You're a cute one, Miss Grinch

Outfit 66: 2013-14 School Year

My next to last day for sewing for this calendar year for school *sniff sniff*. I am actually working on tomorrow's outfit and its kind of sad. This school year is halfway over on Friday. When I first had this idea to sew every day for this school year, it was kind of abstract. Now that its halfway done, I'm happy that I have stuck with my goal and if I can make it here, I, God willing, will be able to finish this school year. That's kind of my approach with running. When I run distance, once I make it to the halfway point, I *know* I can do it. Something about hitting mile 7 and knowing that I am more than halfway done or hitting mile 13. I have lots of goals for next year and I'll be sharing them with you once I wrap up this school year's sewing. Tomorrow is our last full day of school before the break. Friday is early release and pajama day. I can't believe Christmas is a week away! And then my son's 13th birthday will be a week from Monday. Time certainly does fly and we should cherish every moment.

Some people have asked whats going to go on with the blog over the break. Well, I hope to get a jump start on some sewing for January but you won't see those pics yet. I'd like to post some tutorials and we are also going to be travelling some after Christmas, so I will be sharing stories from the road. We will be visiting Asheville, NC for the first time and then heading over to Gatlinburg, TN for a few days. What are your holiday plans? Whatever they are, I hope they are safe and blessed.

Today's outfit is a store bought Grinch shirt from Old Navy and a circle skirt partially from the instructions from Dana over at Made http://www.danamadeit.com/. The circle skirt tutorial can be found here http://www.danamadeit.com/2008/07/tutorial-the-circle-skirt.html.

I found this red minky dot at a 1.25 yd remnant at Joann and the white fur was a .85 yd remnant. Remnants were 75% off that day so I was like *score*. I had 2" wide elastic, so I followed the tutorial for the elastic and circle skirt. Then. I measured the hem edge of the skirt to add the fur trim. I accommodated for the length of the elastic and the trim when I was cutting my main skirt fabric. For the fur trim, I sewed my short ends together and then folded it wrong sides together. Then, I pinned and sewed it on. And this kid got compliments everywhere from school to Atlanta Bread Co. to Bath and Body Works to Pier One. And it was SO easy. I recommend you try this tutorial. And when you see the twirl you get from this skirt - major wow factor.

So, check it out!

Come back tomorrow to see how we wrap up this calendar year of school sewing! Its going to be gorgeous. Of course, I will probably still be working on it at 2am, but it will be worth it!

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Outfit 65: 2013-14 School Year

Who doesn't love a Charlie Brown Christmas? The message is so simple and true. Christmas isn't about the big box stores and the boxes and bows - it's the simple things. You don't have to have the biggest, shiniest tree because the true shine comes from the inside of all of us as we remember Christmas is CHRISTmas. Love is the only gift that truly lasts and the love of a Heavenly Father who gave us the gift of his Son is what Christmas is really all about. To have the gifts of love, of family, of friends - that is all we really NEED. I hope we are doing some good instilling that into our children. It's hard as parents to find that balancing act. You want your kids to have the things they want under the tree Christmas morning, but you also want them to know that if your house burnt down Christmas Eve night and took every gift and possession we owned, we would still have all of the gifts we need.

I truly hope all of you this Christmas season have the love of family, of friends. I pray for you all to have health and peace. I pray for all of you guys who may have illness - yourself or your family members. I pray for your happiness and well being. I pray for your provision this upcoming year. I know no life is perfect and no one knows what anyone else is going through, so if you have a tough time right now, I'm praying for YOU. 

I know tonight's outfit can't really follow that - but I hope it will bring you joy - it certainly did bring it to us today. This outfit was inspired by a Snoopy Santa shirt. So, our shirt is an upcycle and our coordinating knit skirt has fabrics from one of my favorite knit retailers - Euro Girls Boutique http://www.eurogirlsboutique.com/. 

The shirt:

I KNOW you are going to find this hard to believe because I NEVER use this pattern - ever ;) But the top is an upcycle version of the *drum roll* Greenstyle Lacy n Lane Hoodie http://www.greenstylecreations.com/products/lacy-n-lane-hooded-t-shirt-sizes-3-years-to-14-years.

