'Tis the season...DIY Christmas Stocking!

Only 29 sleeps and the big guy will be squeezing down our chimney! Crazy crazy, and I have bought a grand total of one Christmas gift so far...aaargghh!

So although I may seem completely unorganised, I have been giving Christmas some thought and have managed to finish this cute little stocking to stuff full of mini gifts for Master Oliver. This is the first year he is right into Christmas - completely aware of all the decs hanging in the shops and gingerly eying off Santa Claus to decide if he's a trustworthy kind of guy or not!

The inspiration for this stocking came from memories of making a similar one back in school and it was easy peasy. I just cut a square template from a piece of cardboard and used it to cut my pieces required for the stocking. I used an existing stocking to get the shape of the toe bit. 

The back piece is just one whole piece of fabric which simply attached to the front patchwork puzzle. 

It proved popular with the little man, although he seemed to take the phrase 'Christmas Stocking' quite literally....

 

He's in for a real treat on Christmas morning when he realises its not quite the wearing kind of stocking, but instead a magic kind that fills with goodies on Christmas night!

Goodnight, cars.

It seems these days we are increasingly finding stray matchbox cars under foot so today they were given a 'garage' in which they can go to sleep after a big day's play! We started with a pair of winter tights that I never wore - too thick and itchy to be comfortable.

Said uncomfortable tights!

This was so simple - I chopped off one leg right up where it meets the crotch, then cut down the length of the leg so it was one open piece.

The over locker went for a spin and finished all the edges, then I folded the leg piece back over so the ends didn't quite meet (you'll see in just sec). 

Add in a piece of checkered material on the bottom to give it that race car feeling, sew some straight lines to act as individual garages and that is it!

See how its not folded quite to the edge?

This is a novel way to get little ones to pack up their cars - our lil guy loves it and the stretch of the tights allows cars of all sizes to be squeezed inside. 

Who knew packing up could be so much fun? 

Now ssshhhh, the cars are sleeping. ;)

We're going bunting!

Last weekend we took on the task of moving our (no longer a) baby into his big boy room. This was no mean feat given that his 'new' room had become a storage haven over the last few years. So! We got to clearing it out and headed to IKEA to pick up some inspiration and new wares for the boy cave. IKEA! What have I been missing? The place is amazing! We made it out of the 2.2km trek unscathed with hands (or trolleys, rather) full of cool new stuff.

Our lil man is a real boys boy - he loves cars, bikes, lawnmowers, power tools - anything that roars really! So we stuck with a (subtle) car theme and got to work..the IKEA flat paks were assembled by midnight (oh yeah, we were in for the long haul) and the room was completo!

I made these race car themed bunting flags for his last birthday party and still had it stashed away, so out it came to complement the room.

The string of bunting was long enough to reach right around to the other side of the window, I love how it looks in here and love the fact that's its not sitting unused in a craft box!

This is so easy to make! All you need is a triangle template, a mix of fabrics, some bias binding to hold it all together and the ability to sew a simple straight line. And hey, if its not straight no one will ever know!