Christmas Projects - 2013

This Christmas, I made a whole mess of aprons for gifts.

Here's the kid's collection:

I made four girl's aprons but they were all pink and purple just like those, and then the three boys "Monster Smocks."

The girls patterns came right out of my little head.  Maybe I'll have to write it up some day to share.  The boys "Monster Smock" pattern I found at JoAnn's a while ago.  The mouth is a pocket!!

So Cute, huh!! 

Next up is the men's collection - for three brother's in law.

(What a handsome model! work it, Work it!)  ;)

And the women's collection:

For three sister's in law... and one for me, of course.  

I loved them all but I kept the orange and blue one for me.  ;)

Yes, I made up that pattern too.  

It's actually a simple variation of the men's pattern that I bought years ago.

Here's some more of those adorable pot holders.

These two sets I made for my Mom and sister as part of their 12 gifts of Christmas set.

This is their 12 Gifts of Christmas!

-slippers

-magnetic note pads

-note cards

-ornaments

-hot pads

-Lindt chocolates

-glass magnets

-eos chapstick

-Hersheys candycane white chocolate bars

-gloves

-framed picture

-silicone basting brushes

-tic tacs

I know that's 13 items but two of them I wrapped together.

I did 12 little packages all inside one big box.

It was a lot of fun!  I think I might do it again next year with some other fun goodies.

It was a Merry Christmas!

Envelopes for Swapping

Well, yes.  I did make the envelope that I sent your swap block in.

I like doing my own envelopes because, well, it saves some money, I can make them whatever size I need and whatever color I want too.  They're just fun!

Here's my simple method for making envelopes.

I've been using up old 12x12 scrapbook paper that I have sitting around because, well, I'm not a scrapper.  I've made these with old calendars too. Or even from fun magazine pages (obviously not as big).

For a template, I took a piece of thin cardboard and cut it to the size I wanted.  You can cut it to any size you want to use.  Mine is 5x8" which is about the size of a large greeting card.

First, on the back of your paper, place the template so it is about 1.5" from the top and about 2" from each side.  I just eyeball this.  It doesn't have to be exact.  So if you use a papersize different from mine, just make sure you place it something like the photo below.

Use a pencil and make a dot by each corner of the template.

Now, move your template to the edge of the paper. Keep it straight and between the dots.  Make a mark about a 1/2 inch in from the corner of the template.  Once again, I eyeball it.  Do this to the other corner of the template too.  You will do this on all four side of the paper.

Use your nifty template as a straight edge and connect the dots.

You should have lines drawn something like this:

Next, use some paper scissors and cut on those lines you just drew.  This is where I get a bit efficient and stack 3 or 4 papers and cut them all at the same time.

Fold in the side flaps like so:

Fold up the large flap at the bottom and the unfold it.  Smear some craft glue just where it will overlap the side flaps and fold it back up.

It should look like this now.

Fold the top flap down and there's your fantastic envelope!

Just add an address lable and a stamp and it's off!

Pretty easy, huh!

Enjoy!

Ornament exchange 2011

I survived the holidays!

We had a wonderful, magical holiday season and it's nice to be back to normal life.

A few friends and I got together before Christmas for a small ornament exchange and I wanted to show off the pretty things that we shared.

These are the quilled snowflakes that I made to share.

I love doing these. They are so pretty and elegant looking.

 ...A pretty ball made with string and ribbon...

 ...a flower made from antique book pages...

 ...a cinnamon stick tree and a hot pad filled with cinnamon sticks that smelled wonderful!...

 ...a drum filled with chocolate (they didn't last long)...

 ...and a glass bird.

All nice additions to our Christmas tree decor.

Ticker Tape Parade and Hot Air Balloons

At our PQA meeting this month we revealed and exchanged our Mercy Border Blocks again.  It is always so much fun.  It's like Christmas.  We get to see the new borders that everyone has added to the blocks and we get so excited. There's always lots of ooh-ing and aahh-ing and some squealing too.  It's really pretty silly.

