Some Christmas gift ideas

Over at the crafters' corner on my favorite Christmas forum, we were brainstorming some ideas that would make use of the items we were currently crafting. I thought our ideas for gifts might give someone else some inspiration. So here are some of our thoughts:

* Maybe pair handmade tortilla cozies with matching fabric napkins and add some homemade taco seasoning or fajita seasoning mix.

* The fabric trimmed dish towels with a knitted or crocheted dishcloth (like this one, for example: seed stitch dishcloth)and a bottle of especially nice dishwashing liquid or hand soap.

* Or, the fabric trimmed dish towels with some pot holders made from matching or coordinating fabric.

* A set of pillowcases with some sachets for the linen closet, or scented shelf liner or a nice linen spray. (The Gooseberry Patch Gifts for Giving books even have some ideas for making these things yourself!)

* A set of pillowcase grocery totes with a handmade coupon wallet.

* A batch of homemade laundry soap, cleverly packaged and paired with a clothespin bag filled with nice new clothespins. The first Gooseberry Patch Gifts for Giving book has a recipe for lemon-fresh laundry rinse which is a possibility, too.

* For a family, one of the felt puzzle mats combined with a nice jigsaw puzzle and some homemade hot cocoa mix and maybe some homemade snack mixes, popcorn balls or candy.

Another idea I have had for a family is to make some special Christmas items (advent calendars, table runner, napkins, rag garlands, etc. etc.) and give to them before Christmas so they can all have the fun of using the items as part of their family's Christmas preparations.

I have tons more ideas here on my Christmas blog, so be sure to go over there and check out the archives for more inspiration!

Christmas shopping trip ... in late June

A couple of weeks ago, Mr. T got out of work early on a Friday. It just so happened that earlier that week I had received an email announcing a Porch Sale at Cracker Barrel restaurants on that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. If you have never been to one of their porch sales, you have missed some great deals. The items are all 70% off and include everything from toys and Christmas ornaments to clothing and dinnerware. I have found the porch sales to be terrific sources for Christmas gifts to stash away. But Mr. T had plans for Saturday, and Sunday would have been out of the question, so I had figured we wouldn't get to the sale. The nearest Cracker Barrel is nearly an hour and a half south of here.

So, when he arrived home early on Friday, he suggested we hit that sale -- and, of course, plan to eat a late lunch at the restaurant while we were at it. We were both in the mood for breakfast (served all day at Cracker Barrel) and even had a couple of ideas as to what we wanted to order. All that changed when our server started telling us about a summer breakfast special -- the Blueberry Streusel French Toast Breakfast.


Here's how they describe it: "Three slices of our blueberry streusel bread, dipped in eggs and then grilled to a golden brown. Topped with real butter and served with a warm bottle of Dickinson’s® blueberry syrup. Comes with two eggs, cooked to order, and our own hickory-smoked bacon or sausage patties. $7.29/French Toast Only $5.99".

Well, we just had to try this breakfast special! And were we glad we did! It was simply delicious. We both had it with scrambled eggs. Mr. T had bacon and I had sausage patties, which I love at Cracker Barrel.

As we were eating, another server came by and saw what we had ordered. She commented that she had just tried the meal the preceding day and found it delicious. We agreed. I think Cracker Barrel has outdone themselves with this one! Our server told us to spread the word about how good it is, so I am doing so!

I did find some great buys at the porch sale, too, but cannot describe them here because the recipient reads my blogs. Suffice it to say I found a wonderful gift at an incredible price!

If you get to a Cracker Barrel this summer, be sure and try the blueberry streusel French toast...

Another pretty, practical gift

Here's a second handmade gift which my daughter Carrie gave me this past Christmas. Again, I am not sure where she found the pattern, but I expect she found it online somewhere. What a great resource the internet is for crafters!

This is a holder for my crochet hooks. Here's a look at the inside.

You can, of course, tuck the hooks under the flap to protect them. I left some of them out just to show the hooks.

Here's the outside.

What a super cute fabric she used! And I love the leather button that holds it closed. It's a great, secure way to store crochet hooks, and I love the fact that something so useful can also be so pretty.

A lovely, useful Christmas gift

Thought I would show, rather belatedly, one of my handmade Christmas gifts from my daughter Carrie. I really need to get the link from her for this super cute project. It's a little wallet to hold tea bags and whatever else one might like that would fit. She put tea bags in one side and index cards in the other.

Here's the inside of the wallet. Isn't it so beautifully done? This year is the first time she has done much embroidery; she has pretty much taught herself. I am envious of the perfect look of this blanket stitch!

And here's the outside (I saved the best for last! Love this cute bluebird!)

I think I will use this next time we go to the cabin up north. The index cards will come in handy for devotions and list-making, and the wallet will be a neat way to take along an assortment of tea bags.

