Color themed gift baskets

Here is a great gift idea for almost anyone.  We made one of these for our 8-year-old grandson's birthday, and it was a gigantic hit!  His favorite color is green and he was so excited to open everything in this green gift basket, even making sure to ask if he could keep the basket, too.

I didn't set out to do a color-themed gift.  I had seen these two wonderful ideas: Lego-Themed Gift Basket and Star Wars-Themed Gift Basket suggested by Kim at Not Consumed and I thought a themed basket would be so much fun to do.  My plan was to use either a superhero theme or a Minecraft theme.  But as I began looking around Walmart, I just found it too confusing, as a grandma, to sort it all out.  Kim's ideas are great, but they would work best if one planned ahead.  And I was definitely putting it all together at the last minute.

Then I had the thought of going with the theme of Josiah's favorite color.  The idea is not original with me.  I had enjoyed reading these wonderful posts: Orange You Glad It’s Almost Summer gift idea

Photo from Smashed Peas and Carrots

  and Hello Sunshine gift idea

Photo from Smashed Peas and Carrots

by Maggie at Smashed Peas and Carrots.  And, although Maggie's fantastic ideas were simply for gifts to be packaged and sent through the mail, my mind jumped to getting more items and making a green gift basket.

What a great idea it turned out to be!  Our shopping trip turned into a scavenger hunt for green items throughout the store!  We got everything from a green t-shirt to a green frisbee and Granny Smith apples.  (Had I planned ahead, I would also have added in some handmade green gift items.)

You can see some of the items (prior to wrapping) in the photo above.  I wrapped them individually in different shades of green tissue paper.  Then I plopped the entire basket into a gift-basket bag from the dollar store and tied it with a green ribbon.  And he had SO much fun opening everything!

Later, I also found this post: Color Themed Gift Baskets from Karen Ehman, so I figured I would link to that as well.

Have fun with this creative gift idea!

Snowmen rice crispy treats

Photo from Love Create Celebrate

I was sure I had already written this post, but it seems to have disappeared, so I'll try again!  This is a sweet treat that would be fun for any winter occasion, not just Christmas.  The idea is from Lindi at Love Create Celebrate and you can find the link to the recipe and instructions here:  Rice Krispie Snowman Treats.

Basically, you make rice krispie treats pretty much as usual, then cut them into circle shapes.  Then you coat them in melted white chocolate and decorate with candies and chocolate chips.  Lindi made some of her snowmen with earmuffs, and some without.  They are cute either way!

A plateful of snowmen faces at any winter or Christmas gathering would be adorable.  And I think these would also be nice gifts for teachers, classmates, co-workers or friends, especially if the treats were packaged in those individual cookie packages.  They might make a cute stocking stuffer, too, if the stockings were hung somewhere away from a heat source so the white chocolate wouldn't melt.

Have fun with this idea!

Christmas embroidery designs

Image from French Knots.com

I was reading a post over at My Mom Calling concerning Embroidered Kitchen Towels. The blogger, Carrie, does beautiful work.  It made me think of embroidered towels I have made for gifts and how fun it would be to make some more with Christmas designs.

You can find some free Christmas embroidery patterns, like the one above, here: Christmas Embroidery Patterns.

And for some absolutely beautiful, inspiring designs, go here: Crabapple Hill Studio.  Click on Winter/Christmas and prepare to be enchanted!  There are dish towels among their designs, and I have made some using their transfers and patterns.  Lovely.

Not a Christmas towel, but I used the scalloped edging from Crabapple Hill's pattern.

This is one of the "Twelve Days of Christmas" dishtowel designs from Crabapple Hill Studio.

A closeup of the simple design -- Christmas cookies with sprigs of greenery

Another camper towel using the same scalloped edging.  You can read the details on the camper designs here:  Vintage Camper dish towels.

This type of project is a great one to work on during the summer,  It's small, portable, and sometimes  stitching a wintry design can even make you feel a little bit cooler!

