Holiday White Fruitcake, Jello Candy Canes & Barbie Crafts from Santa Wine Bags

If you'd like to try a new recipe, this Holiday White Fruitcake is dense and sweet, very tasty, and did make my darn good list of recipes:@) You can mix up the fruit as desired, and alcohol is strictly optional. I also like that it's a fruit cake that can be baked and shared, no marinating time required.

And I'm still infatuated with all forms of Jello folks...

Had to chuckle when I saw these candy canes at Dollar Tree:@)

Dollar store Santa wine bags are great for Barbie crafts. We'll start with the two most obvious, the hat does fit the dolls perfectly, and with a little imagination, the bag as it comes, can be used as a sleeping bag. I'll share five ideas in this post, I'd say that's $1.25 put to good use:@)

Throw Blanket: Cut straight down the back and across the bottom. Glue ends of belt down and remove gold tie ribbon up top. Done:@)

I have to say, I don't think a wine bag ever looked so cute, and this Santa dress for Barbie is actually a pretty easy craft. Especially the way I made it... The key is to fit it to your doll. I used Curvy Barbie this time. I started with a rectangle of fabric and just wrapped it around the doll, folded it together in back, and trimmed as I went.

A rough pattern:

What I did:

1. Cut belt off as close to the side seams as possible. Set aside.
2. Remove gold ribbon. Cut bottom seam off of wine bag, and straight up the middle of the back. Open flat, white strip at center front and white trim will be on the bottom.
3. Making bottom edge of pattern even with bottom edge of fabric (not the fur that sticks down), cut one pattern piece.
4. Wrap around doll. Fold the top down inside the dress about 1/2" or a little more, cover the chest, and wrap under arms. Add a dab of hot glue to inside to hold fold in place if desired (or tack down with needle and thread). 
5. Turn right sides together and sew 1/4" seam up back to above hips. Curve the seam in a bit as you get towards the butt area. Trim excess fabric.
6. Fold each side of bodice inward. This is a stretchy fabric folks, fold it enough that it fits the doll snugly. I folded mine a good 1/2". *Have your doll handy for fittings... Sew a strip velcro to each side for closure. ~Double check your velcro placement before sewing... Ya want to learn from my mistake, double checking is a good idea😉
7. Hot glue velcro to each end of belt so it fits snugly around waist.

Please note, I just threw this together quickly. You can trim the back more so it's less bulky. You can add darts and hems and make it more fitted... It's your dress, make it as detailed as you'd like. I was most interested in the look from the front. Not haute couture folks, just a 30 minute craft that will add to a girl's Christmas memories😎

The bag I started with:

They sell these Santa scarves for people too... How about getting one for your girl and making a matching one for her doll:@)

1. Use the solid red back, cut a strip approximately 1 1/2" wide by 9" long.
2. I folded mine three times long ways. This fabric won't crease like cotton, but a dab of glue here and there will help give a little shape.
3. Scrunch each end and hot glue 1/2" pom-poms.

My Barbie Pinterest Board can be found HERE.

Make something just for fun...

And have a Happy Holiday Season🎅