My Home for the Holidays-Santa Hat Tree Topper Tutorial

One more day until December! Then the festivities will begin in this household! I am having a girls night in tomorrow night where we will be doing two different crafts and just hanging out. I can't wait!

I have been trying to put a few finishing touches on the house before tomorrow. I thought I would put a houndstooth hat on top of the hub's tree in the office, but being the cheap-o that I am, I decided to make a topper.The hubs suggested I make a Santa hat. Such a smarty he is:o)

So that's what I did.

Here is a quick tutorial on how to make your own Santa hat.

Start out with your choice of fabric for the body, fuzzy fabric for the pouf at the end and for the trim around the rim of the hat, and a Styrofoam ball.

 I had to add these pics in here...Scosche was spazzing while I was cutting the fabric...do you think he got weirded out over the fuzzy fabric:o)

 Isn't he such a sweetie?

 Back to business:o)

I folded the fabric in half and cut at an angle. The base of my hat is 20".

 The length is 16.25". There was no rhyme or reason for those measurements...that's just how I ended up cutting it...just a side note. I didn't cut the top into a point. I cut it with a blunt edge. There needs to be room at the top to slide the fabric covering the ball into.

 Next lay your foam ball in the center of the fluffy fabric.

 Wrap fabric around ball, like so...and cut, making sure to leave enough fabric to hold onto.

 For the hat, put right sides of fabric together and stitch a 1/2" seam. Leave the end open so that the fluffy fabric with the ball inside will have a place to go.

 Tie the fabric off really tight that is holding the ball and slide it through the top of the hat. Using a really tough upholstery needle, stitch the pouf(fluffy ball) to the top of the hat. 

 There will be excess fabric, so trim that off.

Like this.

 This particular fabric doesn't fray, which is fantastic because there is no need for hemming! For the brim of the hat, I cut a 3" wide strip of fluffy fabric.. You will need to measure the brim of your hat to make sure of the exact length...making sure to add enough for a seam allowance. 

Stitch the ends of the fluffy strip together.

 Then stitch the band around the edge of the hat making sure that right sides are together.

 And voila..you have your very own Santa hat tree topper.

 Easy peasy:o)

 I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday.

I look forward to sharing all the fun things we are doing for the month of December, so stay tuned!!!

Participating Here:

Christmas Count Down

Here is a cute printable I found via Pinterest.

To print this cutie, go to Inviting Printables, and follow the link.

I am having Costco print mine out. I can't wait to get it. The kids are really going to enjoy adding "puffs" to Santa's beard!

Letters to Santa

I am getting geared up for Christmas, are you? I have all the decorations up...except for one tree. That one will go up today, hopefully. I will be sharing my trees with you very soon.

I have been scouring the internet for fun ideas to celebrate with the kids. They keep talking about their Christmas lists, and what they want Santa to bring them. I googled Letter to Santa Template, and found some really cute printable letters to Santa. Here are just a few that I found.

To print these cute Santa letter, click the link below.

Free Printables

Have a great Cyber Monday...have you found any great deals? 

The Business November 30th 2011, "Sylvan Spectacular!" Edition

Tuesday night, Sylvan Productions has their final open improv show at the Dark Room. Wednesday, they're the guest of honor at The Business, as we say goodbye to our Dark Roommates, and say hello to a new era of SF comedy. If that weren't enough, we've also got comedians Matt Gubser and O.J. Patterson - plus regular Businessmen Sean and Bucky.

Sylvan Productions has done a wildly popular Open Improv show at the Dark Room every Tuesday, which moves to the SUB/Mission starting in December. They also produce a five-hour comedy show every Wednesday at the Dirty Trix Saloon, and this Friday, their Producers Show comes to Dirty Trix as well. Their shows may be heavily improv'ed, but they could hardly be improved.

Matt Gubser is an SF comedian with the hair of a handsomer Jesus Christ and the wit of a sassier Judas Iscariot. He performs at all the finest clubs and showcases in the Bay Area, and he's also a potter, as if that's fair at all. O.J. Patterson is a rising star who recently opened for Hannibal Buress. His blog, Courting Comedy (http://courtingcomedy.tumblr.com/) is a living document of the local scene and your best source for Holy City Zoo photos.

The show gets started at 8, and admission is still just five bucks. Are you going to be there? The answer is, "Yes, and..."

Our Thanksgiving

I hope you all are having a great Thanksgiving weekend. We just got back from our trip to Fall Creek Falls with my family. We had a fantastic time! Here are a few pictures from our adventures.