Christmas Star felt ornaments

Photo from SimplyComfy

Here's a sweet ornament idea from Liz at SimplyComfy.  These felt Christmas Star ornaments look very easy to make.  Find the directions here: Christmas Star felt ornaments. 

This project would be a wonderful way to use up small bits and pieces of Christmas fabric, as well as using up some buttons.  I think that heart shaped ornaments would also be pretty.  The ornaments would also work well as package tie-ons or sweet additions to a gift basket.

I think too that if one wanted a flatter, thinner, more primitive look to the stars, one could simply sandwich a cotton batting layer in between them rather than using stuffing.  I may try this, because I love the look of these ornaments yet might not want them quite as puffy.

Years ago, I made gift tags using this same concept of ironing a fabric shape (with fusible web) onto a 3x5 file card which was later folded and a hole punched in the corner to add a string.  I think there is only one of those tags left and I scanned it to show you:

I also made small gift bags the same way by ironing a fabric shape onto brown lunch bags.   In each case (bag and tag) I hot-glued a button to the center of each shape, and I often drew "stitch marks" with a fine point sharpie around each one.  I should make more of those this year., as they really were fun to make and turned out very cute.

Have fun with this idea!  Small handwork crafts like these ornaments are perfect to work on during the summer ... at the beach, for example.

Camille Doll Giveaway at Pixie Faire!

Photo from Pixie Faire

Yes, there's another doll giveaway going on over at Pixie Faire!  This one is for the adorable Camille, who very much resembles my sweet granddaughter Julia (except that Julia's eyes are green).  Camille is another of the Wellie Wishers dolls by American Girl®.  Recall, the Wellie Wishers are 14.5 inches tall rather than the 18-inch American Girls.

To enter the giveaway, which is sponsored by Pixie Faire  and Liberty Jane, go here:  Camille Doll Giveaway.  Camille would make a wonderful Christmas gift for some fortunate little girl!

Christmas Candy Lanterns -- a nifty decorating idea

Photo from Darling Doodles Design

I'm always looking for new and interesting ideas for my Christmas decor, so I was tickled to come upon this post: Christmas Candy Lanterns by Brie at Darling Doodles Design.  Isn't this candy-filled lantern cute?  Brie found her lanterns at Ikea, but I actually picked up a similar lantern at a discount store for $2.50 just after Christmas.  I think the one I found may be a bit larger than this one, but they're very similar.

The thought of spray-painting the lantern red seemed rather daunting to me, but Brie gives easy directions for removing the glass, which would make spray-painting quite simple.  Summer would be a great time to paint these lanterns, because it could be easily done outdoors. 

Brie also suggests these lanterns could be painted in red, white, or blue for patriotic summer decor.  And wouldn't they also be pretty in beachy colors? 

This is a fantastic idea and one that I hope to use in my own decorating (or, as Brie suggests, in gifting) this Christmas!

Sweet vintage gift tags

Image from altered heART works

I pinned this to my Crafting for Christmas Pinterest board awhile ago, and thought I would share it with my readers.  I know many of you share my love for vintage things, especially Christmasy vintage things!

These sweet tags are from the blogger's personal collection.  Go here: Vintage Gift Tags to download them.  You will need to scroll down through the post to get to the tags.  They are a free download for personal use. 

One pinner suggested that when she finds tags like this, she has enlarged copies made on card stock and then cuts out the tags to use them on gifts.  This is a great idea and, though it may seem obvious, I hadn't thought of doing this.  I have a bunch of vintage tags in my own collection and I have scanned them to use in crafting, but for whatever reason I never thought of printing them out to use in wrapping Christmas gifts.  I'll definitely be doing that this year!

Christmas stockings to sew

Photo from Vanilla Joy

Recently I came upon a very well-done tutorial for handmade Christmas stockings at Vanilla Joy.  I doubt I will be sewing more stockings at this point in time, but you never know.

Mr. T and I used to fill stockings for one another (mine is my original Christmas stocking from the 1950s,  and his is one I got him sometime after we got married), but in recent years we decided to forego even the stocking stuffers and just put any money we would have spent toward overnight getaways during the year.  That's more meaningful to both of us.

