Merry Christmas!!

I had soooo much fun making these dear little snowmen cards.  Wish I could take credit for the idea, but I saw it on Pinterest (where else!).  I only had a few white buttons in my collection that had two holes vs. four, so I sifted through the button box at my local thrift shop for the rest (enjoyed that part too!).  

Blessings on your Christmas!!

Love, Andrea

Memory Gifts

I made an assortment of these little storage bags for Christmas presents for my family members, made out of my father's old work jeans.  

I simply cut off the legs, stitched across the bottoms, then stitched a box pleat across the side, just like when making these thread catchers.

My father still had a stack of brand new bandannas in his dresser drawer, so they worked perfectly for the linings.  He always carried an old red bandanna in his pocket.  :)  I did interface the bandanna with a medium weight fusible interfacing to give the bags a bit more body.

I love the paint splotches....

Looking forward to giving these gifts to my family!

Mittens!

I just finished stitching this pile of mittens for Christmas gifts!  They are made out of old wool sweaters that had been felted.  

This summer I had stumbled across a garbage bag of felted mitten supplies at the Lancaster Creative Reuse, a thrift shop for crafters.  I could not believe my good fortune!!  Felting wool is mess - I've done enough of it in the past that I had no interest in ever doing it again.  In light of my aversion to felting, this find was quite the treasure!!

The bag was stuffed with sets of mittens, carefully cut out and pinned together, all ready to go.  

Some were even embellished with felted flowers or crystals, like this one.  

Even the patterns were included!

I keep wondering what happened to the person who so carefully prepared all these mittens for stitching, then had to abandon the project....

I was so happy to have the privilege of finishing them up and seeing that they get to good homes.  I still have a number to finish, but I was able to complete enough for Christmas gifts.

They are wonderful -  oh so warm and cozy, lined with fleece!

Maybe I will have to revisit that felting thing....

:)