Well, after an incredibly busy week and two very busy days, I am craving a return to normalcy. Normal sleeping and eating schedules, normal activities, just normal. We had a nice Christmas, a very full Christmas, and I love it that way, but I am exhausted!
I received so many goodies—fabrics and floss and needles, oh my!—that I’m itching to get back to making things just because I like them and not because I need them for gifts. So that’s what I’ll be doing for a while, and in the meantime I’ve scheduled some posts about the gift items I couldn’t show you before Christmas. Hopefully after that I’ll have some more things to share and maybe even a shop update!
In this post? A variety of small but lovely things.
Decorative pins, made with glass beads, extra long pins, and very messy glue.
(Holding the pin point up, apply glue to the pin, slide the beads on, stick the pin into some cardboard, and prop the cardboard so the pins are hanging upside down for the beads to dry in place. Once dry, pick off any excess glue. And if you’re me, accidentally loosen beads, start all over.)
A hanging jewelry holder.
(Place a doily in a wooden embroidery hoop, use double-sided tape to apply decorative ribbon around the outside, add a loop for hanging. Hang jewelry through the holes in the doily. Ta-da!)
A cuff bracelet for a young friend.
(Using perle cotton, single crochet all around small plastic rings found in the knit/crochet area of a craft store. Stitch together, leaving long ends for a tie.)
They were all simple to make but were great gifts and all were enjoyed by the receivers. Additional detail photos can be found on my flickr page. I’ll be back soon with more completed gifts!
The pins are fabulous – and setting yourself back a stage by loosing things that should remain unloosened…. Sounds like something I would do. :-)
written on December 28th, 2009, at 10:15 amOh that doily hanger is wonderful! Do you mind if I make one for myself? If i blog about it I will credit you of course :)
written on December 28th, 2009, at 3:10 pmWhat a clever idea, using a doily to make a jewelry holder!
I usually glue the ribbon to the outer edge of the hoop, but I bet using double-sided tape is much neater ;-).
Yes, like you, I am happy for there to be more normalcy. I still need to do-Christmas the house, but at least we’re back into a no-stress routine.
written on December 28th, 2009, at 6:55 pmugh, “de-Christmas” the house, not “do-Christmas” it!
written on December 28th, 2009, at 6:55 pmSwirlyarts, the idea for the doily hangers isn’t mine. I’ve seen it several places on the web. So make away, and enjoy!
Glenda, I used glue at first and didn’t like the way it soaked through my thin ribbon, so I switched to scrapbooking tape. I don’t think the hold is quite as strong, but I actually like that the ribbon will be more easy to remove if she wants to change the colors.
written on December 28th, 2009, at 11:09 pm