All that to say, I will probably have no need to make any more Christmas stockings unless it is just for decorative purposes, or possibly as gifts. (I do crochet a stocking for each new grandchild.)  Yet these are so cute,  and I could have such fun with fabric combinations!

If you happen to be in the market for some new stockings for your family, or to gift to others, this tutorial: Christmas Stocking Tutorial looks like a good one.  Happy crafting!

Incorporating vintage Christmas items into your decorating

White reindeer is vintage from the 1950s; cabin made by a daughter in the 1980s

Most readers know how much I love vintage Christmas items, especially things from the 1950s and 1960s that I remember from my childhood.  Recently I came across a post from Diana at Adirondack Girl at Heart that gives some great advice on how to enhance your Christmas with vintage decorations.

Photo from Adirondack Girl at Heart

In the post, Diana shares links to three posts she has written for specifically using things like Shiny Brite® ornaments, bottle brush trees, Santas, and more.  I frequently (make that always) incorporate vintage items into my decor, so I am always looking for new ideas and ways to display these treasures. 

Here are a few more of my own vintage items:

Vintage light bulbs and tureen.  Milk bottle is a newer one, but you could surely use an old one!

Vintage honeycomb bells showcased by a simple, old-fashioned construction paper chain

Mini stocking used as ornament

Vintage snowman ornament

Do you decorate with vintage treasures?

A new cookie recipe -- Butterfinger Crunchies

Crazy, yes.  In the midst of extreme busyness, I not only tackle celebrating Christmas in July, but I also get a notion to play around with a favorite cookie recipe to produce a new Christmas cookie.  I admit that it is crazy.  But I also rejoice to see my creativity returning.  My days have become slightly less busy, and I find that as I take time to do a few small creative things, I'm feeling more creative in general.  I thrive on creativity; I just seem to need it in my life.  Lately, there's been no time for it and I have missed it so.

So I planned to make my Toffee Crackle Cookies to take to two Fourth of July picnics (one of them being on the third).  As I reached for the toffee bits at Wal*Mart, I spotted something new to me -- Butterfinger® baking bits!  I immediately decided that these would turn my toffee crackle cookies into something great.  It was a simple matter of substituting, but it made for some delicious cookies.  Here's the recipe:

BUTTERFINGER CRUNCHIES

1 cup butter-flavor Crisco®
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Butterfinger® baking bits
Sugar for dipping

In mixing bowl, cream together shortening and sugar. Add egg and extracts. Sift together dry ingredients and gradually add to the creamed mixture, mixing thoroughly. Add the butterfinger bits, mixing with hands if necessary. Preheat oven to 375º.
 
Shape dough into 1” balls; dip tops in sugar. Place on parchment or teflon-lined sheets. Bake at 350º for 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

I happened to have some melted chocolate on hand which I had used for the chocolate-dipped orange slice candies I took to the library.  So I drizzled melted chocolate over some of the cookies.  

That added a more festive look which would be perfect for Christmas cookie trays.   But these cookies are wonderful any time of year!

Another mailbox card!

 If you've read here very long at all, you know that I love Christmas cards (especially vintage ones) with a mailbox theme.  I don't know exactly why -- I think perhaps because they are reminders of a safer, more innocent time and of the generosity and creativity people used in sharing Christmas remembrances with their families, friends, and neighbors.  I was so tickled recently to find this card from the 1970s.

As always, the details thrill me: the lighted tree, the cozy home in the background, the chickadee perched on the mailbox flag.  So sweet.  Even better, the card is from my great-aunt Helen.  A treasure to keep and enjoy!

Another doll giveaway from Pixie Faire and Liberty Jane!

Photo by Pixie Faire

Yes, it's week 3 of the doll giveaways at Pixie Faire!  There will be five giveaways in all.  What a great opportunity to win a doll for Christmas gifting!