The Skirt:

The skirt is a pattern I have used before many times for both C and me. Whats great about this pattern is it has sizes from 12m - womens XL AND doll size. The only thing I do to alter this is add length. I cut the 11/12 in size and then just go down to the women's XL length line. It adds about 3" to the total length. I also add length when I make them for me. This pattern is so much fun for upcycling. You can use your favorite team shirts. I have made them from our school shirts, college shirts. Or just any fun shirt. This particular skirt I used purchased knit for, but for most of the kid sizes, you can totally upcycle. So, hit your closet or the Goodwill and sew away. AND get this - you can have this sewn in half an hour from first cut to last stitch. No lie. It may not happen the first time, but this cutie sews up in a jiffy.

http://lilblueboo.com/shop/products/The-Twirl-Skirt-PDF-Pattern-and-Tutorial-%252d-Sizes-12M-through-Women%27s-XL-%28plus-doll-size%29.html

So, I hope this little piece of Charlie Brown's Christmas brings a smile to your face.

Only two more days left in our Christmas sewing sessions. I hope you are getting a lot of Christmas sewing done! Well, I am off to finish tomorrow's outfit. Stop by tomorrow and have a wonderful evening tonight!

Its Time to PARTY! In the Caroline Party Dress that is!

Outfit 64: 2013-14 School Year

Good Monday! Today I am excited to bring you a beautiful dress whose pattern was released today. I have followed Hayley's Blog Welcome to the Mouse House for a long time. She has released two other popular patterns - the Norah dress which was one EVERYONE's blog and the Julia Women's Cardigan which is in my queue for selfish sewing if I can ever find time (what is that??). You can shop her whole pattern selection here https://www.etsy.com/shop/MouseHouseCreations. 

I pattern tested the Caroline and let me tell you, it is as classic as classic gets. Clean lines, vintage feel - classic pretty girl dress. From seeing the other testers versions, this is a dress that can be jazzed up for formal occassions or even made in knits. It goes up to a size 12 and really the 12 has room to grow. I can see her staying in this for a while. It has several options to include adding tulle to the underskirt for those peppy parties where you need a little kick of netting. Here is the pattern cover view from the Etsy ad

This pattern is SO well written. I think even an adventurous beginner could tackle it - even with that invisible zipper - because the directions are so well laid out. It has a fully lined bodice, optional belt loops. It is gorgeous. It even has *drum roll* one of OUR favorite things - POCKETS!!! And to celebrate its release, you can use the code "Caroline" at checkout to save 20%. I honestly can't recommend this one enough. Also in the works is the women's version!! I can't wait for that one. I love this vintage style - for both of us.

Being that this is the last week of school before the Christmas Break, we are going to keep with the Christmas theme. I present our version of The Caroline Party Dress by Hayley from Welcome to the Mouse House and Mouse House Creations!

Baby, it was COLD outside!

Isn't it just classic and lovely. *sigh* I wish all girls still dressed like this all the time.

And because I don't talk about the older child as much, look at this picture the hubs caught of him this weekend. It breaks my heart because he doesn't look like a boy any more, you can really see him growing into a man. Two weeks from today, he will be a teenager *sniff sniff*. Where does the time go?

Thank you for stopping by tonight! And don't forget, if you are interested in getting the Caroline Party Dress with the discount - go to https://www.etsy.com/listing/173125718/the-caroline-party-dress-pattern-pdf?ref=shop_home_active and use code CAROLINE at checkout to save 20%.

See you tomorrow!

From me to you 2 - Quick and Easy 3 Ingredient Milk Chocolate Peppermint Bark

Welcome to another one of my gifts for you this Christmas season. If you are like me, you are being invited to dessert swaps, 'bring a dessert' parties or just looking for something simple and inexpensive but high in quality to give as teacher, coworker, or neighbor gifts. Today I am going to share one of my family's favorite Christmas recipes. I make this a million times during the holidays because it is gone as soon as a batch is done. This recipe came about because while my husband loved the idea of peppermint bark, he doesn't like dark chocolate. So, I gave the old standby a new twist by using milk chocolate. This recipe has 3 ingredients and will be ready to pop in the freezer in 15 minutes. AND you get to work out all of your aggression! What do I mean? Keep reading.

