Christmas is in the air...

Swap: Christmas Stocking Swap 2
Sent to: MissMeShell
I've been coyly mentioning this swap for a while now, so I'm *so* excited to finally be able to post pictures! The suspense has been killing me. A big thank you to Meshell for taking such lovely pictures. The hell with the ones I took, these are way better! :)

Here is the stocking I made. The cuff and back are red velvet. The front is a remnant I've had in my stash forever. I went a little insane and quilted every line of the design. Two solid days of work, but it was something I was proud to give. I finally tackled using an embroidery machine so I could put her name on it.


You can really see the quilting in this picture.

The 'big' gift I included was this handmade book. It used no binding materials, only glue, and required a degree of meticulousness I didn't know I had. The inside pages are folded origami paper. I am very pleased with how this came out.




My partner is an avid reader, so I made her three bookmarks. The first has some sewing illustrations on it. The second (my favorite) has vintage Christmas wrapping paper, courtesy of my paper-hoarding grandmother. The third has a few different kinds of papers on it.

These are bottlecap ornaments. These turned out so much cuter than I expected! Just bottlecaps, head pins, glass beads, and ornament hooks. There should have been four, but the headpins proved a little too tricky for me in the beginning. But I preservered!

My first-ever felted soaps, made to look like little wrapped packages. There were really fun to make.

Little teeny crocheted flower hairpins. I loved these so much, I'm making more for myself.

The crafty grrl staple: marble magnets! I packaged a dozen in an Altoid tin. Some of the images are from a quilting magazine.

My favorite Christmas cookie recipe - sugar cookies - converted to metric units, of course! The cookie cutters are a cat (she has a cat), a bone (and dogs), and a stocking, to remember this swap by.

Mini Sharpies, two tins of assorted buttons, a few lengths of interesting trim (including one handmade by my great grandmother, bottom left), and two drawstring Christmas wrapping bags.

I also went a little nuts with shopping. Check it out...three very yummy Yankee Candles, Anne Taintor napkins and postcards, a Betty Boop nightlight, Marilyn Monroe Andy Warhol notecards, and a Christmas magic towel. I <3 magic towels!

And what package would be complete without some good 'ol American candy!? I tried to come up with some classics (Peeps, Pop Rocks, Fun Dip, and Hershey Kisses of course), as well as some newer items (Nerds rope, gummi pizza, sour Altoids). The most important part is the caramel apple lollipops: they're not available in Australia and Meshell has a certain fondness for them. :) I also found some Bertie Bott's Everyflavor Beans. Grass, yum... :-P

I had to include this photo, because it showcases my sock monkey Christmas cards. I've been waiting patiently to use them since I bought them back in January.

And thus endeth this gigantic post. Coming soon: my package from Meshell! Anticipaaaaaation..... :-D

P.S. I hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving. My family and I spent the holiday at a house in South Bethany, DE. Hooray for walks on the beach at sunrise...

P.P.S. I saw the Who in concert last night! I know this is entirely un-crafty, but I am so in awe that I had to share. Many thanks to my wonderful boytoy, who made it happen. :*