Again, these are the new Wellie Wishers dolls from American Girl® -- they are 14.5 inches tall rather than the normal American Girl® 18-inch dolls -- and the giveaway is sponsored by Pixie Faire and Liberty Jane.  The doll for this week's giveaway is Ashlyn, and you can enter here: Ashlyn Doll Giveaway.  How I would love to see one of my readers win!

My virtual Christmas fabric stash

Photo from Fabricworm

Yes, hoarding Christmas fabric is probably an addiction.  With me, it's so serious that I actually have a Pinterest board to store my virtual Christmas fabric stash!  You can see it here: My Christmas Fabric Stash.

And if, like me, you also have an overflowing Christmas fabric stash in real life, you might be interested in these Ideas for Using Up a Christmas Fabric Stash which I posted several years ago.  I think there are nine or ten time-tested ideas here.

Happy sewing (and hoarding)!

Cute clothespins for magnets, bag clips, etc.

Photo from Not So Idle Hands

Well, it is about time for a craft project here in the Christmas kitchen.  I came upon this easy and very cute idea and so am sharing it with you!  These clothespin magnets would work great for holding items on the fridge but could also could be used to clip things closed in the kitchen.  I am always running out of bag clips, and just might make some of these for myself.  They are suggested as stocking stuffers, but I can also see them being used as tuck-ins in gift baskets and so on -- especially if the gift basket contained bags of treats, a bag of coffee, and so on.

Here's the link: Cute Clothespin Clips, from Emily at Not So Idle Hands.  Happy crafting!

Christmas in July sale at Fabric.com!

Image is from Fabric.com.  This design, called Holiday Traditions Scenic Red and Gray, is currently unavailable.

If you're in the market for some new Christmas fabric (or if you just want to browse for some Christmas sewing inspiration) you will want to check out the Christmas in July sale going on right now at Fabric.com.

I am just going to show you a couple more of my favorites.

This one is Christmas Journey.

This is Holly Jolly Christmas Words.

And this one is Old World Christmas Wintervale, by Susan Winget.

Aren't they gorgeous and inspiring?  If these particular designs aren't to your taste, you are sure to find some fabric that is!  There's quite a variety.

The Christmas in July sale ends July 18, so I encourage you to head on over and shop at Fabric.com today while these pretty fabrics are still in stock.

Christmas Club meeting!

My Christmas notebook

This past Friday, we had a meeting of our Christmas Club at a local library.  One thing we did was to bring along our Christmas notebooks and share some of our planning with one another.  I shared how I plan out my crafting according to category and make timelines for when each item needs to be finished.  You can read more about my planning here: planning for handmade gifts.

An example of patterns and lists tucked into a folder pocket

I made up some planning pages to share if anyone was interested.  I usually just make my timelines on notebook paper, but this is a little more neat and organized.  If you like, just copy the red and green text below and paste into a word processing document to use this list in your own Christmas notebook.

GIFTS TO MAKE

CATEGORY:

Name of project:

How many:

Materials needed


Finish by:


Name of project:

How many:

Materials needed

Finish by:


Name of project:

How many:

Materials needed

 Finish by:  

We also talked about how we make a Christmas list and how soon we start, etc.  I tend to start fairly soon after Christmas -- just make a list of everyone I need a gift for, including any potential gift exchanges, Yankee swaps, and so on.  Then as I think of ideas, I fill in the blanks on the list.  This is just done on a sheet of looseleaf lined paper so I feel free to scribble, cross out, erase, etc.

Then after Christmas, I copy the list (listing the gifts I actually gave, which may differ from the ideas I started out with) onto a nicer piece of holiday paper and tuck it in the back of the notebook.  This way I can't possibly forgot what I gave to whom.

 

One of my copied over lists -- sorry about the quality of this Kindle photo

We also brainstormed about making photo cards and photo calendars, when to start, how to find the best deals and so on.  And we nibbled on a few of the chocolate-dipped orange slices I'd brought to share.

One neat thing we did was to gather some Christmas items to give away.  We arranged these items (most were brand new, and some were vintage but new) attractively in a little nook in the library with a sign encouraging folks to help themselves.  The sign also noted the time and date of our August meeting.  We hope this will stir up a little interest in our Christmas club and bring out a few more folks for the next meeting. 

