Handmade Christmas 2011!

I never officially signed the Handmade Holiday Pledge (which is "at least half of the holiday gifts I give will be handmade! *by me, a friend, or a super-cool artist), but I do believe that at least half of my gifts I gave this year were handmade.  This month, I was working on top-secret handmade Christmas gifts for my nieces.  I had to wait until after Christmas to post pictures, since I wasn't sure if they check my blog at all and didn't want to inadvertently spoil the surprise.  But now I can finally share!

Pieces cut out before sewing.

First up was an "Invader Zim" hat for my oldest niece.  (she is one of those teens who are borderline obsessed with the cancelled Nickelodeon show). I was originally going to make her a Cheshire Cat purse to match the plush I gave her two years ago, but my sister-in-law had asked about an "Invader Zim" hat, so I made that instead!

And the finished product!

 (modeling it myself in my bathroom mirror)

Next is a Monster Purse for my middle niece (the oldest's younger sister).  I made a monster purse last year that she really liked, but I ended up selling it at a show.  So this was the perfect opportunity for me to make her one of her own.

Last is an Owl Purse for my youngest niece.  She's REALLY into owls (of course, who ISN'T into owls nowadays?) and my mother-in-law had suggested that I make her an owl purse. (I know there are feet shown in the cut-out-pieces photo...but I forgot about them when I sewed the purse up!  I don't think it mattered much to anyone though.)

And now the big reveal!...

(I wasn't at a good angle to get a good picture of her reaction...but she was VERY excited)

She was so excited that she couldn't stand still enough for me to get a good picture!

I made all 3 girls line up so I could get good pictures. 

I also have a nephew (the youngest niece's brother), but I was at a loss at what to make for him.  He's 17, and teenage boys are so difficult to hand make gifts for!  But we got a tip from my mother-in-law that he wanted a set of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" books, so we got him a boxed set, which he was very happy with!  And I an get behind that.  If you can't hand-make something, books are a good way to go!  I fully endorse the activity of reading! (I was quite the book-worm when I was a teen)

They were all thrilled with their gifts, which made me very happy!  I think I am officially the "cool aunt"! ;)

I have a feeling I am going to start getting lots of requests for purses now!  I've already gotten a few after I posted the pictures on Facebook! 

I wasn't very confident in making purses before.  I had only made one before as an experiment. But I thought they would look unfinished if I didn't line them, and the idea of lining them was daunting to me.  But I find that if I make the purses out of sweaters, the "raw" seams on the inside of the bag look okay.  So I may be adding purses to my line of products pretty soon!

CJ's New TARDIS Shirt

CJ made himself a TARDIS T-shirt a few years ago using T-shirt iron-on transfer paper, but the design has since faded so much that you can barely recognize what the design is even supposed to be (I suspect it's partially my fault for not washing it correctly). Anyway, I had an idea to make him a new one for his birthday this year...one that wouldn't get ruined if it didn't get washed correctly. So I appliqued a simple, minimalist TARDIS design using T-shirt scraps!

I met a kid at the craft show who loves Doctor Who too. It's such a niche kind of thing here in the States that people that like Doctor Who get all excited when we meet other people you like it too!...because most other people just think you're weird!

Make It! Monday: "Little Letter" Needle Book

I found a tutorial at KellyRachel.com (via Pinterest) for making a "Little Letter Needle Book" (it's a needle book that looks like a little envelope). I've been wanting to make myself a new needle book for awhile. The one I have is functional, but it's pretty plain and not really cute or pretty. (The outside is a "blah" navy-blue vinyl plastic with a piece of grey felt on the inside...I won't even bore you with a picture.)

This was the perfect project for me to use the sock monkey fabric I got from the thrift store!

I was most excited to use the sock monkey fabric for the "stamp". I would have liked the lines to be more evenly spaced (the fact that the top line is further up kind of bugs me a bit)...but, hey, this was my first attempt.

The back view of the envelope.

My pinking shears are kind of old and not the best for cutting fabric...so the edges of the "stamp" are a bit wonky.

I also used the sock monkey fabric to line the inside...

I used sew-on snaps for the closure, but you could also use velcro or even a button. I kind of wish I'd done a button closure...but I wasn't confident in my use of my sewing machine's button-hole function. I may practice a bit and re-do the closure with a button/button-hole later.

This is a great gift idea for anyone who sews! I'm looking forward to making more! Although I'd like to try making bigger ones. The template makes a pretty small "letter" (about 3 inches long), but if you wanted a bigger one, you could always open up a regular envelope and use that as a template. I want to experiment with making a bigger one that I can tuck a small pair of scissors into, or even one for crochet hooks (or a dual one for both needles and crochet hooks!).

I showed the one I made to my friends Tricia and Rachel on Saturday. They are the girls behind Primele and Fawnsberg and are into letters, letter-writing, and stationary. Rachel asked me to make one for her and gave me some fabric she wanted me to use. I'm using the same cream, canvas fabric for the outside...the green will be for the lining inside the envelope... and the orange flowered fabric is for the stamp. (I want to get some new pinking shears first though!)

Make It! Monday: Post-It NoteBooks

At my request, my mom wrote the original blog tutorial for these cute little Post-It NoteBooks that she makes. I've done a bit of editing, elaborating, and reformatting... but all the craft work shown in this post is all her! (I should get her to do a tutorial for one of her coffee cup cards/books).

Step 1:

First cut your base card stock 7 1/8 inches by 3 1/4 inches. (I used black...since a friend, who was destashing her scrapbooking supplies, gave me a lot of this thick, sturdy, black cardstock.) Crease at 3 1/2 and 3 6/8. (See picture above.)

