My Small Gift Gallery

First of all, my friend Rachel has a fun button obsession so I thought I'd make her a button covered Christmas tree. (Thank you, Mom, for the helpful suggetions and to Grandma for the antique and semi-antique buttons). I can tell she liked it. It's the first thing you see walking into her home.

I used Angie's Knifty-Knitter looms by Provo Craft to make my kids warm hats to match their Christmas coats. I made this...for myself! My second ever attempt at fake floral arranging. I couldn't have done it without your suggestions, Angie!

--C

Christmas Crafts

Here are the Christmas craft gifts that I made. I made this Coke apron for my Sister-in-law, Sydney who has a Coke kitchen. Cami helped me make this necklace and earrings for my beautiful niece, Natisha.

I don't usually make Christmas gifts, but this was really fun!

-Anisa

Christmas Crafts to Give

Ok! Here is a sampling of projects I made and have given away. The only thing missing is the collection of doll clothes my mom and I made for my daughter and an apron for my Grandma. I'll get some up soon.

First up, my SIL's and I decided to give my MIL a break for Christmas (meaning we took Christmas dinner over). With this as our inspiration, my SIL, Karamie, made a beautiful table spread.

Next, my winter 2008 obsession is hats and scarves. As I have recently learned to crochet, I was very inspired to make this hat/scarf set for my trendy SIL , Sally. To complete it (and to add a bit off fun to the aqua) I added a bright red felt flower pin. (See here for more info.) This is what the pin looks like up close:

For my FIL, who came to stay with us for Christmas, a "golden plates" tie tack made with sculpy clay. The kids also made hot dogs, a Christmas tree, and some more...um...abstract tacks.

For my MIL and SIL who were also with us on Christmas, a hat and glove set (think $1.49 each at target!) Adorn it with a colorful felt in, and you have a fashionable accessory set!

For the newly wed cousin who loves to cook, a sweet new apron, paired of course with a church cookbook (not pictured) and some crocheted dish cloths (also not pictured-but will have to in the future-love them!).

And, last but not least, for the little princess cousin: her very own doll, Nora. This pattern came from The Black Apple and you can get your very own FREE pattern here (You can also buy them on Etsy.)

Phew! Christmas was super busy and I'm glad it's done for another year! I'll be on the lookout for some fun Valentine-themed projects and any great ideas for that special holiday (both husband and family related)

I hope each of you had a Merry Christmas!

Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays all 'round!

We at Twiddle Thumbs just wanted to wish you the best this week. Thank you for your support and checking us out. We hope you'll be back. We'll be back, too! Join us next week for a gallery of all the crafts we did for others as presents and such. We may even post a few that we receive as well. So until then... Good luck with all those last minute craft projects we know you took on despite what day the calendar says it is!

And the Stockings Were Hung

Last year my daughter's socking wore out. She's only six. And, no one wears a Christmas stocking! Obviously, I had bought it at the dollar store. She has had me on the hunt this whole season for a new one, but either they are too expensive, not cute enough or both. I decided that she needed one made especially for her by her mom. I am very happy with the final results and she loves it too. (I'm sorry for the blurriness-my camera is being a little picky lately I used a different stocking for a pattern and pieced it together. There is pink rickrack trim between the two different fabrics on the cuff (to hide that seam). The letters are cut from felt using an old scrapbooking alphabet template and hand-sewn on using contrasting embroidery floss. The flower is made of felt and also hand-stitched onto the sock. (I got the idea for the flower at A Feathered Nest and the instructions are at this cute site.) I finished off with a ricrac loop (not sure if I love that part-may still change it) to hang the stocking with.

Towels in Triplicate

For our 'One Craft, Three Ways' feature, Anisa came up with the fun idea of decorating our own Christmas dishtowels. I think I was the most hesitant to do this project. What in the world was I going to do with a towel? For Christmas??? But not having any fabulous (or otherwise) ideas of my own to contribute, I went along with it. I managed to fly solo to Hobby Lobby where I bought some Christmas-y fabric, not totally loving it or knowing what to do with it. Then....I'm not sure what happened...but all of a sudden I knew what to do! Remember back in the day when all dishes were done by hand? I remember my favorite dish towels, though slightly gray from years of dish-drying and counter-wiping were my moms flour sack towels that someone (probably her) embroidered. They were the best. No towel could dry a dish faster or better! Anytime I have to hand dry the dishwasher overflow, I've found myself wishing for those wondrous towels. And now....TA DA! Here they are!! These amazing and adorable designs come from Wee Wondefuls. You can get the patter free here. Of course I had to do both the boy and girl elf. They are way to cute to do just one! -Ang

I love buttons. I think it comes from my love of scrapbooking and having texture and dimension on my pages. I'm not exactly sure where I came up with the idea (my own brain, I guess). I decided to sew buttons in the shape of a tree on my dish towels. Here they are. It's a little impractical to dry your hands on (you have to dry them on the side) but it's way cute!!! -Anisa

I had a lot of great ideas floating around in my head for this one, but being severely limited by my lack of sewing maching I had to try other things.

After several failed attempts at as many ideas, I settled into something familiar...crocheted snowflakes. My tree is covered with them. I made them the during the second year of my marriage and they're still going strong. Anyway, it really stands out on the black towel that matches my kitchen.

--C

Monday Discovery: Paper Genius

At http://www.craftstylish.com/ there is a contributor that is a paper creation genius! Jeffery Rudell's latest post is this gorgeous silhouette nativity. This is definitely something I would love to do. Here is the link to his instructions.

I also loved his 'snow storm.' As a replacement to handcut snowflakes in the window (which I was actually going to do with my kids today), he suggests putting together a simple concoction of dental floss sandwiched between white dot labels. The result is whimsical and modern and I love it!

Three more links to his posts that are worth checking out:

http://www.craftstylish.com/item/26379/extreme-paper-the-long-dark-road-to-a-bright-idea

http://www.craftstylish.com/item/25718/how-to-make-a-garland-with-punch

http://www.craftstylish.com/item/13737/how-to-make-a-surprisingly-simple-paper-wreath

Letters to Santa

I just wanted to show everyone this cute Christmas craft I made.

Supplies:

• Crystal Light container
• 1 sheet of scrapbook paper
• glue
• wire
• paper piercer
• ribbon
• embellishments

I had saved my Crystal Light container to make a bank for my son. Then I saw an ornament at Target that was similar to my tube and it inspired me. I simply cut out scrapbook paper and glued it arounf the container. I cut circles to glue on the ends. I poked holes in the container to put the wire through and embellished the wire with ribbon and a few metal charms. My boys wrote letters to santa and put them in the tube and hung it on the tree. Santa snuck in at night and took the letters and left them letters in return.

-Anisa