Homemade Christmas Gift Giving

I love Christmas, and gift giving, and sewing. So this time of year is particularly fun for me.   Now that most of the gifts I have made for people have been distributed, I can share on my blog!  I made all of these items (except for the thrifted green gloves), there is much variety in this post to match all of the people I made these gifts for!  Enjoy!  And maybe it will inspire you for next Christmas.

I made this little babushka ornament for my sister

who is newly married and is in the process 

of collecting ornaments for a tree of her own. 

This is made by hand stitching felt and ribbon.

Mmmmmm! Homemade shortbread using my 

grannies recipe, its good for any time of the year, 

but wrapping it in wax paper and bakers twine adds

some Christmas charm!

Even a simple pair of mittens look cute

wrapped up with bakers twine and a 

candy cane.

An adorable fox using this tutorial,

she is the only one I completed this year.  

Time always gets the better of me.

An ornament for a babies first Christmas,
this pattern came from a borrowed book
 from the library called
Fa la la la felt.  Its awesome

These two special mice for two special nieces;

This is a pattern of my own which I would love
 to have in my shop by next Christmas.
(new years goal maybe?)

These are both hand stitched using synthetic felt,

not my favorite to work with, but all my REAL 

wool felt is in bright colours.

Here they are snug in their beds, with a leafy blanket.

I didn't make an annual Ikea Christmas trip to get paper, 

but found this bright wrapping paper at Michael's...who knew?

Lovely little egg cup family for assisting in the 

consumption of Egg and Soldiers.

Still trying to figure out how to permanently paint 

on china/ceramics.  Any tips?

Mouse needle book made from felt ribbon and 

embroidery thread traveled to my friend in Australia.

This mouse is more appropriately dressed than the 

bear I sent last year.

Happy New Year!  I have many new projects and ideas in store for 2013.

See you then!

time to get cracking!

It was two years ago that I made these Christmas crackers, so it's about time I share!  I made a personalized needle felted gnome for each person in my family and thought putting them in a Christmas cracker would be the most fun way to give them.

gnomes made from wool roving

and beards made from mohair locks

I used card stock and cut out diamonds to be able to 

cinch the ends shut

I found the cracking strips and the crowns at Michaels.  

you can really stuff these full of all sorts of 

goodies if you want! (and lame jokes:)) 

If you are interested in making these for yourself and want some more inspiration,  the Martha Steward December 2012 has a section on making your own crackers. I'm sure you could find it on her website too. But if your anything like me, I'm already behind on my Christmas making, so another project might be to much!

Poplar Market

What are you doing this Satruday? This Saturday November 24th I am vending at Poplar Market.   If your around and feel like coming out for some holiday cheer and Christmas shopping, you should drop by!   With over 25 vendors including vintage, handmade and food items you will hopefully find at least one gift for one person on your list! 

I'm bringing a few new products! 

Merry Christmas and 

Happy Holidays word banner

rose earrings in bright colors! 

(may your days be merry and BRIGHT!)

Hope to see you there! 

Christmas Mood

I walked into superstore today, and a sign informed me its only 40 days till Christmas!  Normally I don't care EXACTLY how many days are left until Christmas, but this year it feels like I have lots to jam in between now and then.

Yesterday morning I had a thought,  since wee mouse tin house is my best seller in my etsy shop to date, why don't I make wee Chirstmas mouse tin house!? So I did.  Four santa mice.  They are very cute,  it was fun sewing a santa hat that was 1" tall!  The smaller the cuter in my opinion.

I dug out a few of my decorations that I have been collecting from thrift stores this year to showcase how these wee mice are perfect for stocking stuffers!

Here are some mice!

Fun

I wanted to make something small, cute, to keep, not to sell.  In the back of my mind most of the time when I am sewing I think "how much could I sell this for?" or "this would sell great at a market."  With craft fair season upon me, and starting wee-knits with my friend(and now business partner;)), creating can sometimes become a chore.  So I thought I would try something totally new/out of my comfort zone just for FUN! 

Mabel Mouse is the result!

She is a scaled down 8" tall version of a mouse I made in January. Her body is made out of felt, and whip stitched together using no sewing machine!  I need portable projects to be able to move around the house chasing after an ever growing crawling baby.  So I'll be making more after tweaking the design a little.  I'm already dreaming of more colors and dress designs. 

Mabel is one of my favorite patterns I have made so far.  It feels like I'm getting better at making softies!?  Maybe it has been all the practice making dolls from other great designers, like my fav mmmcrafts! Her designs and colors are pure eye candy!

Simple Childrens Room Art

This project is slightly old news, but I thought I would share none the less.  I made some simple art in frames for my nieces birthday in August.  I got some frames and a Bambi book from a thrift store for under $2.  I had some off white spray paint in my supplies, and transformed some outdated frames into a nice fresh white, using the glass as my template for size I cut out two cute pictures from my nieces favorite book (at least for now).  Normally I feel really bad about cutting up books, but this had some crayon artwork, and its my second copy of this book.  I have bought so many books to make children's art, but chickened out when it came to cutting the book up, maybe this is the start of more!

 

before the paint

after!

I have a busy october/november ahead filled with a market or two, new prototypes, setting up a studio in a new house, starting a knitting business, and of course more birthday and christmas presents.  So stay tuned!  The blog should be busy in the next few months too!

Painting the Last Days of Summer

It may be September, but we are still getting beautiful summer weather.   Last night for the first time this summer we went boating on the Fraser river with my in-laws and some friends.  Normally by now we would have been more than once, but our summer has been busy with weddings and other things up till this point.  Twenty five degrees a warm wind and good company found us out on a sandy island on the river. 

I like to bring something to do everywhere I go, and this was no different.  It was watercolors this time, I specifically brought it along for some little friends that I know who like to paint.  Here is our artist station; wind + sand + rocks + wood + little hands + paint = great art and lots of fun.

Party with Martha Stewart

I enjoy reading Martha Stewart magazines.  Mostly because they have lots of beautiful pictures in them.  Pictures of pretty decorations, flower arrangements, DIY crafts, and parties that look like fun to be invited to.  If you have ever tried to re-create a Martha project you may realize how difficult it is to make your item look like the one in the picture.

My friend Rachel (not me in third person, she really is a friend named Rachel) seems to pull off Martha projects effortlessly. Rachel planned and beautifully executed a bridal shower for my sister that Martha would have been proud of. 

I played a small part in this by making some paper garlands some book stacks and ribbon bunting, but the prize goes to Rachel for the overall feel and look of the party.

Feast your eyes!

dinner in the garden

perfectly placed in the shade of this 

manicured lawn and garden

taking advantage of the blooming

dahlias in season

easy peasy paper garland my sister and I made.

 An Anne of Green Gables book was

 put to good use....

ribbon bunting also made by me and my sister

thoughtful and dainty favors

book stacks with ribbon tied around them,

25 cents a book and 5 cent ribbon, 

classy and inexpensive decorations

 

we had to have a giant book it being a literary themed 

party and all.  Gifts of friends favorite books were given

to the bride to be.

as night fell we lit some tea cup 

candles that were hand made