy/make the girls much in the way of tropical clothing.  So cue me sewing like a crazy person all night.  Since Project Run and Play's first week's theme is "It's All About That Place" I thought I would enter Laurel's dress. 

For her dress, I used the peasant dress from the Sweet Innocence pattern by My Treasured Heirloom using a random tropical floral fabric someone gifted me.  Laurel loves this pattern since it is "puffy" and twirly.  

As you can see, we definitely haven't entered Spring yet.  So tropical getaway sounds like a great idea to us.

Christmas Traditions

I know it is a bit early for talking about Christmas, but I was asked by Paperless Post (I wasn't paid) to share some of the traditions we have for the holidays.  I love Christmas and have Christmas on my brain anyways, since I'm helping to plan a huge party for my husband's work (75 tables!).

With the recent moves, some of our traditions have changed, but most remain.  For example, while living in Idaho, I loved going into the forest soon after Thanksgiving to find our Christmas tree and then decorate it while listening to music and drinking hot cocoa.  Now that the forest has been replaced with onion fields and vineyards, we got an artificial tree, which Michael loves, because it is prelit.  So we now we do the same thing just with a different tree.  Though we don't use Santa (except dressing up Vanilla as Santa), we put up stockings and put in small fun surprises and treats for the girls.

Something else we try to do each year is to make cookies and chocolates.  Growing up, my Grandma did this every year and since she passed, I have been trying some of her recipes.  One of my favorites of hers are Peanut Butter Balls, which I have blogged about here.  Someday when I'm brave enough, I will try making her Almond Roca.  In addition to those, we usually make Oreo Truffles.  For the cookies, we often make gingerbread cookies and sugar cookies.  One year, we make some Perky Penquins and Candy Cane cookies that we a huge hit.

Another tradition we have been starting for the girls have been Advent Calenders.  In the past we have read different parts of the Nativity Story each day.  This year I got a Meri Meri one, that I think the girls will love, since they will be building the Nativity Scene and can play with the little pieces.  A plus for me is that we can reuse it.

Some years we send out Christmas cards.  The year that sticks out in my mind the most is one where our Christmas cards were also an announcment that we were going to have baby Eleanor!  Looking through Paperless Post, there are a ton of amazing options (including a bunch of free ones) and they will even email or mail them for you.  I could spend hours pouring over them trying to decide which one I want to use.  You should check out their Christmas Collection here.

What are some of your favorite traditions?

Grandma's Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

Every year my grandma would make a bunch of yummy treats.  Now that her health isn't what it was, she rarely makes them any more, so I asked her if I could copy her recipes.  One of my favorites are her peanut butter balls.  Since I made a batch this year, I thought I would share it with you.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 3/4 cups finely crushed graham crackers
• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 2 sticks melted butter
• 12 oz package of chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients, except chocolate, in a mixer.

Form into small balls and chill in a fridge for an hour.

Melt chocolate chips.  Dip balls and place on waxed paper.

Keep chilled until served.

I also made two different fudges (milk chocolate and butterscotch) using the recipe on the back of the Kraft Marshmallow creme jar and some oreo truffles using the recipe from here.  For the truffles, I also made some adding some broken candy canes inside and on top to keep track of which ones they were.

Merry Christmas!

Sewn Hats: Quick Snuggle Hooded Scarf

The weather here has turned decidedly more winter and low and behold my girls have outgrown all their winter hats.  I found this out when I tried to get them ready to be outside in 32 degree weather to 'help' Daddy collect firewood.  When their hats didn't fit, they got to wear mine, even though they were way too big, and I got to wear one of Daddy's.  The one Laurel was wearing kept falling over her eyes.  It was really cute.  Their coats have hoods. but they didn't want to stay on, so I knew I needed to break down and make something to keep their little heads warm.

Sometime this summer, I was given the book Sewn Hats, and from the start I knew I wanted to make the girls the Quick Snuggle Hooded Scarf by The Scientific Seamstress.

Source

Right after lunch after we got back from walking down the hill in the cold with no hats (the car battery died while we were up there), I pulled it out and got to work.  I wanted to use my caterpillar fleece I used here, since it is so cute and it is the only fleece I've bought.  I had about half a yard and it called for two fabrics in half a yard each and I had two girls to make them for.  Wracking my brain, I realized I had a bunch of fleece blankets I rarely use and one that I've never even opened.  The unopened one was yellow and would be perfect to go with the caterpillars and I had a fun frog blanket and a gray one to use for the other.

The title says this is quick, but for me it wasn't.  My printer ran out of ink so it didn't print the last pattern page till I threatened it.  Then some things came up at my husband's work that ended up in my running around making a dozen beds and I didn't get back till it was time for dinner, then the girls bed time.  I usually don't sew after they go to bed because my sewing machine is in the room right next to them and I want to spend time with Michael.  All in all, I got one of the two cut out.

The next day we woke up to six inches of snow and still snowing, which tells me I had better get these hats made pronto.

Michael took this for my on his phone after dark.  I'm pretty sure those lines are the trails of snowflakes.

I got them done and love how they turned out!  I love how low they are on the back of the neck and thanks to the scarf part they stay on great.  They are so cute!  They make me think of winter bonnets.  The only change I made was that I top stitched around to help keep down the puff.  I like tidy seam edges.