Seamstress Anna Marie

So one evening, a few days before Christmas, Anna Marie whips out the sewing machine, pulls out a skirt of Marguerite's, looks at it, traces around it, and starts whipping out a brand new tiered skirt in a festive corduroy pattern.

Just like that.

One minute there's no skirt, the next minute (well thirty minutes later), there is this adorable "Christmas skirt."

But, wait, there's more...

No sooner does Anna Marie finish Marguerite's skirt, than she sets off to make a matching jumper for Lucia.

In less than a total of two hours, we have beautiful matching Christmas outfits for our two littlest girls, courtesy of one seriously talented and crafty seamstress.

I (always needing a pattern, myself) am impressed to my very core. And these skirts are cute, cute, cute! (So are all three girls involved. :)

Anna Marie with her two youngest sisters, Marguerite and Lucia.
Check out those adorable brown corduroy outfits! 

Crayon Pouches

I was feeling a little crafty yesterday, and decided to take a stab at making my own crayon pouches—four of them! The idea came from the 4 Real forum and the Nested site. I must say, I was tickled with the results. They are quite easy.

The first two photos show the little boys' pouches -- small and perfect for crayons. The second two show my older girls' pouches. My oldest requested one with larger slots for bundles of colored pencils.

My husband is now requesting a customized pouch for his wrenches.