We’re Back!
I just wanted to take a second to let everyone know we’re back home from our Christmas travels. I’ll try to update the blog tomorrow or Tuesday. I’ve got lots of pictures to post!
Have a great New Year’s everyone!!
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And The Winner Is…
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Kayla
www.armyoffive.blogspot.com
Congratulations Kayla!!!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Merry Christmas!
Luke 2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
Luke 2:2 ([And] this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
Luke 2:3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
Luke 2:4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
Luke 2:5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
Luke 2:6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
Luke 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luke 2:8 ¶ And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
Luke 2:9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
Luke 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:12 And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
Luke 2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Luke 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Luke 2:15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
Luke 2:16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
Luke 2:17 And when they had seen [it], they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
Luke 2:18 And all they that heard [it] wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
Luke 2:19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered [them] in her heart.
Finished Project – 4 More Skirts and a Slip
I finished 4 more skirts today and a slip. I now have skirts to match some shirts that were lonesome 
The Presents are Wrapped
As I mentioned in this post this past Wednesday, for the last several years I’ve used plain brown paper to wrap my Christmas gifts. As promised, here are some pictures of this year’s wrapped gifts.
Altogether, the ribbon and decorations cost about $10. The wired ribbon was like $.95 cents a spool at Walmart. The decorations were bought at Walmart and Family Dollar for about $.99 cents for 2. I think this year’s batch turned out really pretty. I like to include the ornaments in the wrapping, because the person who received the gift can used it year after year.
Finished Project – Tan Floral Skirt Finished
I finished a 2nd skirt tonight!! It was so easy and quick too. What was really funny, was that I took the 4 different fabrics that I had bought off the $1 table at Walmart and was trying to decide which one to make into a skirt. So I took them into my room and looked through my shirts and sweaters to see if I had something that would match any of the 4 fabrics. The sweater I’m wearing in the picture matched this particular fabric perfectly! I was so excited, as I LOVE this sweater, but didn’t have anything to wear it with anymore that fit. I couldn’t believe how well the flowers on the sweater matched the fabric! So now, I have 2 new complete outfits at the fraction of the cost of buying 2 new skirts. Both of the skirts that I’ve made the past couple of days cost less than $10 combined!
Couple More Pictures of My Skirt
Here are a couple more pictures of the skirt I made last night. You can see it much better in the daylight.
Today we paid some bills and finished up all the Christmas shopping. Marty doesn’t go back to work until January 2nd, so we have him home with us until then! We love having him home with us. Monday afternoon or evening we’ll be going to my Mom’s house for Christmas and stay a couple of days. Then, we may go visit Marty’s brother for a few days.
Tonight I’m going to make a couple more skirts, but just regular skirts…not patchwork this time. Tomorrow, I’ve got to get some laundry done and work some on Nikki’s baby afghan. I found a good deal on some wool yarn and I’m going to make a felted purse (I hope I have enough yarn, if not I can always go back and get some more). I won’t start on that project until I get Nikki’s afghan done and the charity granny afghan done. I’m hoping to have both of those done before the 1st of the year.
Finished Project – Patchwork Skirt
Okay, it’s 1:45 am and I’m just took wound up to sleep. I finished the patchwork skirt that I talked about in yesterday’s post. I went to Walmart tonight and bought the fabric and whipped it up in under 2 hours. Here’s how I went about figuring out how to build it. First of all, I bought 1 yard of 3 print fabrics and 1 yard of a solid blue fabric, and a grossgrain ribbon to match the fabrics. I hope these instructions make sense!!
First of all, I needed to figure out how big to make each of the panels. I had decided to make the skirt a 6 panelled skirt. So I took my waist measurement and then added 1/2 of my waist measurement to my waist measurement (this allows the skirt to gather). In my case my waist was 40 inches and half of that was 20. So the total amount was 60 inches. I divided that number by 6, so I knew that each of the 6 panels would need to be 10 inches. To that number I added 1 inch for the 1/2 inch seam allowance on either side. I used a 1/2 inch seam allowance through out.
Each of the 6 panels were 11 inches wide and I decided on a length for 29 inches. I cut 2 – 11Wx29H inch panels out of each of the 3 print fabrics (BTW, 1 yard of print fabric allowed me to actually cut out 4 panels so I could actually make 2 skirts, but you would need to buy more of the solid fabric than 1 yard to make 2)
Then out of the solid fabric for the bottom of the skirt, I cut 2 – 31Wx14H panels.
Okay, all of the pieces are cut out, time to assemble the skirt. The first step is to sew together all the 11×29 inch print fabric panels along the 29 inch sides….
I sewed together all 6 of the panels and then I sewed together the 2 – 31×14 inch panels for the bottom of the skirt along the 14 inch sides….
Okay, the next step is to sew the solid color panel to the print panel…
The next step was to sew a seam in the top of the skirt, allowing for room for the elastic. I used a 1/2 inch elastic.
My next step was to feed the elastic through the seam at the top.
Then I tacked down the elastic on either side of the top of the skirt
Now I sewed on the grossgrain ribbon over the seam between the print panels and solid panel.
Now, I sewed the side seam to form the skirt (like a tube)
I pressed the seam I just made open
The final step was to put in a rolled hem at the bottom of the skirt.
And here it is all finished!
I’ll try to post a better picture of the finished project tomorrow. I hope this little tutorial makes sense to everyone! This may not be the “proper” way to assemble this skirt, but it workded for me!!
Sunny Days Are Here
Today, I woke up to a pretty, cool, and sun shiny day! The rain and gray clouds have apparently moved on to someone else. So, my plan for today is to do some essential laundry and so a little bit around the house. I’m also working on the baby afghan that I’m making for my friend Nikki. Instead of using my puffy flower granny squares like I originally planned, I found a CUTE pattern that I’m going to use instead. It’s still going to be done in the colors of white, pink & brown and so far it looks so CUTE!! I’m hoping to get it finished over the Christmas weekend and get it mailed off to her after New Year’s. I’ll post a picture once I get it finished. When we go to Walmart this evening, I’m going to get the yarn to finish up Nikki’s afgan and the black yarn I need to put together the 6 inch granny square afgan for charity.
Another project that I’m going to work on this weekend is a skirt for me. I’m wanting to make a skirt similar to this one. I think I will post a easy tutorial on how I did it, but we’ll see . I’m going to pick out some material for it tonight at Walmart…gosh, I’m sure going to miss my Walmart fabric department!!
Another project for this weekend, if we can afford it, is to try stevia as the sweetener for cookies. I’ve been wanting to try to use stevia for baking for some time, and I think this weekend would be a good time. If I do, I will be sure and let you know how they turn out.
Well, that’s all that’s going on here. Tonight we’ll be going out to eat and then finish up what little Christmas shopping we have left. Once I get everything wrapped, I’ll post some pictures of how I decided to dress up our brown paper wrapping this year Have a great day Y’all!!
Works For Me Wednesday – Frugal Christmas Wrapping
For the past several years, I’ve reused paper grocery sacks for Christmas wrapping paper. I think it makes a simple background to really dress up a gift. I the past I’ve also used pretty ribbons, jute twine, homemade cinnamon ornaments, salt dough ornaments, pinecones, homemade cards, rubber stamps, and pretty much what ever I could think of to dress up the brown paper. I always get compliments on how the gift is wrapped, and I have to admit, they do look rather pretty! I buy cloth ribbons at after Christmas sales and whenever I find it on clearance or at garage sales. You can really dress up the brown paper and gives your presents a bit of homespun appeal. It’s also fun to see how you can change it up from year to year.
