Category: Projects

2011 Christmas Card

Christmas, Paper

Well, they’re done.


Done and in the mail.  For as much stress as I felt over them, and for as long ago as I purchased the paper and planned them, I’m a little amazed by how simple they look.  But I do like them.

Here is my 2011 Christmas card:


I cut each card by hand, which was a small project, but not an unpleasant one given how much I liked the paper.  I was excited to find the greeting as well.


I’m grateful I got them done, because receiving Christmas cards is one of my favorite parts of the holiday season.  Right now my kitchen counter card holder looks like this, front and back:




With too many of these people, once frequent communication has become rare, something I hope to improve next year.  But even only with annual cards I feel grateful for the reminders they are of remarkable people with whom I’ve crossed paths, people who have influenced me for good.  It’s a wonderful part of Christmas.

And as for you, from our family to ours, “Have yourself a Merry little Christmas!”


Thanks for reading along.  Merry Christmas!

Jennifer

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Teacher Gifts for Christmas

crafts & activities, Pretty Packages



Yesterday’s peek at my flower embellished paper clips and the chalkboard painted tags came together last night to make these little Christmas teacher gifts.


It’s really a simple gift so I needed to do something to make the presentation great.  I cut this shape using my Epic six machine (that has sat in its box forever) to make large tags.  I played with it to arrange the gifts on the paper.  For the paper clips I cut two small slits with a razor blade and inserted them.


I sanded the edges of the chalkboard tags and added a ribbon to each.  I then sewed a piece of elastic to the paper to hold two tags in place.  Then I stapled a piece of ribbon to the tag to tie a piece of white chalk on.

Super simple, but I feel like I put it together in a really cute way.  I hope our Elementary school teachers like them, or at least find them useful.


Lastly I stamped a little Christmas greeting on a decorative tag and slipped it inside the elastic.  I wrote the name of my child at the very bottom.


The entire gift fit perfectly in a 5×7 inch envelope.  Simple but cute.  My son’s kindergarten teacher raved about it when I picked him up this morning.  I was thinking this would also be a cute end-of-year gift for teachers.  All you would need to do is change the color of the paper tag it’s placed on.  I added up my costs and these gifts came in under $2 each.  I already had the chalkboard paint on hand.


So they’re done and delivered.  Hooray!

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Elsie’s Quilt

Quilting and Sewing

I finished this quilt for my niece back in October but forgot to share it.  I found the pictures today.


Most of these fabrics came from my stash.  I used all of the Marabella prints I had because I remembered my sister-in-law loved them and added a bunch of Joel Dewberry prints as well.  Then I just started adding some of this and that until I came up with a mix I liked.


The quilt is simple patchwork with the exception of one pink block the size of four blocks on which I appliqued an “E” and embroidered her name, Elsie.  I’m not the best at this kind of thing but I think it looks ok and I think it’s sturdy enough to survive many trips through the laundry.  What’s the point of a baby quilt you’re afraid to get dirty?


For the backing I pieced more squares and then framed them in white.  You can see that the quilting was done simply, sewing through the center of each square except the big E.  I was worried I’d want more quilting on it when it was done, but it turned out how I wanted it to.


For the binding I used a Joel Dewberry print in a dark pink.  I like the way it frames all the other shades of pink inside the quilt.


This quilt now lives in Mississippi with Elsie and her family.  We love them and miss them.  My two year old calls every baby she sees “Baby Elsie.”   We hope they like it!

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