The Veitch family came over on Sunday for a visit and a swim. It was the opportunity to finally give the girls their Christmas presents.

For Eliana I made a tutu using this no-sew tutu tutorial. It was as easy as tying pieces of tulle to an elastic. There really is no sewing necessary. (I did sew the elastic band rather than stapling it as the instructions suggested).

I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It's very pretty and poufy. I stayed away from pink and picked purple and teal coloured tulle. I think this colour combination works really well together. (I find when there are three little girls in a family it's best to try to avoid pink so as to prevent any possible arguments over who gets what.)

I also made a bag for the tutu to go in. I used a very pretty fabric that has little twirling ballerinas on it. I've had the fabric in my stash for ages! I finally found a project worthy to cut into the fabric. You really couldn't ask for a more perfect bag for a tutu.

Originally the twins were also going to get tutus but since they got tutus for their dancing concert last year, I had to come up with a different idea for Hannah and Sarah. When I did my prac last year, a little girl in my Kindy class brought in a cute hair clip holder that her mother had made for her. It was a little pillow with a ribbon hanging from it on which you could clip your hair clips. I had filed that one away in my inspiration vaults for later use. When the tutus were a no go I decided to give this project a go. After a little bit of research on Etsy, I whipped up a couple of hair clip holders for Sarah and Hannah.

Then I kind of overstretched myself on this project. I've been trying hard not to use wrapping paper anymore which means that we actually have no wrapping paper in the house. I've found substitute wrapping paper for adults (tea towels) and babies (muslin wraps) but still haven't found an easy substitute for the kids. Late on Saturday evening I realised that I didn't have anything with which to wrap Hannah and Sarah's presents. So I decided to sew a couple of drawstring bags to put their presents in. The bags only take half an hour or so to make but I have to make my own cord which is a little bit fiddly. I'm going to have to find a better (easier!) wrapping paper solution for the kids.

Tutus and hair clip holders. I really wish I knew more little girls because I'm not going to be able to recycle these present ideas for most of the children I know. I don't think Oscar or Leo are going to be requesting tutus any time soon.