Christmas Canibalism!

Well, I've done it now! I cut apart a Christmas dress that Faith wore last year, but got stained when I tried to wash it myself instead of take it to the dry cleaners, like I should have. The stains were only on the sleeves, so I resolved to re-make the dress into a pillow using the very sweet smocked design on the bodice of the dress. After much hesitation about making that first cut, it went fairly smoothly. Here is a picture that shows kinda what the dress used to look like (sorry, but I forgot to take a real before photo!):

It was pretty cute. I am a real sucker for smocking, for some reason. It is one of those crafts that I have yet to venture into...thus, making it rather mysterious and appealing as a result. Oh, yeah, and a lot of the appeal of this dress was also due to the fact that it cost me all of $1.50 at Goodwill. Yeah, you read that right...a BUCK FIFTY, people!!!

So, fast forward to the crafty cannibalism... I set out to make a Christmas pillow that showed off that beautiful smocking. And that turned out great! Here it is:

I love the sweet simplicity of this pillow!

What I didn't anticipate was all the others things that would just come to me as I was realizing how much fabric I had left over after the pillow was finished!!! I saw the leftover, stained sleeves and felt like I was viewing someone's amputated doll arms. It was rather sad. And as I have mentioned before, I have a problem with throwing stuff away, so I felt like there had to be some use for these leftovers.

And then, inspiration struck! I could use the sleeves to make two new hot socks to replace the one that Maisy the Dog chewed a hole in earlier this week. And so, TA DA!!! TWO new hot socks to use as foot warmers on cold mountain nights--one for Faith and one for us! After I fill 'em up with rice, I will simply stitch up the ends of the sleeves (the white part) by hand.

Also, I sort of accidentally came up with the idea of making Faith a few bean bags to play with as a stocking stuffer gift (sure hope she doesn't read this before Christmas!). She is all about some very simple playing habits lately, and I have been trying to convince the grandparents to leave the plastic flotsam on the shelves at Wal-Mart and just give her some cardboard instead. Seriously, she has been playing with ROCKS everyday, all day, for over a week now! I try to tell people this is not because we are poor. Alas, I ramble (what's new, right?). So, here's a shot of the cute bean bags, waiting to be filled with rice, as we are fresh out.

I think she will love these. I hope so. She had been carrying the old hot sock around (before the dog ate it...why is this post starting to sound a bit red-neck?) in a dish towel, calling it her baby and putting it to bed. See, I told you she was all about some simple playing habits! So, maybe these bean bags will become her mini babies to put to bed. But, hey, I have been very wrong before about what she would enjoy, so we'll see.

Anyway, after all that crafting, I still had a pile of red fabric scraps and a collar leftover.

Any ideas for more crafty projects to make?