Making the World Cuter with 12 Crafts till Christmas

I am on Maternity Leave from September 4th-October 12th: This post was contributed by Elizabeth at Twelve Crafts till Christmas.

Howdy! This is Elizabeth, over at twelve crafts till Christmas. In January I started working toward the super crazy goal of making ALL my girls' Christmas gifts for this coming Christmas. My little blog is mostly about this journey, but I throw in a few tutorials for other gifts as well. Mostly, I hope to inspire every person who reads my blog to make the world a little cuter by making at least one homemade Christmas gift.

Here are my two amazing "helpers" who attempt to assist me in my quest.

"Mommy, can I help you sew?" is a question I hear regularly. Monkey, the little sister, loves to be up close and personal while I'm sewing. And Peanut, the bigger sister, loves to cut . . . anything . . . in a variety of very odd shapes.

In an attempt to include them in my hobby but not have their direct "help", I gave them gifts that I hoped would let them use their own creativity and develop some skills.

Monkey got two sets of factory-made lacing cards. They are incredibly cute. One is from Melissa and Doug and the other from Eric Carle. Both are very sturdy so that they can stand up to the playing patterns of a two year old.

For Peanut, I put together this little basket of goodies to keep her occupied long enough for me to cut something out, sew a few stitches or wrestle with fusible interfacing for a while.

In case you have a little one in your life who you might like to keep occupied, here's the list of what I included in this particular kit. (There are a couple of sewing kits put together by some great companies - like the kit by Alex.)

• craft thread/embroidery floss


• plastic canvas shapes


• plastic canvas color sheets


• fabric


• fabric markers


• little scissors


• different types of ribbon - She likes to cut ribbon and glue it on to stuff.


• fabric glue


• an assortment of buttons - She can glue these on to projects or practice sewing them on to the plastic canvas.


• a couple of pre-made sewing projects


• plastic needles


• tapestry needles - These are great because they aren't very sharp and they fit through the holes of the plastic canvas. The plastic needles usually won't fit through the plastic canvas. She only gets to use these if I'm sitting right with her.


• homemade lacing cards made out of craft foam sheets

I put all of these items in sewing basket with a handle so that it can be carried easily from room to room. Both girls have just as much fun carrying the basket around the house as they do sewing and crafting.

With this great kit you can keep those little hands busy and encourage their creativity all at the same time.

What would you include in a sewing kit for the kids in your life?

Craft on!

A great big thanks to Tiffany for letting me show off my cute helpers here today!