Need a Quick Present Idea??

These Hot/Cold Therapy Packs are quick and inexpensive!! I made three in less than 30 minutes for less than $2.00 each!

Gingerbread Midge

Have I mentioned that Midget started preschool? She goes two days a week for two and a half hours and let me just tell you--we BOTH love it! She is really enjoying the constant stimulation and I am reeeeeeeeeeeeally enjoying not having to be the one stimulating her little brain for a few hours!! She is such a vivacious and curious little girl, but if she doesn't have something that is keeping her attention, she sure can be a naughty little terd.

In November, we purchased a new book from Scholastic through school--"The Gingerbread Man." In the middle of the month, she did a wishbone with her Daddy and her wish was for Gingerbread (so sweet). Midget's Auntie bought her a HUGE gingerbread man pan for Christmas last year, so after she won, I pulled out the pan and made the gingerbread recipe on the back of the book. She thought it was pretty neat that we decorated it like the gingerbread man in the book!

Her preschool had a Gingerbread House float in our town's Holiday Parade this year and all the kids were encouraged to dress as an elf or a gingerbread man. I knew right away that I could make a Gingerbread Girl costume pretty easily, but wasn't quite sure how to do it. I just made her lay down on a piece of 72" brown felt and traced around her with chalk. Then I put a GIANT bowl over where her head was and traced... that (so it would be cartoon-ish) and free handed the rest. I sewed the bow first all by itself, then sewed the details on the front piece of the costume, attached the bow to the front piece, and then sewed the front and back piece together--leaving the armpit area unsewn. If I'd had more time, I would have just measured out two 3-4 inch strips to sew under the arms and along the skirt area so there would be room for movement. I also ended up sewing a little dart under the chin so I could make sure the head stood up on its own.

It's a bit rough, but I learned some good lessons, like you need to leave room for the arms to move (imagine that) and don't cut the giant rick-rack because it frays like crazy.

It took about three hours from start to finish and the materials were less than ten dollars. I used one yard of 72" brown felt, two yards of white giant rick-rack, one sheet of hot pink felt, one sheet of yellow felt, and one sheet of light pink felt.

People at the parade loved it, but more importantly, Midget adored it! Can't you just see the excitement in her eyes??