Easy gifts for kids

I know a lot of people who have kids on their shopping lists this year, and all those toys and ridiculously adorable clothes can add up fast, so here are a couple of quick, inexpensive gifts that I made for the kiddos on my list.

Fleece headbands - these are supremely easy; one quick stitch. The only thing that you have to remember is to cut the fleece with the scratch so that they can get it on. After stitching one edge glue on a cute flower and you have the perfect gift for a girl.

Fun fleece scarves - these are so simple that we made them with the 4 year olds in my class. Just cut strips of fleece that are 1 yard by 7 inches, stack three strips on top of each other and see straight down the middle. On each edge make cuts 3 inches apart, from the outside edge to the center stitching, just be careful not to snip your stitches. Shake it out a little and you have a cute scarf.

Now's the time to buy fleece, so while you may have to wait in line at the cutting table, at least you'll get a great deal!

Super easy wreath

I've never been one of those people who decorates for every single holiday, I go all out for Christmas, but the rest of the year my house looks pretty much the same, with the exception of some small seasonal changes, and the occasional switcharoo when I get bored with a vase or candle. I just don't see the point in having all those cutesy holiday decorations when my place already looks so great (plus I'm all about matching color schemes, so throwing in some pink for Valentine's day would totally clash with everything else that I own).

That said, I have also been feeling as though I've neglected my front porch, which is, you know, a pretty average front porch, except for the fact that no one ever uses it. The sidewalk from our driveway leads to our backdoor, and there is no sidewalk to the front door, so basically it's a wast of space. BUT it is the part of the house that you see when you drive by, and I promise I'm going somewhere with this incredibly long rant... where was I?

Oh yeah... anyways, I decided that the solution to my neglected front porch was a cute wreath, since I'm obsessed with the super-versatile Styrofoam wreath trend that is blowing up on Pinterest. And since nothing else that I own is seasonal, this seemed the perfect place to celebrate all of those random holidays.

Here is the super cute wreath that I made this afternoon

the base is made from 2" strips of burlap wrapped around a Styrofoam wreath form. The heart designs are hearts that I cut out of random pieces of cotton fabric that I had in my stash. After I cut them out I sewed them to cream colored fleece scraps to stiffen them a bit and add texture. And of course I used my hot glue gun to attache them to the wreath. Add a few bows and there you have it!