Step 2:

Create Flowers or circles from punches or what ever design you want. You can even use rubber stamps, markers, geometric shapes, whatever you want! (This is the fun and creative part!)

Step 3:

Glue a 3 by 3 piece of paper on top of the black cardstock (I used lime green), then glue on your embellishment (I used green & yellow paper flowers).

Step 4 (Optional):

If you want your inside cover to be a pretty pattern or a different color from the base cardstock, you can glue some patterned/colored paper on the inside of the cardstock cover.

Step 5:

Finally, glue the spine of the 3 inch Post-It Note pad into the area where you creased for the folds. (OR, alternatively, you could glue the pad to the bottom of the inside of the booklet, but I recommend gluing the spine.)

And there you have it! A cute little Post-It NoteBook to pretty up your regular old boring Post-Its! You can make lots of them with different designs. You can even personalize them. It's a quick and easy project and can be a great little handmade gift!

*A special thanks to my mom for humoring me and writing the original tutorial on her blog (even though she is insecure about her blogging capabilities!), and for providing most of the photos!*

More Monster Ear Hats in Infant & Kid Sizes!

I got some infant size hats now!

And more kid-size hats...

These are some of the kids at church on Sunday...

Newborn Monster-Ear Hat

After seeing my last post, my friend Amy emailed me saying that she'd love to buy one for her new baby that is on the way. She also gave me a very helpful link to a project for making fleece hats that has some sizing information on the Martha Stewart website. (Oh....Martha is sucking me in!)
So, eager to try my hand at making a smaller sized hat, I made a newborn Monster-Ear hat...

I made the pattern myself based on the sizing chart on the Martha website and the hat pattern I'd used for the adult sized hat (traced from a pattern for a recycled sweater hat project in the book Last Minute Fabric Gifts)

My model is a baby doll that Aunt Grandma actually gave me years ago...a childhood toy that I keep for my friends' kids to enjoy when they come over. It is supposed to be the size of an actual newborn. It fits the doll, so I hope it fits an actual baby! (this is based on the smallest size on the chart...14 inch circumference and 8 inch crown)

Average Head Sizes:
Newborn (6 months and younger)
Circumference: 14 to 17 inches
Crown: 8 to 10 inches

Infant (6 to 12 months)
Circumference: 16 to 19 inches
Crown: 11 to 12 inches

Crochet flower pin for Mom

I included a crochet flower pin I made with Mom's other birthday gifts. She posted this picture on her Facebook today...

Mom wrote..."NEW HAT? NO new pin on hat. Hat received Christmas 1969, Kira made pin for 52nd birthday 2010. Hat never goes out of STYLE! "

I'm glad she likes it!

Last Minute Gift: Bottlecap Magnets

I'm going over to my parents' house tonight for Christmas Eve Dinner and opening presents. As I was packing up the gifts to bring over, I realized that I had at least two gifts for both Mom and my brother, but only one gift for Dad. So, being the crafty girl I am, I decided to whip up these magnets as a last minute gift. The jewel of this collection is the Mountain Dew bottlecap from a special edition aluminum Mountain Dew Bottle (I have two more, but one is dented and I can't find the other one).

All you need is some hot glue, small magnets, and some bottlecaps. I also used an old mint tin covered with some scrapbook paper as the gift box. First you'll need a layer of hot glue so the magnet sticks up above the lip of the cap...

You'll need to wait for the first layer to dry, then apply another layer of hot glue and put the magnet on. (I usually work on 3 caps at a time, and by the time you're done with the first layer of the last cap, the first cap's layer will be dry enough to apply the second layer)

And voila!...Bottlecap Magnets!

If anyone wants these Boylan's Birch Beer magnets, I'll be putting one set in my Etsy shop soon...and the other set I'll do for a New Year's give-away. Stay tuned!

Purple FIngerless Gloves

I finally finished the purple fingerless gloves! Aren't they gorgeous? Someone is getting them for Christmas...

I need to get cracking on a pink pair next for someone else for Christmas...

Homemade Pass the Pigs Game

This homemade "Pass the Piglets" game I saw at Roman Sock via Craftzine made me think of my Mom.

Does anyone else remember Pass the Pigs? I remember that it was Mom's favorite game for awhile when I was a kid. She brought it everywhere for awhile. Most of my memories of playing it are at my Grandma's house. It's such a cute, simple game.

The version that we had looked a lot simpler than the one that is for sale now. Ours was a simple black plastic case with two pig-shaped spots that held the little rubber pigs and scorecards.

If I was a more experienced knitter/crocheter, I would totally make this for Mom for Christmas!

Handmade Christmas

I know some people may think it's "too early" to be thinking about Christmas gifts, but when you want to give your in-laws their gifts when you see them at Thanksgiving, AND you want to handmake them...now is a pretty good time.

Last year I saw that "Pledge Handmade" button/badge (see right) on a lot of the craft sites I browse. But I'm not wanting to handmake gifts out of any philosophy or "stick it to the man" feeling towards consumerism/commercialism...I just like how satisfying and meaningful giving a handmade gift can be...and also more economical.

Handmade items for kids and women are usually pretty easy. But what stumps me is what to do for a handmade gift for a man...more specifically, my father-in-law & brother-in-law. I tried looking at the Gift Guide at Etsy...but nothing really struck me. Anything that did, I either didn't have the skills to make (metalcraft/woodcraft/leathercraft...all the manly crafts for the manly gifts), or it was too expensive to buy from the Etsy merchant selling it.

Maybe I'll just forget it and get them gift cards. :P

Maybe I should forget it for now and get knitting and/or painting if I'm going to finish any of the gifts I'm making!