 This particular waterfall is called Piney Falls. This was the first time that we had ventured out to this waterfall...and we took the kids with us...crazy, I know:o)

 Beautiful, isn't it?

 Here is the view from across the gorge.

A certain little man was trying to talk his daddy into letting him go down the water fall in a boat...but a soft boat because that would make it more safe:o)

 Here, his daddy(the hubs) is trying to explain how gravity and force work together when water is involved.

 Daddy isn't impressed with this 5 year old's logic...don't you love how his hands are behind his back? Such a little man:o)

 In this particular picture the 5 year old...E...says"Well, what about the fish?" The hubs' response,"The fish are smart enough to stay away from the edge."

 Here E is pouting because he can't take a soft boat over the edge of a 100 FOOT WATERFALL!!

 Just so pitiful, isn't it? Mean ole daddy:o)

 S.R...a.k.a. Little Miss Stinker Pants, is trying to sneak up to daddy to take a peak over the edge. I thought my brother and the hubs were going to have a heart attack..do you see the the stink in those eyes?:o)

 I love this picture. Two peas in a pod!

 I have the most awesomest family!!!

 Here is the treacherous terrain we climbed through..at times the kids were riding our backs through this forest.

Oh and here is Flower the duck..E named it...not sure what the gender of the duck is:o) But that doesn't matter when a 5 and 3 year old are involved. 

We had a great time this weekend. It was so nice to slow down and just be surrounded by family. I truly enjoyed my family this weekend, and realized yet again, what a blessed girl I am!

I hope you all enjoyed your blessings this weekend as much as I did.

The Business November 23rd 2011, "Thanksgiving Plymouth Rockin' Eve!" Edition

Twas the night before Thanksgiving
And all through the Mission
Everyone came to the Dark Room
Because our show was so bitchin'


It is an All Thanksgivinged Eve to remember at the Dark Room this week, as we welcome a cornucopia of guests to the Business. From Los Angeles, we have Aparna Nancherla and SF native Emily Maya Mills, and from New York City, we have Alameda's own Emily Heller! Holy shit, if the Wampanoag had brought this kind of lineup to the Pilgrims back in 1621, they all would have died of laughter! And probably scurvy or rickets, because medicine was very primitive back then.

Aparna Nancherla is a Washington D.C. native who now entertains Los Angeles with her absurdist wit. She's performed all over the place. including Last Comic Standing, the Bentzen Ball, the Bridgetown Festival, WTF with Marc Maron, and, most importantly, The Business LA. I yam excited to hear her stuff!

Emily Maya Mills - "the Edward James Olmos of comedy" - is an actor, writer and stand-up comic based in Los Angeles, and is regarded by many as "the hottest 65-year-old in the business." She's been seen on Parks and Recreation, Ellen, Conan, Childrens’ Hospital, Key and Peele, Downers Grove and many of television’s weirder commercials. She's one of our favorite comics and favorite people, and we're thankful to have her back.

Emily Heller recently performed as one of Comedy Central's Comics To Watch in New York City, but she's still humble enough to return to her Dark Room roots. She's performed at the Bridgetown Comedy Festival, SF Sketchfest... look, you know who Emily Heller is already. In 1621, she would have been known as a "sassy pilgrim," refused to eat turkey, and then probably burned at the stake. But instead, she'll be lighting it up on the stage!

We've also got regular Businessman Sean and Bucky, the gravy to this holiday smorgasbord. Also expect surprise guests, cardboard hand turkeys, pumpkin-based snacks, and one thousand six hundred and twenty-one laughs. $5, no wampum.

The Business November 16th 2011, "Occupy Swan Street" Edition

Whose Dark Room? Our Dark Room! No Alex this week, but The Business has two exciting guest stars this week. We welcome two of our favorite journalists, Rachel Swan and Hiya Swanhuyser, to discuss the Occupy movement, journalism, the Black Bloc, and whether Occupy Oakland is hipper and less gentrified than Occupy SF. 

Rachel Swan is the music editor of the East Bay Express, who made her standup comedy debut at The Business last year. Hiya Swanhuyser is a former culture writer and blogger for the SF Weekly who recently produced the Occupy SF Art & Performance series. They're both in the top 1% of journalists in our book.

Our corporate overlords still demand a capitalist admission fee, but it's only five dollars, dollars that sadly still bear the mark of the Federal Reserve bank. We still offer a bring-your-own-burrito program, in defiance of the authorities, but you might need a gas mask afterward.