Getting ready for Christmas

What are your plans for Christmas and New Years? Since we made the big move to Kenya just over a month ago, we decided to stick around our new home for the holidays. During the week between Christmas and New Years Eve we will do a short trip to Mt. Kenya, which will be our first time out of Nairobi since we arrived. But for the actual holidays we will be home, so the kids and I have been doing lots of projects in preparation, which also help to make the new house feel less echo-y and empty.

Gigi and Babu sent these adorable Christmas jammies - thank you!

The kids and I have been really enjoying this run-up to the holidays. A couple weeks ago, we made cookie-cutter cutout shapes from construction paper and then decorated them with glitter.

Our tiny table work space in the kitchen

 

The kids really loved this project, and worked on it for much longer than I expected. Here are many of the finished products in the drying stage:

I taped the shapes to the wall with some mini Christmas tree ball decorations,
and voila! our Christmas tree...

Last week I got really motivated and decided it was time to bring out my new sewing machine, which I bought days before we departed Ithaca and have never used. My old machine is in storage at Karisa's house because it weighs 30+lbs -- the new one is merely 12lbs and I decided I wanted it enough to use a lot of my allotted travel weight (we each got a 50-lb footlocker and a suitcase to fill on our journey here). I found some Christmas fabric at a Nairobi mall and spent three days working on Christmas stockings for all of us. This is how it turned out:

The stocking on the right is paw-shaped for Nimona, our new dog

It was a really fun project, from creating my own pattern based on an online tutorial to learning how to make linings and do zigzag stitches. The new sewing machine is terrific, and I can't wait to go to the 3-story Nairobi fabric store a neighbor told me about. I have lots of plans to make table cloths, clothes for the kids, and more.

Cora chose this stocking

Hope you all are enjoying the days before Christmas as much as we are!