The Twirl Skirt

Demonstrating the "twirliness".

This is a new addition to my custom clothing line. My girls have enjoyed wearing their festive outfits several times this Christmas. After a trial-by-fire initiation where I had to make 2 in a few hours because the little girls they were intended for were leaving for Disney World ASAP and I had misunderstood when they needed to be completed (so sorry, Lana!), my own girls' skirts were a breeze to put together. They have a drop waist, coordinating or contrasting bottom band, and the gathers make for a fun twirl factor. They can be dressed up with ballet flats for church, or more casual with tights and boots. I'm sure you'll be seeing more of this pattern with different fabrics and accessories, so I'll try to post them as they are completed.

Twirl Skirt - $25

Christmas Wrap-up

We've had an amazing Christmas holiday and hate to see our remaining play days dwindle before school starts again next week. The girls are enjoying sleeping late, staying up late and playing with their Christmas stash. The weeks leading up to Christmas involved visiting Santa at church, driving around looking at Christmas lights, shopping for each other separately (they each labored over their gifts for each other and picked out the perfect thing for each sister) and drinking LOTS of hot chocolate. The marshmallow canister was replenished several times.

Tye began the tradition several years ago of celebrating "The 12 Days of Christmas" with the girls by leaving a small gift in their stockings each day beginning 12 days before Christmas. They're usually funny, inexpensive items but sometimes they're a little more substantial. This year he was extra sneaky and left something in my stocking several of the days as well. It helps build the anticipation of Christmas Day, as well as provide him the opportunity to spoil all 4 of his girls.

The hot chocolate station

The girls' Christmas outfits this year were twirl skirts with coordinating shirts. They got lots of use (because honestly, since I slaved over them, they were going to get worn!) and they received many kind compliments. Since this may be the last year I can get away with matching all 3 of them, I tried to appreciate it even more.

Christmas morning came early (at 5:00 a.m. --ugh!) so we could join the rest of the family at my in-laws', and everyone had fun opening their gifts to each other. I LOVE Christmas through my childrens' eyes. We emphasize the true meaning of Christmas and downplay the gift-giving, but really, it warms my heart to see this kind of reaction:

I'm so glad we haven't outgrown dolls at our house yet. I gave them each a handmade doll from here. I couldn't help it - they're just too cute and needed a good home.

Gentry is always easy to please. She was thrilled with everything she received, even the items she didn't ask for and were a little more "practical" than fun. The sports enthusiast, she received roller blades, a volleyball/badminton set, golf club and an electric scooter. All 3 girls got Pillow Pets too. Did everyone else in the world receive Pillow Pets this year? They were everywhere!

My oldest child (aka bookworm) had a very literary-intensive gift pile, including a new study Bible and cover, a Nancy Drew book set, several brain teaser and joke books, a Barnes and Noble gift card and, appropriately, a tall bookshelf for her room.

This was the second year Tatum asked for (and received) a drumset from Santa. The last set didn't stand up well to all the enthusiastic drumming, so hopefully this one will be the last set Santa has to deliver.

I hope you all had a memorable Christmas. I'm anxious to get back into the swing of things again, especially since Santa brought The Chocolate Zebra a new addition! I'll be back soon with details.

Merry Christmas!

May you know the joy of our Savior this Christmas and every day. Blessings from my family to yours.

Coffee and a Frame

I'm working on my last order today, which will hopefully ship out tomorrow (for you, Sara M.!) and then I'm done! The area underneath my Christmas tree needs some serious attention. I'll be back with a couple of fun posts about my girls and their Christmas outfits, but then I'll go silent for a little while to spend time with my family. We are pretty heavy into traditions at our house and we've added some new fun ones this year, so I'll try to be back to share about our family celebrations.

The coffee canister was a request by my mother-in-law, which I thought was a pretty ingenious use for it since it is airtight. I took a similar route and made ours a marshmallow container for the "hot chocolate station" on the kitchen island. The marshmallows do tend to disappear faster, though, since they're sitting right out in the open like that, but they look really cute and festive.

The frame is a little hard to see since it's all packaged up and ready to go, but I didn't want to untie everything just for a better picture. The scripture is James 1:17 -- "Every good and perfect gift is from above." Very fitting for any occasion, but never more appropriate than at Christmas time.

Pillows

Here are some more pillows I completed this week. I'm still open for orders until Sunday, and then I'll be taking a break until January. Christmas is TWO WEEKS away! Somebody needs to do some serious online shopping.

Have a great weekend!

Cleaning Out

I'm clearing out my sewing room and these are some items that are demos and are ready to ship. Let me know if any of them strike your fancy.

The big sister shirt is a size XS or 5. It's $20. I think it would make the perfect way to announce a new pregnancy to the family on Christmas morning. Anyone?

