Christmas Gift Projects pt. 2

Here is my second Christmas gift project. I made matching mother-daughter aprons for my sister and my niece. I knew I had made the right choice when my niece refused to take off my apron last time she visited.

"New" chairs!

Ok, so I got a wild hair and decided to re-cover my kitchen chairs. Well, actually, we have never liked the fabric on the chairs and we have been meaning to cover them for almost 6 years. Last night was the night. I got the idea from this blog, which is going to get me into a lot of trouble: http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/

Anyways, here are the pics:
BEFORE: Ho-hum.

Yuck! Even though I've cleaned these, I cannot believe how nasty they are!

Naked Chair!

Taking off the old fabric:

SO MANY STAPLES!

We used the old fabric as a template...

So like most projects I start, Doug got dragged into it. Well, I think he just wanted to play with his new staple gun!


Here's a closeup of the fabric. I love the coral!

The finished product! Wowsa!


For comparison's sake...

Christmas Gift Projects pt. 1

Ok, so this Christmas I tried to make as many homemade gifts as possible. I really underestimated the time it would take me, and so I didn't get to do as much as I wanted. Next time I will start in September or so so that I can do more and not be so rushed. Anyways, the first project I did was stuffed kittens for my nieces Zorianna and Luna. I got the pattern from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones. They turned out really cute, I think. Like always, I learned a lot during this project. I learned how to do some embroidery stitching. I also learned how to edgestitch, satin stitch, and slipstitch. Anyways, here are the pics:

Happy Birthday, Michele!

I guess my blog is turning into a birthday card. Oh well...

Today is my sister's birthday. Unfortunately she has to share it with New Mexico (which usually eats all of the cake).

Michele is her name; funny is her game. My sister and I laugh together more than should be humanly possible. She is hilarious! She has a cynical and silly sense of humor.

She is also very smart. I've always been jealous of her brain power. She's always been a great writer and she can read big words. Nowadays she teaches high school students how to be smart. And I bet she does a great job. We always joke about her being like the teacher in "Freedom Writers". While I've never actually seen the movie, I do picture her as the type of teacher that pushes students to do more than what they imagine that they can.

This has just ended up being a lot of rambling. And I didn't even edit and re-write, which probably disappoints you, Michele. But I just wanted to tell you HAPPY BIRTHDAY and I can't wait to see you soon and really celebrate!