and now back to our regularly scheduled programming

Back to the routine this morning. Kira's at school and Jackson is sleeping in, so I get some blog time. Derek took the week off following Christmas and it was so lovely to have an extended holiday. I am glad to be getting back to our regular flow of things, though. (Although, if we were independently wealthy and he got to be home all the time, you'd better believe I could go with that flow!)

I've been debating if I want to do a series of handmade Christmas posts or just one marathon one. I'm going with the marathon. I didn't get pictures of quite a few things, but I do have several pics for y'all.

All in all, I'm really glad that I did a mainly handmade Christmas this year. Crocheting into the wee hours snuggled up on my couch with a beer and Craig Ferguson on the TV is WAY more pleasurable than battling the mall.

I think everyone sincerely liked their gifts and I know I thoroughly enjoyed making them all. I'm already planning for next year, so if you're on my Christmas list, start dropping hints. (And yes, Dad, I'll have your longer scarf done soon.)

Now for the pics. First up, gifts for the kids from us.

I had originally planned for Santa to handle the puppet stage, but he totally wussed out on me. Since I created it from 12:30am to 4:45am the night of the 22nd, it was most definitely from me. It's a doorway stage that you hang from a tension rod with dowels above and below the stage opening for stability. It all folds up into a storage case. The pattern is from Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol. It was super easy to follow. It calls for cutting the dowels down, but I wanted our stage to be a little wider for our doorways. Of course, middle of the night sewing doesn't lead to very good math skills, so I didn't even think about making the case longer to accommodate the longer dowels. You'll notice they stick out. Big-whoopty-freakin'-do is what I say.

Front of stage:

Back of stage:

Poorly measured (but still cute) case:

For Jackson, I did a double sided game quilt - checkerboard on one side and tic tac toe on the other. I just made it up as I went along, so no pattern really. I made a simple drawstring bag to hold the folded up board and the checkers. He loves it.

Kira's baby received a mini wardrobe of crocheted and sewed things - two outfits and three flannel/velcro sided diapers. We use sposies round here, so Kira changes her baby and then proceeds to throw the diaper in the trash. I don't know how many times I've fished those suckers back out. You'll notice that Fancy Nancy is also sporting a new sweater. I was trying out a pattern for my nephew and it was a little too small.

Santa brought painted things made by the elves, in addition to art supplies, books, puzzles, games (Twister - hilarious to watch them play this!), a scooter for Jackson, and a baby highchair for Kira.

It was a wonderful Christmas morning. My parents visited in the morning, lovely in itself, but they also totally rescued us by bringing food. In all my Christmas preparations, I neglected to think about getting to the grocery store before we left for a couple of days with the in-laws. Christmas morning found us without eggs, and almost out of milk and coffee. Derek improvised some yummy pancakes and Nana and Poppy brought cheese ball, crackers, and pies, and full tummies were had all around. Crisis averted.

Some pics of other gifts:

wrap for my grandma

various scarves and hats for my parents, cousins, and niece

Derek and the kids took over making our gift for his parents (love. him.) - he made collages of the kids' artwork, handprints, and pics through the year. We had them laminated in ledger size laminate so that they could use them for placemats. I didn't get a shot of the post-laminate creations, but here's a pre-laminate collage.

Several gifts not pictured:

My niece's dress-up kit was a big hit. I ended up doing a tutu, reversible cape, and crocheted crown. She, of course, wore them all at the same time along with 8 Christmas bows and about 79 layers of the lip gloss my MIL bought her.

I crocheted a baby blanket for our nephew. I started it before I re-learned how to crochet, so the whole thing was in half-double herringbone. It. took. for. ever. But it's really thick and great for this crazy cold winter we're having.

Ok, Jackson's up, so I have to wrap this up. Have a great day, y'all!

Love, Wendy