Christie's Quick and Easy 3 Ingredient Milk Chocolate Peppermint Bark

INGREDIENTS:
1 Bag of Ghiradelli Milk Chocolate Chips
2 Bags of Ghiradelli White Chocolate Chips
12 oz bag (or 2 6oz bags) of regular Starlight Peppermints

SUPPLIES:
Standard Size Cookie Sheet
Wax Paper
Ziplock Freezer Bags - 2 quart size or bigger
Cutting Board
Ice Cream Scoop or Mallet
3 Large Size Coffee Cups

LET'S GET STARTED!

Unwrap all of your peppermints and put them into one ziplock freezer bag. Press all of the air out and seal the bag. Place that bag into the other ziplock freezer bag, press all of the air out, and seal it.

Place your sealed bags on a cutting board and whack the living daylights out of it. No joke. Beat that sucker down. When the dust settles (pretty literally, even double bagged it happens), you will have mostly peppermint dust with some small peppermint chunks. If you see anything larger than around 1/4 of the size of the original peppermint, whack it again. Set aside.

Line your cookie sheet with wax paper and get ready - cause the good stuff is coming!

Take your Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips(okay and you may be asking WHY Ghiradelli? I have tried it with Nestle, the Walmart brand, etc and they are never quite as good as it is with the Ghiradelli. Does it have to be Ghiradelli? Well, no, I guess not, but it won't be as good - in my humble opinion that is ;) ), pour the whole bag into one of the large coffee cups (told you they needed to be big.).

This is where your mileage is going to vary and you need to pay attention. Microwave the cup for one minute. Take it out and stir. If you are able to get completely smooth and creamy chocolate, you are done. If not, microwave again for 30 seconds, stir, check. Chocolate can burn easily in the microwave and it is better to take baby steps with heating it. My microwave only takes one minute for the milk chocolate.

Pour the milk chocolate onto the wax paper covered cookie sheet. Using the back of a spoon, smooth it out fairly flat.

Let set for five to ten minutes. If you really want it set, throw it in the refrigerator, clean up all of the peppermint dust, use hot water and rinse out that chocolate cup and then get ready for the next step.

Take one bag of white chocolate chips and pour it into one of the large coffee cups (not the one you just used with the milk chocolate, see it should be clean and in the dishwasher by now.)
Microwave for one minute. White chocolate behaves a little differently than the milk. It will not get as smooth and creamy. If it is completely melted, good. If not, repeat like you did above.

Once it is melted, take your bag of peppermint dust and crumbs and pour about a quarter of it into the coffee cup.

Stir well.

Now, take your milk chocolate layer out of the fridge and glop your white chocolate/peppermint mixture on.

Distribute with the back of a spoon. You will probably not be able to cover your whole milk chocolate layer with the white which is why you are going to repeat this step with the other bag of white chocolate chips and another 1/4 of the bag of peppermint dust. Between the two bags, you should be able to cover the layer of milk chocolate pretty well.

Pour the remaining peppermint dust/crumbs on the top of the white chocolate layer.

Put the tray in the freezer overnight. The next day, place another piece of wax paper on top and bust that sucker up. Make the pieces as big or small as you want. We store them in sandwich ziplock bags in the fridge.

I promise you, they won't last :)

Let me know if you try it!

Come back tomorrow as we start our last week of Christmas sewing on our Handmade School Year project. I can't believe the end of the 2nd 9 weeks is this week. I will have been sewing her outfits every day for HALF of the school year!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Outfit 63 2013-14 School Year

Well, since you guys out west and north are hogging all the snow, I figured I would have to make my own - courtesy of JoAnn :) We are taking a turn from our red and green fabric and bringing out the ice colors - blue and white. Today's pattern is from Create Kids Couture http://www.createkidscouture.com/tweens/. It is the Marissa Pefect Peasant http://www.createkidscouture.com/marissas_tween

And since we live in West Central Georgia, here is probably the closest I will get to a beautiful snow fall :)

No snow but it was COLD this morning! Brrrr!

I will be bringing you another Christmas giftable tutorial this weekend. We had a Pinterest Girls Night Out Crafting Party tonight and we made my scarves from the tutorial. The ladies loved them. I actually ended up developing a variation for the tutorial that I will post later, too! We had a great time!

I hope you have had a wonderful week. I can't believe I only have one more school week of Christmas sewing to do. AND it will be the end of the 2nd 9 weeks - half of the school year gone. I went back and counted that this is the 63rd outfit I have sewn this school year. I can't believe we are almost halfway through!

Have a blessed and wonderful evening!