Making Gifts for Life

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Amigurumi Owl

Amigurumi Owl -
This little guy was made as a Christmas gift for my hubby's uncle. He is obsessed with owls, and needless to say, I thought this would make the perfect gift.
He was fairly easy to crochet, the pattern was from a book, so I can not give it out, it is not my own. If you want the name of the book feel free to comment and I will email it to you.
I just wanted to share because he is adorable.
I will post more amigurumi that I have made later, right now I am making a little piggie for my son, who is 16. (He loves pigs.)

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas Tree Excursion - All is Merry and Bright

All is Merry and Bright -
We have always had a fake Christmas tree and this year we decided to get a real one. We went with my bff and her family to a farm and we picked a good one. It is a beautiful Frasier Fur.

I made this nice layout when we got home, although with all the stuff going on this month, I haven't had time to post.

I used papers from My Mind's Eye. And I have a bunch of snowflakes embellies that I have been meaning to use.The title is a punch out, that came with the papers, and I just pop dotted. Behind the "no peaking" circle, is a metal snowflake, and some Prima flowers layered on top of each other. In between each paper I added white cardstock to separate the patterns, so that it was more visually appealing.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday. Enjoy your families and make many memories. Love to all.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Thanksgiving Layout

Thanksgiving Layout -
I didn't have a scalloped edge paper that matched this layout, so I traced one and cut it out. Then I cut an 8 inch square out of the center, inked the inside and outside edges. Cut two pieces of paper into 7.5 inch squares, cut the striped one with a decorative paper trimmer.
The photo mat is 4.5 x 6.5, and cut from dark green cardstock. I used the Making Memories Slice Machine to cut the banner out, and I added the letters using rub ons. Used twine tied into knots for the ends and added black dots in between each flag on the banner.
The flowers are Prima, layered 5 flowers in different sizes, then I added a decorative brad. The leaves are off some silk flowers I bought.
The heart is from the same cardstock that the banner and the paper behind the striped paper are from. I cut a 3 1/2 inch heart, then used the paper crimper to crimp it horizontally. I added some lace on the bottom of the photo mat and a ribbon to the heart to complete the page.

Monday, December 5, 2011

The holidays and gift making

Now is the time to enjoy the holidays, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas can be quite busy and filled with tons to do. But we all need to slow down and take a breath. Really look at what your kids are experiencing and what they find joy in. When we started decorating this weekend, I thought the kids were too old to make a gingerbread house, want to make cookies with mom or decorate the tree as a family. But they surprised me with wanting to do all that. My son didn't get to do as much as he wanted, he had prior commitments but it turned out to be a whole lot of fun, and we even got a real Christmas tree for the first time this year. We went to Stokoe Farms and walked the tree field until we found the perfect tree, a Frasier Fur. The tree is lean and tall so we could fit it in a small spot this year. I also was able to get enough left over branches to make some crafts with, I haven't done so yet but planning on doing that today.

I have however made a really cool craft, that could be an anytime of year craft but really works well with the Christmas season. I made these wonderful candy wreaths. I saw the idea on a Martha Stewart video and had to try it, surprisingly enough, they are very easy and take little to no creativeness. You start with a wire wreath form, you only need it to be one piece of wire, there are some that have two - four different size circles all attached together. You just need the really cheap ones, they should be about 20 cents or so. 8 inch is a good size, you will need 2lbs of cellophane wrapped candy and some embroidery thread. I use a color that matches whatever candy I decide on. The strawberry candies with the green and red wrappers and the peppermint candies with the clear cellophane, make gorgeous wreaths.

I also am making one with mary jane candies on it, they aren't in cellophane wrappers, so it's a little more difficult, because these wrappers are wax paper and they rip very easily. But my mom loves mary jane's and I thought it would be a cool gift for her. I hope she loves it.