All in all, we felt July's Christmas club meeting was productive and encouraging!

A few Christmas cards with a patriotic feel

vintage card from my personal collection

 I may have shared some of these in the past, but will do so again today.  Patriotic-looking cards just seem perfect for the Fourth of July!

The verse below is from the card that's pictured at the top of the post.  I apologize for the crooked scan!

This sweet little red and blue holly is from the ski jumping card pictured below.

Love this card!

This card surely has an American look, but it was in a bundle of vintage cards gifted me by my friend Ann from New Zealand. 

Hope you've enjoyed these vintage cards!  Happy Independence Day!

A sweet vintage card

I've been cleaning out boxes in a closet and was stunned to find that two of them contained old correspondence, including unopened junk mail from 1987!  I'm sure the person who placed them there in a "stash & dash" moment never expected to leave them there that long.  One of the boxes contained mostly Christmas cards, including this sweet one.

The cardinals and chickadees at a snowy window feeder are so pretty.  I love this card.  It is small and simple but so New England-y.  It tells a story.  Hope you have enjoyed seeing it, too.

Win an adorable doll for Christmas gifting!

Photo from Pixie Faire

Again this week Liberty Jane is sponsoring another giveaway of one of the Wellie Wishers dolls from American Girl®.  Today it is Kendall.  You can enter the Kendall Doll Giveaway here.

As I mentioned last week, the Wellie Wishers dolls are 14.5 inches tall, rather than 18" like the American Girls®.  The Wellie Wishers all wear "wellies" -- rubber boots -- and each doll has her own distinct personality.  There are five different ones -- Willa, Ashlyn, Camille, Emerson, and Kendall.  You can read about them here: Wellie Wishers.  They are completely adorable, and Liberty Jane is adapting patterns to fit them.  Some of the patterns offered by Pixie Faire for 14" dolls like the Hearts for Hearts dolls will also fit these Wellie Wisher girls.

In addition, Liberty Jane is making one of its patterns permanently free! It's the Trendy T-Shirt for Wellie Wishers dolls.  Just follow the link to download your copy!


Wouldn't you like to win one of these adorable dolls?  I know I would!  Kendall will make a fantastic Christmas gift for a very special little girl!

Chocolate Orange Cookies

Photo from Ice Cream Inspiration

It's a cool July morning -- about 57º when I got up just after five.  A perfect morning to try out a Christmas cookie recipe to kick off Christmas in July!  I found this recipe for Chocolate Orange Cookies on Pinterest recently, and immediately pinned it to my Christmas Cookie Exchange! board.

The flavors of chocolate and orange together are so festive!  They bring to mind those nifty chocolate oranges that are to be unwrapped and eaten a wedge at a time.  And these yummy chocolate dipped orange smiles that I make each Christmas and that are so delightful on cookie trays.

So if it's cool where you are this morning, why not step into the kitchen and try out a new recipe?  It's warming up fast here, so I probably won't bake, but I just might dip some candy orange slices in chocolate to take to Christmas Club at the library!

Thinking ahead to Christmas in July ...

What am I thinking?  Am I even thinking?  Well, yes, I am.  Once again, I am hoping to celebrate Christmas in July here in my Christmas kitchen.  Life is pretty busy for me right now, but Christmas in July feels as if it could be a nice mental health break.  I may not get here every single day (though I certainly hope to) but I will plan to be here as often as I can with ideas, links, recipes, cards, and so on.  Stay tuned!

A new-to-me mailbox card!

If you've read my Christmas blog for long, you know how very much I enjoy Christmas card scenes depicting mailboxes.  Today I was emptying out a cardboard box I found in a closet and came upon this beauty from the mid-1980s.  It's funny ... sometimes cards don't look like much when you first look at them, but once you scan them and get them on the computer you see all sorts of details.

