Day One Post-Boards

Had a great first day doing whatever. I. want.  Woke up at approximately 10:30am.  Glorious.  Made gingerbread pancakes and Christmas Blend Via.  Then I sat at the breakfast table and made out my Christmas cards so I could get them out ASAP!  I listened to Christmas music on Pandora and marveled at the 80 degree weather (it really was sort of cold a couple of days ago!)

I then decided to start wrapping presents so I could have a better handle on what we still needed to buy and then go do it.  It's nice to actually have presents under the tree!

What?  No quilting!  I know!  Thing is, Christmas is actually going to happen and I have to be responsible about that.  

But I did fit in a fun sewing project!  I decided that I just HAD to get the little IKEA doll beds for my nieces, Molly and Sydney.  If you've ever looked into them, you know that they do come with a "mattress", a "pillow", and a "blanket".  They're not much to look at.  

So decided I had to make a nice, thick matress, give it a nice fitted sheet, and give that doll a pillow that will actually support her head!  

I ran with the color scheme of the flannel blanket, because if I didn't have time to make a doll quilt this time around, it would have to do.  So I found a yard or so of this blue striped fabric from my stash and made little slip covers for the mattresses which I cut to size from some foam I bought years ago for who-knows-why.  I wasn't into making an elastic fitted sheet or anything fancy like that, so I made little envelope covers and hand stitched them closed at the open end.

Perfect.  Erik insisted on a more realistic pillow, so I used this tutorial from From an Igloo to fashion a little bit larger pillow and pillowcase so there would be one bigger but fluffy pillow per Erik's specifications.  Much better!

We got Miss Molly a Tickle-me-Elmo to sleep in her bed.  She has memorized "Elmo's Adventures in Grouchland" and the first bit of the movie is Elmo asleep in his bed, then singing about his beloved blanket before it gets lost down Oscar's trash can.  I think she'll get a kick out of Elmo sleeping in her room!  We found a great doll for Sydney made by Melissa and Doug.  Her name is Olivia (Sydney's middle name), and she's the perfect size for the bed but still appropriate for her age.  I really hope she likes it!

I don't think I'll be squeezing in any more handmade Christmas items.  I have a quilt that will meet its new owner next week, so I have to get hopping on Day 2 Post-Boards! Lots to do!