Repurposing a small cross stitch sampler

Here is sort of an unusual gift I just made. This stitchery piece, originally intended to be a birth sampler, had been languishing in my stack of UFOs for more years than I even want to think about. I think I didn't finish this until the baby in question was around 6 or 7 years old. I kept thinking I would frame this for her wall anyway, but it didn't fit a standard frame. So I thought this year (as she is graduating from high school) that I would frame it in fabric. Then that seemed not a great idea, since she will be heading off to college and it would just be something to leave behind at home. I thought a tote bag might work, but then it would have to be a very small tote bag in order not to overwhelm the size of the stitchery. Looking through Amy Karol's Bend-the-Rules Sewing, I came across a pattern called an Artsy Clutch. So I decided to try making one, using this stitchery for one side.

The project was easy and fun to make. I used a vintage green floral slipcover fabric for the lining.

The closure is a stitched-in elastic loop and a vintage green button.

I'm still not sure how much I like the result, but the recipient seemed pleased. I thought she could use it to hold jewelry, or socks, or even a Bible or other book.

I would definitely make more of these clutches, though, from regular fabric rather than a cross stitch sampler. They are easy, and would be cute in many variations of color and fabrics.

A pretty Christmas pin

This beautiful pin (sorry the photo is slightly blurry) was cross-stitched by my friend Ruth. I don't know what size Aida she used, but it is tiny. I placed it on a white background for the picture so it would show up better. I love the detail in the snow scene on this pin!

Fresh-cut pine

Here is one of my newer Christmas decorations, and one of my favorites. I found it for a bargain price a few years ago at Jo-Ann Fabrics after Christmas. What fun!

A dish towel gift idea

Recently I made another set of those fabric-trimmed dish towels for a gift. I decided to post about it here, because of the "gift packaging" I did with these.

If you wish to see other sets of them, check my regular blog, Across My Kitchen Table . I have made several different sets of these towels, which are so quick and easy!

I found the pattern at Sew4Home , which is a new favorite site of mine. Sign up for their emails and see what's new each week. They have some fabulous projects with very clear instructions.

For the towel part I used Bistro Towels, which have a sort of birds-eye weave on one side and terry on the other. I found these towels on clearance (a set of 3 for $3) at Wal Mart.

This gift was for a dear friend of mine. With her youngest child graduating from high school this year, she has completed over 2 decades of home schooling. I thought it deserved a little remembrance, but wanted it to be a useful gift. I remembered I had in my stash a scrap of school-themed fabric. As it turned out, there was plenty to make 2 of these dish towels. For the narrow trim I used some scraps of Mary Engelbreit cherry fabric from my stash.

I decided to add a seed stitch dishcloth to the gift, since I had one on hand. (Incidentally, the pattern didn't call for an edging, but I decided to add one by simply single crocheting around all four edges.)

I packaged the items for gift giving by tying some pretty sheer ribbon around the stack of towels and dishcloth.

I think my friend enjoyed the packaging as much as she did the gift!

Vintage paper bell

Years ago, my grandmother, who has now passed on, gave me a box of vintage paper goods -- place mats, table cloths, centerpieces, cardboard cutouts of Pilgrims and Easter bunnies, etc. In the box was a green honeycomb paper bell. I remember seeing bells like this at my grandmother's home in the 1950s. I didn't use the bell, though, because it was missing the little clips that hold it in position. Finally I realized, a year or two ago, that green paper clips would work just fine for the purpose. And they do!

My granddaughters made the red paper chain this past Christmas, and I thought it made a great addition to the green bell.

Over the river and through the wood

Here is one of my very favorite ornaments. It was painted by my friend Marilyn many years ago. The pattern was from a Country Handcrafts magazine. It could be done on a ball-shaped glass ornament as she did, or could also be painted on a wooden circle. The wooden circle is the easier option, and is what I chose to do when I made one of these ornaments as a gift for someone. Either way, these ornaments are so pretty!

Hot Chocolate gift idea

Found this picture in my "Blog Posts in Progress" folder and thought I would share. It's a couple of jars of my homemade hot chocolate mix just waiting to be tucked in a gift box or basket. You can find the recipe by typing "hot chocolate mix" into the search box at the top of this blog. These cute jars are from the dollar store!

Holly Leaf Cookies

I decided to share this recipe (not sure if I've posted it before or not) because it is the same basic cookie recipe as the one pictured on the recipe card in the preceding post. I just adapted it to make holly leaf cookies. The recipe is from my dear friend Marilyn's mom, Fran. It is a wonderful cut-out cookie recipe!

HOLLY LEAF COOKIES

1/2 cup solid shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) real margarine
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon orange extract
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
Green food coloring
Cinnamon red-hot candies
Green decorating sugar

Combine the shortening, margarine, sugar, salt, flavoring and eggs in a large mixing bowl; beat well. Add flour and mix well. Mix in enough green food coloring to tint dough light green. Cover dough and chill thoroughly.

On a floured surface, roll a small portion of the chilled dough about 1/4-inch thick. Cut with a holly leaf cookie cutter. Place leaf shapes on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Trim each cookie with 1 or 2 cinnamon red-hot candies for holly berries, placing the candies at the stem end of the holly leaf. Sprinkle each cookie with green decorating sugar.

