handmade gift roundup: potholders

I raided my scrap box for these potholders. I made 8 of them in all for friends and coworkers.

These were very much inspired by the potholder Erin made recently. Except hers has lovely quilting and mine do not. I used two layers of cotton batting with another layer of heavy canvas in the middle, and I worried that quilting such a fat sandwich could be disastrous. So I just edge-stitched these after turning them out and left it at that.

I also did two pairs which I quilted crossways then added binding which I finished by hand.

And that's the end of my roundup. All simple projects, but fun to make. I want to show you a couple of the gifts I received too, so I'll be back with more on that this afternoon.

handmade gift roundup: dog collars

The dogs got Christmas collars. Of course, the dogs aren't really interested in any gifts that aren't either a) edible or b) chase-able. But they do look so sweet--and I think they knew when I put them on that these were special collars. (don't laugh--I really do think they knew the difference! ok, you can laugh. I'll admit, I've become a little dog-crazy. They're just such sweet, loyal, and joyful companions. sigh.)

This project was much easier than I had anticipated. I bought cotton webbing from Joann's and used some of the ribbon that I bought at M&J on our trip to NYC. I attached the ribbon to the webbing with a running stitch down each side of the ribbon (folding the ribbon over the ends of the webbing to prevent fraying).

I bought two $2 collars from the grocery store instead of tracking down the collar hardware, which ended up being cheaper and easier. I cut the nylon webbing off the store-bought collars and reused the hardware with my be-ribboned cotton webbing. It was way easy.

In case you are wondering what has captured Abby's attention so strongly in the bottom picture, it's almost certainly a squirrel. She just wants to catch one so darn much. We laugh because we can just imagine if Abby could speak, her daily dialogue would run something like this, "GUYS! GUYS! THERE'S ANOTHER SQUIRREL!!!! AND HE'S RUNNING UP AND DOWN AND UP AND DOWN AND YOU GOTTA LET ME OUT RIGHT NOW! WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT THAT COMPUTER WHEN THERE IS A SQUIRREL RIGHT THERE! AGGHHHHHHHHHH! HE'S TAKING OUR ACORNS, MAN! WE GOTTA STOP HIM!! PLEASE LET ME OUT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. AGGGHHHHHHHH!!! SQUIRREL! ARE YOU NOT SEEING THIS?? SQUIIIRRRRREELLLLLLLLLL!"

handmade gift roundup: kindle cozy

For Matt's mom, I made a little cozy for her Kindle. I found this lovely tropical bird print in my scraps bag and it just seemed perfect. A little summer-y and very cheerful. I paired it with linen and used a turquoise cotton inside.

I contemplated all kinds of complicated features for the case, but decided on a simple sleeve. This ended up being a good choice, since Joan prefers to read her Kindle in the buff (hee--I mean the Kindle is naked, not Joan). So she really just needs something to keep it protected when stowed away in her purse. One layer of cotton batting gives it a little softness and extra protection.

A simple elastic band and vintage button keeps the Kindle in its cozy. Simple is good. :)

handmade gift roundup: hankies for papa

For Matt's Grandpa ("Papa"), I wanted to make monogrammed handkerchiefs. I had embroidered some similar hankies for Matt last year and I wasn't very happy with how they turned out. The fabric is so fine that I find it difficult to embroider on, and when they come out of the laundry the letters are even more wrinkly than the rest of the handkerchief (which is quite wrinkly).

So I decided to try using fusible interfacing to attach fabric letters. I printed out some letters I liked, transferred them onto the interfacing, and cut them out very very carefully. A sharp x-acto was very handy.

I'm not entirely confident that these will hold up over many washings, but I will be interested to see. I am happy with the way they look, in any event.

Hope your New Year is starting out very fine. Mine has been lovely. :)

handmade gift roundup: throw pillows for Mom

Mom also got pillows for Christmas. It was a pillow kind of Christmas. Now, I have to confess, I actually gave Mom an IOU for new covers for the throw pillows in her den last year. But I never followed up, and she never picked out a fabric, so it never happened. Happily, just a few weeks before Christmas we went on a family trip to NYC and Mom and I got to spend a whole morning roaming around the garment district. There are not many things I miss about New York, but the garment district is a big one. We went to B&J, where Mom got me yardage of a beautiful blue wool to make into a skirt AND some Liberty tana lawn (EEEEP!) for a shirt. (Wait for it--you'll see these appear in the New Year.) We went to M&J Trimming for buttons and ribbon. And then we went to Mood where Mom picked out this awesome wool boucle for her pillows.

I wish you could feel this material. It is the softest wool I have ever felt. It must have some angora or something in it as well, because as I sewed, tiny bits of white fluff floated all around me. I was so happy with the way the piping turned out--I love how the striping runs perpendicular to the piping. (Trust me to get giddy about piping.)

Mom got four of these pillow covers for her den. And she didn't even call me out for what was basically a re-gift, since I promised her these a year ago.

In some ways, Mom is as hard to shop for as Dad--simply because she is so generous that she's always thinking about other people instead of herself. I guess that's a common maternal trait, but my Mom does it exceptionally well. She has taught me so much about sewing and fabrics, and her encouragement over the years has been the biggest driver behind my creativity. How do you thank someone for that? Handmade pillows is a start I guess.

handmade gift roundup: VW pillow for Dad

I actually got all of my handmade Christmas gifts completed before Christmas! This is quite a feat for me. I tried to scale back my expectations as the day approached, which helped a great deal. I also postponed completion of all of Matt's handmade gifts as he has a birthday in February (very convenient).

The first project I completed was a pillow for my Dad.