I think the artist used some real artistic license with this scene, because, while the lights are on in the house and the shadows on the snow have the blue look they get at twilight, the flag is up on the mailbox, indicating the mail in the box is outgoing mail.  No true country person would ever put the outgoing mail in the box at night and leave the mailbox door open.  What if it snowed overnight?

So the picture isn't very accurate, but it is surely a pretty scene.  I love the log post the mailbox sits on, the cardinal perched on a snowy branch, and the smoke wafting up from the chimney.  There's even a lighted lamppost at the end of the driveway.  Charming!  This is a lovely addition to my collection of mailbox cards.

Win an adorable doll for Christmas gifting!

Photo from Pixie Faire.

If you have young daughters or granddaughters on your Christmas gift list, you will want to check out this fabulous giveaway I just entered.  It's a giveaway for a sweet new doll from the American Girl® line.  The Wellie Wishers dolls are 14.5 inches tall, rather than 18" like the American Girls®.  The Wellie Wishers all wear "wellies" -- rubber boots.  Several of my grandkids practically live in their rubber boots, so I know my granddaughter would enjoy these dolls.  There are five different ones -- Willa, Ashlyn, Camille, Emerson, and Kendall.  You can read about them here: Wellie Wishers.  They are completely adorable, and Liberty Jane is adapting patterns to fit them.  Some of the patterns offered by Pixie Faire for 14" dolls like the Hearts for Hearts dolls will also fit these Wellie Wisher girls.

This giveaway is sponsored by Pixie Faire and
Liberty Jane -- and it seems as if this is only the first of five giveaways for these adorable dolls.

You can enter this week's giveaway here: Willa Doll Giveaway.  I hope that one of my readers wins!

And, if you enjoy sewing for dolls, take notice -- Pixie Faire has Freebie Friday every week in which they offer one pattern for a free download.  A fantastic way to build your pattern library!  Their site also offers wonderful free tutorials for doll accessories and sewing techniques.  Have fun!

Snowflakes on a warm day

snowflake-frame scene with church

In hopes of making myself feel a little bit cooler on a ridiculously hot day, I am going to post scans of some gorgeous vintage snowflake cards.  It's hot enough so that the weather service has posted a "special weather statement" concerning the dangerous heat.  It's about 90º but feels much, much warmer to me.  Very humid too. 

So I found these beautiful cards tucked into a box of assorted leftover Christmas cards at my parents' home.  I'm going to simply share the remaining four scenes and call it good.  It's very hot in this computer room.  So here goes:

A little girl with forest creatures -- fawn, bunny, squirrel

Shepherds and Bethlehem.  This one is my least favorite because snowflakes just don't seem to fit with palm trees.

Forest scene with deer

And a festive front door!

Hope you've enjoyed these lovely cards as much as I did!

At long last! Just in time for Rudolph Day ...

Don't faint, anyone!  Yes, I am here. Better late than never, right?  I thought May's Rudolph Day might be a nice time to share a quick post. 

Isn't the above Christmas card gorgeous?  It's a find from my mother's stationery cupboard.  She apparently sent these to friends one year, for there are five of these alike, with accompanying envelopes.  Inside the card is the following quote from Peter Marshall:

"I thank God for Christmas.  Would that it lasted all year.  For on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day, all the world is a better place, and men and women are more lovable.  Love itself seeps into every heart, and miracles happen ...".

The back of the card says that this is quoted from Catherine Marshall's book Let's Keep Christmas. 

This is such a pretty scene.  I love the leafless birch tree ... something one doesn't often see on a Christmas card, but very true to life for December here in New England.  The color of the card, focusing on the evening sky, is also unusual and striking.  Notice the people walking to the lighted church.  This card was such a nice find.

Today on Rudy Day, this post is probably the one Christmasy thing I'll do.  I've barely thought ahead to any handmade Christmas gifts, much less found time to work on any. 

My life has become intensely busy with eldercare responsibilities, but I do hope to get here to post more often in my Christmas kitchen.  I have many more vintage cards to share, and some gift ideas for kids, and oh ... so many other things.  I'm even hoping to be able to do Christmas in July here again.  We will see!