Anyway, this time I got Shannon's block to add to.  This is how I received it:

She started with a Ticker Tape center.  Rainbow colors on a white background.  She did a great job on it and then the borders that were already added were great too.

I added a Ticker Tape border!  Yeah, crazy!  I know!  A lot of work... but I really liked how it turned out and I think Shannon did too.

If you want to see the rest of our gorgeous growing quilts, you can go to the Parma Quilters Anonymous blog.  They are all amazing.

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One of my favorite blogs to visit is Quilted Delights.  Leah is quite a fabric artist and does wonderful work.  She makes some amazing fabric postcards and I have perused through her creations more than once.  I wanted to give it a try.

This is what I came up with for a first time:

I stitched along each cloud with silver thread but the picture doesn't show it.  I really like how it turned out.  I may have to try some more.  In fact,  I thought I'd do a smaller version so it would easier to share with friends.

This is what I came up with:

Book Marks

Cute, huh!

Don't you wish you were my swap partner this month.

Well, until next time...

Always look for silver linings.

Ornament Exchange

So my search for ornaments in my last post was really for the Ornament Exchange Party that I was lucky enough to be invited to.  12 ladies were to each make 12 ornaments and then we trade them.  We all go home with 12 different, handmade, absolutely beautiful Christmas ornaments. 

I chose to make the quilled snowflakes.  Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of them all but they were so beautiful.  Elegant and lacy. 

What Fun!  I was so excited!

So, here are the treasures I came home with....

 A penguin made of a flattened glass ball.

 The popcorn ball.  

I can't figure out how she got the popcorn inside that glass ball 

but it's awesome and smells delicious.

 Two different santa bellies from two different ladies.

Very cute, huh.

 Yo-Yo Christmas tree.

Love this one!

 A very delicate glitter ball with a snowflake on it.

 The Nativity made with polymer clay.

  A hand stitched Nativity.

 A stitched star.

 My own quilled paper snowflake. 

(I really am in love with it.)

 Wooden Believe.

 A rustic bell.

 A very cute Santa with a floppy hat.

Aren't they all just delightful!

I can't wait to put them all on my tree.

I had such a fun time with this - the making and the trading - I think I my just have to do my own party next year.

Christmas Ornaments

Lately, I have been searching for some ornament ideas to make for our Christmas tree.  I came upon this one for a felt ball at Zakka Life.  I'm a believer in using my sewing machine if at all possible (modern conveniences - you know) so instead of sewing it by hand... I used my machine and they were so quick.  I also added a dot of glue and some glitter to each of the joints.  I really like how they turned out.

The next one I found was this quilled snowflake.  Isn't it so elegant!  I fell in love with it right away. You can see the inspiration for this one HERE.  And, obviously, I made some changes.  My husband knows better than to expect anything I do to be done exactly like the recipe says.  I'm always adding my own interpretation whether it be food or crafting.
They are actually super easy.  That's one thing I love about this one - it looks so much more complicated than it really is.  Makes me look good!  :)

I didn't want to go and buy a quilling tool in case I didn't like it so I made a jimmy-rigged one.  I took a needle with an eye about 1/4 in. and cut the end off with wire cutters.  Then I wrapped  the point with a bunch of masking tape so I could hold onto it better.  It has worked great and now I'll go out and find a real quilling tool because I'm in love with this new art.

I can't wait to see these on my Christmas tree soon!

Halloween and Easter Collide!

I had the idea back in the spring when, after digging out our smashed Easter baskets, I realized that I needed something different.  I pondered this all summer (and procrastinated).  We needed something that would be easier to store.  

And why not make it to work for both goodie-collecting holidays?

So, here we have a reversible Halloween/Easter basket!!

They turned out to be so cute and fun that I made enough for my littles and some extra.

Now I have cute bags to work for both holidays and they store flat.

The kids are so excited too!