That's a Wrap!

So I picked up this wrapping paper at the dollar store the other day--

It came in four packs for 59 cents. Great deal, right? Only I found out, once I started wrapping the gifts last night, that each roll only covers one medium size present.  Good thing most of Janeia's gifts were small: crayons, watercolors, scissors, etc., or I would have had to resort to my purple plaid Scotch tape brand gift wrap that everyone makes fun of me for.

Well, I picked out two four-packs so that I ended up with eight different patterns. The back side of the paper is shiny silver--

And when we let the girls open one gift each today, we discovered that this stuff doesn't really tear. Which actually makes it PERFECT for us, because now I don't have to worry about Leslie finding little pieces of wrapping paper all over the floor after tomorrow morning. Steven said that we could actually reuse it, which would have been a great idea, except I wrote the to/from info directly on the paper in permanent marker.

So what to do with this shiny, non-ripping paper?

DIY gift bows, of course!

Perfect way to dress up the plain gift boxes I put everyone else's homemade gifts in (4/$1.00 at the Dollar Tree). So I will save every piece of this paper, and use it for years to come, instead of buying bows.

Oh, and the gifts the girls opened today? Two little bears that I made them. They're SOOO cute!  Don't you think?

It's kinda hard to tell in the picture, but the one on the left (Janeia's) has a little white bow on her forehead, so she can tell hers and Leslie's apart.  And the fabric is a bright blue flannel with white stars all over it that I found in the remnants at JoAnn's. 1/2 yard for $1.50! The tummies and the ears are cut out of some jammies that no longer fit Leslie, and the face is linen from a pair of pants she outgrew before even wearing them. The eyes and nose are just scrap pieces of felt, and the polyfill is out of the cushions from our old couch. So I spent $3.50 for the pair, because I had to buy white thread.

The pattern is from One Yard Wonders. If you don't have this book, I seriously suggest you get it. It's where just about all my Christmas gifts came from.  I already convinced my friend Tiffiny to buy it (and a sewing machine), and she has made a bunch of her Christmas presents too.  In fact, she made Janeia a little art apron that folds up into a bag--

The neck and side straps are all one piece of ribbon, so it's completely adjustable. You can't see it, but she also put a little rhinestone "J" on the top. And it's Tinkerbell, in case you couldn't tell. Janeia's really into Tinkerbell. Our friends Billy and Allison started that at her first birthday by giving her a lamp, a purse, and a folding chair all adorned with the little pixie.

Now I just can't wait for her to open all her other gifts tomorrow! I think I'm more excited than her.

Oh, I almost forgot! Steven gave me a gift card for JoAnn's for Christmas!  How perfect is that? SOOO looking forward to stocking up on fabrics!

Well, gotta go, somebody's awake!

Are You There, Blog? It's Me, Jessica.

Well since this is my first post, and you're probably the only one reading it, allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Jessica, and I like to make stuff. I use all kinds of tools--my sewing machine, scissors and glue, paints, and good old-fashioned power tools. However, I am also a stay-at-home mom with two girls under three, so I don't always have a lot of time during the day in which to be creative. But I read a lot of crafty blogs, and felt like I needed an outlet for my own craftiness. See, my daughters, being so young, don't really show much appreciation for my efforts yet, and being at home with just them,  I don't have a lot of other interaction, other than facebook. So I'll talk to you.

Don't get me wrong, I talk to my husband, but with his long hours, the last thing he wants to hear about when he gets home is my newest idea for a project. Plus, I have a bad habit of talking about a project, then never actually doing it. Which is probably why the trim in our apartment was never finished, even though I painted the walls like four years ago.  In fact, I hadn't even put the switchplates back on in the bathroom, until I recently RE-painted it! So he always says, "Don't tell me about it. Do it, and then show me." So I didn't even tell him I was going to start my own blog.

So about my family. My daughter Janeia is two-and-three-quarters, going on ten. She's absolutely adorable, don't you think?

She loves to do any kind of art, which is why for Christmas, she's getting an easel and tons of art supplies. She's also really smart, and that's not just me talking. Eveyone who meets her is amazed with how intelligent she is. As a matter of fact, I'm constantly amazed by her.

Then there's Leslie. She's almost seven months now, and she is trying desperately to catch up with her big sister. She has been crawling for over two months now, and she can also sit up and pull to standing already. At the rate she's going, she's going to surpass her sister in the walking department before too long. (Janeia walked at 10 1/2 months.) Isn't she beautiful?

My husband Steven is a custom tattoo artist here in Houston. He is such a wonderful man, and I am very lucky to have him.  He's a great father to our daughters. I won't post his picture, because he would kill me! But suffice it to say, he's smokin!

Well, this Christmas I decided to do it homemade. Pretty much the only ones we bought presents for were each other and the girls. Although I did make them some really cute matching bears! Since we haven't exchanged gifts with friends and family yet, I have yet to see if everyone likes theirs. But tune in later, and I'll let you know!

Gotta go, someone's awake!