Christmas Crafts

I have been crafting a little this December but I didn't want to blog about it because I was doing most of it as gifts. 

I got this idea from Mon Petit Violon she had a ton a great patterns. If you decide to try this one I would recommend making them smaller than your shoe size.  

I got this idea from Sarah Ortega she explains in great detail how to make these. I did one for my Mom, sister and my self. My Mom's is in the center there is a bead for each of her children. I thought about doing birth stone colors but we all have a red birthstone so I did favorite colors instead. My sisters in the brown one and it has one bead. She is expecting her first child in April, and the birthstone in April is a diamond, so I did a clear bead. Mine has two beads one for my daughter who was born in November and one for my second child who is due in May. 

For these I just used a washer, scrapbook paper and mod podge. I cut them out with a whole punch and scissors. They were super simple, I just did a layer of mod podge on the washer and a few layers on top.  

This idea came from pinterest. I saw this quote and loved it. I made this for both my Mom and my Mother-in-law! 

Belly Band

Since being pregnant I have been hearing about this Belly Band and wanted to try it out. I was going to wait and make some with my sister when I visited Utah. Unfortunately, in the last few days my belly has grown quite a bit and my pants started to get a little tight.
For those who don't know a Belly Band is made from stretchy material that looks like an undershirt but you wear it over your pants and keep your button undone for those who need a little extra space.

I used extra material that I had at my house.
Materials:
about 1/2 yard of knit or stretchy fabric (waist size previous to pregnancy by 20")
Sewing machine with stretch setting or zigzag stitch
Stretch needle or ball point needle.

I did not have a piece of material wide enough, so I had two 13" pieces plus 1/2 for seam allowance. Sew both long side together good sides facing each other so you have a long tube. Unless you have a long enough piece of material to fit your waist. Then you would sew the 20" sides together.

 Then Iron the seams to make a good finished product in the end.

Sew one short side together still inside out. Then go to the other short end and put it through to make a tube still inside out to keep seams consistent. If you have one long piece skip this step.

The sew around the short end of the tube, but not all the way around so that you can turn it right side out. All you need now after turning it right side out is to finish sewing the rest by hand to close the rest of the seam.

Lie it flat and iron it out to make it look beautiful. Flip it around so that the seam is on the inside of the band and put it on.

Check how mine turned out. It looks like a normal undershirt and I can now wear my pants!

2 Years Old

This little one just turned 2!

Photos for A New Missionary

I took these for a missionary entering the MTC! 

a before of the shoes!

Good Luck Elder!