Little girl's ruffled apron

My Anna was a market trader for the Christmas Nativity play.  She wasn't that keen as she envisioned her self as an angel but I persuaded her to take part in it if I made her a pretty apron for her costume.

She loves the ruffled edges.

Natural wreath

Times are tight and I didn't have the money to fork out for a wreath.  Minimum price is about 20 euro and some aren't that nice anyway.

So with a wire coat hanger, green garden wire (the only thing I had to buy) and some greenery, berries and pine cones from the hedgerow.   I made my own.

I just keep wrapping the greenery around the hanger and wiring it on until it looked full then add the berries and cones.  I hot glued the three cones together before wiring in on.

I'm happy with it :-)

Bunk beds

My oldest two (a boy and a girl) share a bedroom with bunk beds. I thought instead of Anna looking up at a mattress and wooden slates it would be nice to have a girly space for her.  So I made this pin board for her. The picture is rubbish but have you ever tried to take a picture while laying on the bottom bunk?  Turns out it is quite tricky. For me anyway!  

This is what I did

measured the width and length of the bed

taped some cardboard together (heavy duty tape) to make to right size

glued a fitted sheet around it. I used a spray adhesive for the front and hot glue at the back.

zigzaged some lace back and forwards.  Hot glued the lace to the back as I turned the lace

staple gunned it to the bed

Done!

She loves it = Success

Christmas

I am going to begin a blog about my sewing and crafting. I have been thinking about doing this for a while but life is busy with four children but I am going to start slowly and build it up over time. This is a entry I did in my blog I do to keep my family up to date. It's and entry I did 2 years ago. Can it really be that long? We only had three then!  The Nativity set is out again this Christmas and I am happy to say it is holding up well. This year it will be Ciara putting the dolls in her mouth!

For a few years now I have wanted a Nativity set that was child friendly. So, this year I finally did something about it. I found book in the library on making fleece dolls called Fleecie dolls by Fiona Goble (Great no expense on a pattern!) and one of the patterns in the book seemed just right. It was originally of a little Japanese doll, only 10cm tall called Suki which I thought would be easy to make up costumes to suit my purpose. So over the first week in December I did it. They need a few adjustments but over all I am happy with it. If you can tell who is who I've succeeded and the kids love and play with it too which was the original purpose.

Of course, Eógan thinks anything with a cape is a super hero and they end up flying around the room. 

Anna thinks the angel (which is her favourite) has a butterfly on it's back.

And Beth likes the fact she can put the soft toys in her mouth.

However, I hope that as we read the Nativity story over and over again they will gain a better understanding of the meaning of Christmas and their play will reflect that. Anyway at 3, 2 and 1 years of age I am happy they like it and the older two recognize Baby Jesus.

Have a Wonderful Christmas.