Friday, August 14, 2015

Diy Elf on Shelf

Every August when school is about to start a little panic starts to creep in, the panic of fall/thanksgiving/Christmas.  We are always unbelievably busy from mid September through New Years and it flys by.  Which always inevitably makes me sad.

I know I'm not the only one who is starting to think about Christmas and I know there are fellow crafters out there who have already started on their handmade gifts, so I thought I'd post this Christmas post early just in case it inspires someone, there will be no need for a last minute rush.

Last Christmas I started selling handmade Bit of Whimsy dolls, sort of by accident. In the midst of all those doll orders I was asked if I'd thought about making a version of elf on the shelf. A woman my mom worked with wanted to purchase the store bought version for her grandchildren but just couldn't swing $29.99 each.  I was actually sitting in the same boat with her.  After purchasing a couple of my dolls she asked about the elf.  I immediately said no.
After all, the previous year I had searched for ideas for homemade versions and came up empty handed, and I'd never attempted something like this from scratch.  Then I thought, why not give it a whirl.
I think it's important in the blog world to show crafting & sewing fails every now and then, so here's my first try at making an elf
He was really skinny, his side seams were bursting and I made the arms and legs so skinny I couldn't hardly turn them right side out or stuff them.

After my elf flop I redid my pattern making it bigger and tweeking a couple other things and created this:

These are actually the 2 I made for my cousin's twin boys. 

Seriously how cute are they?

And of course no more than my mom took one to work I was asked about a girl version, and so she was made.
All of them have bendable arms and legs so they can actually sit upright on a shelf, or anywhere else you want to sit them.

I had some people order these to take the place of the store bought elf, others already had a store bought one but wanted one of mine for their kids to actually play with, since technically your not supposed to touch elf on the shelf or he will lose his magic.
Sadly I didn't get a chance to make my own kids elves so that is my plan for this year.

Thursday, August 13, 2015

The Accidental Handmade Business

I can not believe it's been over a year since my last post, craziness! I guess 2 kiddos running around hasn't given me much time,or maybe I'm just not as great at time management as I thought. Either way, I have been crafting.  In fact last Christmas I unknowingly started a small side business called The GracieLynn Shop.  How do you start a business and not know it? I made my daughter, 9 months old at the time, a Bit of Whimsy Doll.  The Baby pattern, which is absolutely adorable by the way, is the one I purchased and it's smaller than the other ones I've made making it the perfect doll for my little one.

So of course I was so proud of the cuteness I created I posted a picture on Facebook and the orders started coming.  Friends of friends and family members were all wanting homemade dolls for their sons/daughters, grandson/daughter, niece/nephew, and baby shower gifts.

It was truely a blessing because we were unsure how we were going to afford Christmas & going to see my husband's family. I had been praying about it a lot and then this kinda fell in my lap.

I made 4 different girl dolls


And some boy dolls,

Cute little babies

Christmas rolled around and I was asked to make elves (more on that in another post).

And then Easter rolled around and I started making bunnies.
  I used the Sleepy Bunny pattern from Mmmcrafts.

I've had so much fun making them!

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