The "h" pillow is a smaller version of my traditional pillow. It measures 12" by 12" and is $15. The "levi" pillow is my regular size of 11" by 21" and is $25.

Getting Caught Up

These are some items I finished this week. See the cute little boy tooth pillow I mentioned earlier?

I'm still accepting orders until Sunday, so don't wait to order! I also have a weird feeling that my email may not be working completely, because there are several people I've contacted and haven't heard back from. If you've tried to email me and haven't gotten a response, please leave a comment on a blogpost letting me know. I hate the feeling that there might be customers out there drumming their fingers waiting on me to reply and I don't know it.

Custom Pillows

The name pillows have been a popular choice for lots of my customers for Christmas presents this year. Because of that, I've decided to reinstate orders again, but only for custom name pillows for Christmas. I'll take orders until December 12th to guarantee that it will be under your tree by the 25th. After the craziness of the holidays I'll be back to full operation again.

I didn't quite make my self-imposed deadline to clear my dry erase board this week but I'm getting close. I've had a few other events that kept me away from my sewing machine, but I plan to have a very productive weekend with my friends Caffeine and Keurig.

Christmas Canisters

Also ready for immediate shipping are these merry canisters. I have several available in festive words ("hohoho", "merry" and "believe"), but if you prefer personalization I can switch it out for you. These are 7" high and are $15 plus $4 shipping. They're perfect for teacher gifts, and since I've already given canisters to every teacher we have, I need to look for another practical but fun gift this year. Let me know if you want one and I'll send you an invoice ASAP.

My goal this week is to complete every order on my dry erase board (no small feat, by the way!). If you have an order pending with me, I hope to get it finished by Friday. I may have to give up sleep this week, but I'm determined to catch up so I can enjoy the start of this Christmas season.

I hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving. Happy Monday!

Ready-to-Ship Pillows

**update ** Both pillows have sold.

The pictures loaded in reverse order so I'm sorry you have to see the back of the pillow first. These festive pillows are left over from the trunk show a couple of weeks ago and are ready to ship to whoever claims them first. They are $25 each plus $6 shipping. The dimensions are about 11"x21"x6", and the back of each pillow is zebra print. As soon as I receive payment I'll get them in the mail. Just comment on this post or email me that you want one and I'll send it on its way to you.

A Thanksgiving wrap-up post is coming soon but I wanted to get the word out on these first!

Hot Pink and Chocolate

This was a custom baby gift set for baby Avery. I love the chocolate brown with the hot pink and lime green accents. Not such a great picture, but I was in a hurry to ship this one since the mom was on bed rest and expected to deliver at any moment!

Blanket - $20
Bib and burp set - $20

Tie Shirt

Football tie shirt - $15

An Update

The trunk show was a great success and I enjoyed seeing lots of friends and meeting many new customers. I had several custom orders but the tooth fairy pillows were the star of the evening. Who knew? I have several pre-made Christmas items left over that I will list in the next couple of days for anyone interested. They're ready to ship, so if you need an early gift, this is just for you! I'm still pretty backlogged so I'm not quite ready to open back up for orders, but if I make some headway this week I'll consider it. I remember vividly last Christmas being so completely swamped with orders and a nervous wreck about deadlines that I didn't really enjoy the season with my own family. I'm being much more vigilant and jealous of my time with my girls this year, so please understand my reasons for doing it.

I made these turkey shirts last week but didn't have time to post them on the blog for custom order. I whipped Tatum's out the night before her school Thanksgiving feast, took her picture bright and early the next morning and got to school to find out that it was the following Thursday. Great -- love being that mom. So she got to wear her Thanksgiving dress from last year for the feast. I made the other set for a customer who requested them for her 3 kids. I know they will be adorable on Thursday in their matching turkey shirts.

I'll be back soon with some new items!

Whoa Nellie!

Okay, I am officially overwhelmed. I've had so many orders come in over the last few days that I need to suspend any new orders until further notice. I'm also preparing for a trunk show next week. Depending on how many orders I receive there, I may not be able to accept more until after Christmas. That's a bummer, I know. I had big plans to showcase some cute new Christmas items, but now I'll be glad to just finish my existing backlog on time. I truly appreciate all of you and wish I could accommodate every order I receive, but I know myself too well. If I don't stop the floodgates now I will be a complete wreck in about 3 weeks, with my house in disarray and my sweet family trying to help me but wishing I hadn't overcommitted myself.

If I've responded to your email already, I still have you in the line-up. Unfortunately, any orders I receive after today will be on hold until I'm caught up. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but I know my limits, and I'm there. I'll still post new and finished items, and hopefully I'll be back up to speed soon. Thanks so much for your understanding!

Diaper Cover and Pillow

Monogrammed diaper cover - $10

Pillow - $25

I've had several inquiries as to the dimensions of the pillow. It's approximately 11" x 21" and about 6-7" thick. Hope that helps!