All through my childhood, my Dad took us kids on a three- or even four-week long camping trip every summer. On these trips, we traveled all across North America, as far north as Newfoundland and as far west as the Pacific. We saw most of the biggies among the national parks--we camped in Yosemite and Yellowstone, we hiked around the Grand Canyon, we touched Mt. Rushmore. We spent countless hours driving across the country, watching the landscape change before our very eyes, puttering up mountains and across wide plains. As a kid, I took these trips rather for granted. But now, looking back, the sum of all those trips--the impact they had on my childhood--is amazing to me. I have seen so much of this beautiful country and spent so many wonderful times with my Dad. There are a lot of reasons I think my Dad is the best father in the world, but the fact that he took three kids (often unwilling, ungrateful children who whined about "why we had to camp so dang much") on these amazing trips tops the list.

This pillow commemorates the last big trip we took. The summer Twin and I graduated from college, she, Dad, and I went all the way to California in my Dad's VW Vanagon. All along the trip, I collected iron-on patches from gift shops. These patches have been sitting in one of my memorabilia boxes ever since, so I pulled them all out before Christmas and made a pillow for Dad. I used Heather Ross's awesome VW bus print and embroidered some Arlo Guthrie lyrics on the front. (Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Simon & Garfunkel and the Beatles made up the bulk of our soundtrack for these trips.)

In terms of specs, the pillow also sports snazzy striped piping and a lapped zipper (thank you Erin for the tutorial!).

My Dad is a tough one to shop for, but I think this was a hit. It certainly brought back a lot of wonderful memories for me as I made it.

decked

Everything is looking very cheery in our little living room. This is our second year with a live tree and I love it so very much. Last year I was a bit heartbroken because I dropped my beloved blown-glass treetopper as I was putting away the Christmas decorations. It was smashed beyond repair, so we didn't have a tree topper when we put up the tree this year.
Then one evening, Matt noticed my little angel figurine on the mantel and said "well, isn't she a tree topper?" Yes, yes of course she is! I inherited this angel from my great-aunt and I never realized (duh) that she is made for the top of a tree. So now she is sitting atop the tree, looking just perfect.
I made the stockings for us last year from Alicia's wonderful pattern. I have her new book on my Christmas list, and I am looking forward to some embroidery in the new year. I also want to hone my knitting skills. Honestly, there are so many things on my crafting to-do list that I don't know where to start. And that's not even to mention the long list of gift crafting I had planned to do, and which I am quickly running out of time to complete. Oh well. My family is very accustomed to receiving IOU's from me for homemade gifts. I usually deliver at some point.

I am feeling extraordinarily blessed this year. And very grateful. I don't know if I'll get another post in before Christmas, so I'll go ahead and wish everyone great peace and joy, however you celebrate this time of year. Go have a cookie and some eggnog right now! Cheers!

advent calendars on etsy!

For the past few years, I've been making these pyramid garlands as an advent calendar. I fill them with good dark chocolate and I munch my way through December. They look so very cheery hanging from the mantel, though I used to hang them between two bookcases in the days before I had a fireplace.

This year I've come up with an improved template and two new designs. And if you'd like to have a forest of little pyramids of your very own, now you can purchase the kit on etsy! I'm selling them as PDF downloads--you just print and assemble. I will admit that by the 24th pyramid, your scissors hand will be a bit sore. But it's so worth it in the end, to see your little line of trees appear.

The "Starry Trees" design is new, and I love the way it looks hanging from this fallen branch. It was very odd--I had this vague notion that a tree branch would look cool, so I walked out into the backyard and immediately picked up this branch. Perfect size, knobby branches, lovely bark color. The stars are obviously aligned for the Starry Tree Advent Calendar.

The Mod Trees design is similar to the classic one I first made a few years ago. Lime green and red is about the perfect combination.

And I will point out that a Lindt truffle fits perfectly inside a pyramid. I alternate the white chocolate with the dark chocolate. One of these years I am going to tuck in little notes or toys instead of chocolate. Maybe. Probably not.

Happy counting down!

wreath and advent and hello!

Sorry for the long blogging absence! I just haven't had the brain space for crafting or blogging lately. Living in a new place, with a new job and new people, I'm finding that different priorities, needs, and plans are filling my head. I don't know yet whether the blog will grind to a halt, or limp along in a sad sort of fashion until it again becomes a larger part of my life, as it used to be. But regardless of the future of my little blog, I do want to say how much I have valued these friendships, and how big a role they have played in my growth, both artistically and personally, over the last couple years. This crafty blogosphere is a really really really really special place (really really). really.

We are slowly getting in the holiday mood around here. Over Thanksgiving, my Mom, sister and I made a new wreath for our front door. We started with a $5 wreath from the craft store and then blingified it. My Mom is the master of wreath blingification, and has made some absolutely beautiful wreaths with fruit, greenery, and other natural kinds of stuff (mostly plastic of course but it looks real). We decided to go a bit less traditional with ours, using glass Christmas balls and candy cane ribbon along with the greenery.

Mom melts hot glue nuggets in an electric griddle, and then you just dip and stick. Voila, blingy. The little bird in the middle of the wreath is from the Martha Stewart Kmart tree-trimming section, as are the candy cane ribbon and folksy christmas balls. I put a pretty penny in Martha's pocket that weekend, between her awesome tree decorations at Kmart and her craft stuff at Michaels. She so has my number.

This weekend we are going to string popcorn and make tree decorations. We are also going to make a new advent calendar from the design I created last year. I don't have any green paper left so I am going to get creative with my Martha Stewart glitter. I am trying not to buy any more craft supplies because it was becoming increasingly obvious that my hobby is no longer crafting; instead it is craft supply-buying. I am a pro at it, I can tell you.


*Update November 2010: This year I've got a new design for my advent calendar and am selling the templates on etsy! Check it out!*