thesellers.net

I made homemade pure vanilla extract for my Mom, Mother-in-law and myself. Chad and I do not drink alcohol, so I got several funny looks when my family realized that I had to go to the liquor store and buy the vodka to make it!

If you are interested in making this too, I bought Madagascar vanilla beans and 8 ounce bottles from Beanilla.com. I made larger bottles than in the link above, so I used 4 beans per 8 ounces of Ketel One Vodka. The instructions on my tags were, "Use ½ amount called for in a recipe. Refill with Vodka as needed. Allow to ferment 6 weeks."

And there you have it, folks. My "Twelve Days of Christmas {crafts}" is complete. If you missed any of them, here's the list again for your reading enjoyment!

Appliqued kitchen towels
Monogrammed clipboards
Reusable travel lids
Coffee cozy
Number bean bags
Felt bracelets
Buttercup bags
Superhero cape
Knitting needle roll
Ribbon tree shirts
Dignity robes

As Jen already said, we drove to Mooresville, NC, on Boxing Day to continue celebrating with her family. Mooresville had just gotten some snow, so several of us took the opportunity to do some sledding. This was actually Molly's first time sledding (yes, I know it's odd that we get plenty of snow in Maryland, but her first time sledding was in North Carolina). Molly had a blast, and even went by herself several times.

The focus of this year's Batson Family Christmas was "giving back" to our communities. For the person whose name we drew, we were to select a philanthropy of our choice and donate our time in honor of that person.

I drew my grandmother's name. She is a survivor of breast cancer, so I wanted to use my sewing skills to honor her. In searching for a project, I came across the Cancer Care Center's Dignity Robe Program. The program was started in 2006 to provide women receiving radiation therapy with a better robe than the standard hospital gown. The "dignity robes" have strategically placed Velcro to keep women better covered.

After talking to Arlene Segar, she mailed me two robe kits with pre-cut fabric and Velcro, as well as a sample robe. She included a sweet note saying, "Your grandmother will be very proud of you." And I hope she is!

Christmas music isn't just great for singing, it's great for dancing as well.

The day after Christmas we headed to Mooresville, NC for the Batson Family Christmas. We exchanged gifts with my immediate family at the hotel before the larger family gathering. Molly was jazzed about her new Disney princess slippers.

Emmie checking out her new felt bracelets.

Leah's ready to play with this wooden puzzle.

Everyone checking out Emmie's new baby stuff.

We all got together to give G'mom and Grampa a new camera. It's a Canon S90, and it's very snazzy.

Leah looking super cute in her new towel from Aunt 'Chelle.

Aunt 'Chelle, you look a little yellow!

The fam

I made the girls and my niece matching ribbon tree shirts. I surprised Emmie with an early Christmas present so they could all wear them throughout the Christmas season. The girls were finally all together for a picture during our family Christmas in North Carolina.

Jen already talked a bit about Christmas morning, but here's a bit of video to give you more of a taste of it.

After Christmas at our house, we headed to Grams and Pop's for more celebrating. Aunt Caroline offered Leah a little pre-present reading.

I think Molly might be ticklish.

Either Leah likes this inchworm, or she's hungry.

Grammy, Grams and Pop were in on the action as well.

To end our day, Chad hooked up his parents new Blu-ray player and we immediately put in Molly's new Beauty and the Beast disc. Here he is watching with his little ones.

My sister knits, so I made her a knitting needle roll to keep all her needles together and organized.

The needles are held tight with an elastic band, and the flaps lift to cover the tips.

Christmas morning was exciting. The girls went through their stockings in a flash, then got to opening presents.

What could it be?

Her very own superhero cape!

Leah still needs a little help opening her presents.