Bake in a preheated 375º oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool. Repeat process with remaining dough.

Yield: 2 to 3 dozen cookies, depending on the size of the cookie cutter used.

Decorating my kitchen island for Christmas

My kitchen "island" -- actually a repurposed shaker-style (but formica-topped) desk made for me by my dad -- is one of my favorite places to decorate in my Christmas kitchen. The past few years, I've done some variations on this theme.

The little table topper is simply a hemmed piece of fabric with a baking theme. The large Mitford teacup is filled with Christmas cookie cutters. The little rolling pin recipe holder was a gift from my granddaughters, and the cookie recipe is from a dear friend. Cookies are yummy too!

The vintage cookbooklet is like one my mother used to have, which I remember poring over avidly at Christmas time. I bought this one at a book sale some years ago.

Better late than never

I came across some photos of our 2009 Christmas tree in my "blog posts in progress" folder. Since today is Rudolph Day (the 25th of any month is Rudolph Day), what better time to post these photos at last?

One more...
Those large paper candy canes were made by one of my granddaughters. She learned how to make them in school. By the time Christmas was here they were hanging from the tree and most doorknobs as well!

Christmas fabric napkins

I've been going through my folder of "blog posts in progress" and found these pretty fabric napkins I had made for one of my daughters for this past Christmas. They are all Christmas prints. This was a great help in reducing my stash of Christmas fabric. For my other daughter, I used all blue/white Christmas and winter prints -- like snowflakes, snow scenes, etc. A very quick and easy gift!

A vintage card

I've been sorting through some old boxes of photos. Every now and then a vintage card will surface among them. Here is the most adorable one I've found yet!

A fun gift idea for kids

I decided to show these pictures on my Christmas blog because the recipient of this birthday gift (my 6-year-old grandson) will be less likely to see them. I plan to make several more of these for other grandchildren as well.

I found the pattern here. It is available in a pdf as well. It did work up very quickly once I got everything translated from centimeters into inches and cut out.

The idea is to use three different fabrics for a cute and colorful chef's hat. I wanted to use only fabrics I had on hand for these, so had a bit of trouble finding the right fabric for the puffy top. I finally decided this dark red checked top would be okay.

Sam likes trains, so a train print worked for the headband part. A black and white Mary Engelbreit check was the perfect binding, coordinating with the railroad crossing signs on the headband.

This picture shows the snaps that make it adjustable. If this turns out to be too big for Sam, we can add another set of snaps.

For the gift, I will include 2 baking mixes with the hat.

Hope someone else can use this fun idea!

Paper twist angel ornaments

The angel in this photo is one of my favorite handmade ornaments. Years ago when my daughters were at a Christian boarding school, their school held a craft fair in the fall. I always loved crafting ornaments for that fair, and this paper twist angel is one of several I made at that time. It was a pattern in Country Handcrafts, later called Crafting Traditions. Ever since, I've wanted to make more of these because they really are very cute.

I've kept all of the supplies on hand. I literally had everything I needed to make more of these angels, but I just hadn't found the time. I even acquired, by way of someone else gifting me with their crafting leftovers, a number of the cute little puffed satin stars and other shapes to use for the angels to hold. Also, over the years I've found other cute little items like wreaths. gifts, lanterns, etc. that would work well in the angels' "hands". I just didn't make any angels...

Fast-forward to this year. After Christmas, I decided I really wanted to make at least one of these and send it to a dear friend. My friend loves the color green and so her angel had to have a green dress. I would have given the angel dark hair like my friend, but couldn't find the dark doll curls I know I have somewhere. Her angel would have to be a blonde! My friend also enjoys tea and all things tea-themed, so I wanted her angel to be holding a teapot. Lo and behold, I had several teapot ornaments I had made years ago out of Sculpey® clay (also from a Crafting Traditions issue). I simply cut the gold hanging thread off one and glued it in the angel's "hands".

Voila! A very customized ornament for a very dear friend!

yo-yo wreath ornament

Some time ago I posted a picture of a yo-yo candy cane ornament one of my granddaughters had made. Her sister started a yo-yo wreath but tired of it quite quickly. I decided to finish the ornament myself and put it in my stash. Here it is!

I photographed the ornament on the glass-topped desk (with wintry cards under the glass) where I do a lot of my crafting. Very inspirational!

This year's tags from last year's cards

As I've mentioned before, I usually save Christmas cards for a year, keeping them corralled in a pretty wooden box so that (if I think of it) we can try and pull out a card every day and pray for the person who sent it. Good intentions that I seldom follow through on for very long.

When I take the previous year's cards out to put in the ones from the Christmas just past, I don't throw the old ones away, but instead get out some tag templates, scissors, cord or string, and paper punch to turn them into gift tags for the next Christmas. Here is the batch I made in January.
They're sort of all jumbled together, but you can get an idea of some of the pretty tags that were made from the cards.

There's something very therapeutic about playing with paper and scissors on a dreary winter day, don't you think so?