Advent Calendar/Christmas Countdown

To start I took large new cookie sheets, measured to the middle and my father-in-law helped me drill holes in it for the ribbon to hang it from

Then we hammered it down so there would be no edges poking out

then we sanded it down so it would be kiddo safe

next i found these cookie cutter buttons to put on the top and on the bottom edge of the cookie sheet for decoration (my sister and I love decorating cookies for Christmas so having a cookie/cookie cutter/cookie sheet theme seemed fitting)

I took some small Christmas Tree Ornaments and cut off the strings to make them into magnets...

I put the magnets on the back (don't use hot glue, it's not strong enough)

Then I used paint pens to write the numbers, being careful about spacing is important, I ended up re-writing the numbers because the first time I didn't pay enough attention...I had a hard time figuring out how to do it, so I ended up getting a piece of scrapbooking paper and making the calendar part on it...I used the dot numbers because it's kind of a thing in our family

After I got the paper and made the grid on the paper I Mod Podge-ed the whole thing with about four or so coats to protect it a little...

  

Here are the finished cookie looking ornaments turned into magnets

Just the top

My aunt Linda made a calendar for me when I was a little girl, so I was really happy she was there to open it with Harper and show her how to use it :) I also sewed a little bag out of milk and cookie fabric to keep the magnets in, and on the back of the Wise Guys, Angel, and the Mary Joseph & Jesus I wrote 23, 24, and 25 but the others magnets are not numbered...

Bunchie Scrunchies

Bunchie Scrunchies 

Allison wanted some comfort blankies for Kinley and Reese, but as with all things twinkies there needs to be a little modification, two full sized blankies won't fit in the diaper bag, so I made them each a bunchie scrunchie

(When you have a kiddo one just won't do, so for the twins I made 4 of each, you can have one in the crib, one in the diaper bag, one in the car and one in the wash)

Kinley's Bunchie Scrunchie...I like a more grown up fabric for babies because they keep growing and often they are still carrying them around at 5, plus mom's usually the one that has it in her hand, so it needs to look like her as well...

Reese's needed to go with Kinley's but it also needed to be different enough that Allison could see easily which was which...I like this fabric, the front of each and the back of each are from the same company but in different color so they look similar and feel exactly the same...

Instead of being the size of a blanket the Bunchie Scrunchis is about the size of a throw pillow (around 18 by 20) I sewed them right sides together, left a little hole, flipped it right side out, then sewed all the way around the outside to give it a little bit of a boarder and a little more finished look without having to deal with an actual binding...

 Here are the girls with their Bunchie Scrunchies :) Oh how I love my nieces!

We had a bunch of baby girl showers last year, here are some of the items I made:

A diaper flower arangement

 One of my friends was super bummed about not being able to have a cocktail during her pregnancy, so I made her this booze plant for her, once that baby was born she was ready for cigars and cocktails :-)

I'm not a huge fan of the baby carriage, but it was kinda cute

Pacifier party favors made from chocolate covered Oreos, jelly beans, live savers and ribbon

Baby cupcakes with real pacifiers

Birp cloths, diaper and wipes belt, and a home made tag toy

A close up of the Velcro strap to keep diapers and a thin wipe container together

The no pink diaper cake for Heather's Baby Shower

The first diaper cake I ever made

An old school popcorn cake with pink M&Ms and home made truffles around the base

Thought I might share all of my fondant cakes...they're fun to do...can't wait to see what my sister and I come up with for the twin's first birthday this summer...



My first fondant cake for our 30th birthday

Practice cake before making the one for Harper's 1st Birthday

I used all my left overs to make a cake for a bake sale

My Gramps' 77th Birthday Cake

Harper's 1st Birthday Cake

Heather's Baby Shower cake before Maddie was born

Jaylon's Yoshi cake

Maddie's 1st Birthday cake (it had polka dots inside and out) and little cakes for her to dig into (I had two because I was worried a little bit about the 3 hour drive to get there)

Polka Dot Birthday Cake, Inside and Out:

To make this cake I had to buy a cake ball pan. I adjusted the white cake batter to the recipe that came with the pan, and then distributed it in five little bowls. I colored each one a different bright color. Then I put the batter in the pan, you are supposed to push the batter down and only fill it a little under half way. I got these way to full and the batter oozed out all over the top of the pan, ha, live and learn...

Put the top on and secure it with silicone clips

Then I backed them as directed, took them out, let them cool just a bit, trimmed off the edges and they were ready for the next step

I placed the balls in the pan to make sure they fit, then poured enough white cake mix in the bottom of the pan, placed the balls on top, covered them with enough white cake mix, and baked them...it took a long time to bake it, and I used a 2 inch high pan

This was my practice cake, I thought it might be fun to make colored frosting on the inside of the fondant, but I found that it took away from the polka dots, so in the real cake I used plane white frosting, but the process did seem to work

Slices where you can see the polka dots

I hadn't ever done anything with edible photo paper before, so I thought I'd try that out, too. Those photo paper cutters are expensive, and my pizza cutter with a plastic ruler worked out just fine (I washed the ruler first don't worry) :-) 

Here's the inside of the finished product, the polka dots turned out a little differently in the large cake pan, but it still looked pretty cool...well though out dot placement before baking is really important...

Here's Maddie's final cake!