The lead up to Christmas was so busy that I had to let go of most of the crafting plans that I had made.

I was a bit disappointed. I had pinned lots of ideas in the middle of my uni semester. While uni is on I'm not able to craft. I plan instead and use these plans as motivation to make it through the uni semester. I was going to try to make a handmade present for all of the kiddies. But in the end I realised that my plans were unrealistic and were causing more stress than enjoyment. So I decided that in the future I would make birthday presents and buy Christmas presents. With that decision made I was able to relax.

I did manage to squeeze in this bit of Christmas crafting for the boys. On impulse I bought some Christmas sock monkey fabric when I was Windows shopping during one of Evie's late night feeds. It was really too cute to resist. I used the sock monkey fabric to make the boys some personalised quilted Christmas placemats for Christmas day. They were just the right sized quilt project for me. Not too big for me to stuff up majorly but big enough to let me practise my quilting skills.


A success I think. I'm adding personalised placemats to my list of standard present ideas.

More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

Now that I have a little one, I can finally try out some Christmas ideas which I've saved over the years. In the past, I'd often read about fun family Christmas traditions on blogs and I'd file them away in a box marked "for when I have kids".

One tradition I've decided to start is to make or buy a Christmas ornament for Evie each year. After seeing a super cute matryoshka doll ornament on Pinterest, I decided to make one of these for Evie's ornament this year. I embroidered Evie's name and the year on the back too, so that we can keep track. It was so cute that I decided to make one for Audrey too. Awww, two little dolls for our two little dolls.

Eliana turned six in July. Happy Birthday Eliana!

Way back in 2006, when the twins turned four, I gifted them pencil rolls and personalised pencils and textas. I figured since Eliana started Kindy this year that it was about time she got her own set of personalised pencils and textas. To put these in I whipped up a personalised pencil case as well. Eliana has an uncommon name so it's difficult to find things such as name plates with her full name. I thought she'd appreciate her personalised gifts.

Truthfully, I didn't just whip up the pencil case. I kind of left it to the last minute to make her gift. At the moment I'm not really at my best at the end of the day, so when I finished sewing Eliana's name I had a little mishap with the scissors. This mishap left a hole in the pencil case I then had to patch up. The little star above Eliana's name covers this accident. It almost looks like it's there on purpose. By the time I repaired my stuff up it was really late at night and I was exhausted. My very talented husband offered to finish the pencil case for me before I managed to ruin anything else. So this year's gift was a combined effort.

Along with the pencil case, pencils and textas, we also gave her a couple of how to draw books - I Can Draw People and Ed Emberly's Drawing Book of Animals.

The last part of the present was this super cool tshirt from Threadless. It lists fun rhyming ways to say goodbye. I can't decide whether my favourite farewell is "Peace out, river trout" or "Best wishes, little fishes".

Peace out, river trout.

More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

Susanna, John and Leah's little girl, turned two at the beginning of July. I'd been super organised and I made and posted Susanna's present to her before Evie was born. I knew that I wasn't going to have a lot of time to craft after Evie arrived.

One of the main reasons why I was super organised though was that I was a bit excited about Susanna's present. I had so much fun making Eliana's tutu, that I knew that I wanted to make one for Susanna too. I think the real reason why I love making tutus so much is that I secretly want to make an adult sized one for myself.

Susanna's tutu is pink with cream highlights. I also made a bag for Susanna to keep her tutu in.


I think Susanna likes her present. Leah said that Susanna also got a Ballerina doll for her birthday so now she can play dress ups with her dolly. Happy Birthday Susanna!

A new new bubba present. I made this blanket for Audrey as her birth day gift. It's patchwork on one side and polar fleece on the other side. Apparently this combination is a quilting no-no. I hope it holds together.

I put the colour combination together when I didn't know whether Audrey was going to be a boy or a girl. I really like the colours and think I've managed to make the quilt gender neutral.

It's my first experience of making a patchwork quilt. It wasn't a very complex endeavour though. I simply sewed pre-cut squares together, then quilted in the ditch (aha! look me with my fancy quilting terms) and then bound it. I did have to visit Daphne for a lesson in quilt binding. I really enjoyed that part because it involves hand sewing. I like to sit on the couch and watch TV and do a bit of sewing. I'm such a 50s housewife.

I think Audrey liked her blanket. She better watch out though because another person really, really liked it. After a busy Saturday, Leo curled up on the couch underneath Audrey's blanket to rest and watch tele. Leo said he was just looking after it for Audrey. At least I now have a good Christmas present idea for Leo.