Sewing Kit in a Jar

During my 49 years on this planet I have collected my share of sewing notions and supplies. I remember the Christmas when I was 9 years old, Santa brought me a sewing basket filled with notions such as pins and needles and a measuring tape. I'm sure some of the supplies I received that year are still part of my current collection.
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This past year I discovered that my girl C, and our friend, Janae were lacking in some basic sewing supplies. Janae needed pins {I thought so anyway...} and Carrie needed needles in the worst way. I had seen this idea before, but it wasn't until Carrie posted it on her blog in her Friday Favorites that it hit me! It was the perfect little Christmas gift for both of them!

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~ teal for Janae ~ pink for Carrie ~

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The top is a pin cushion and inside I put the following: a spool of quilting thread {heavy duty for hand sewn projects}, a box of pins, package of needles, some safety pins, a measuring tape, and a Scrabble tile with their initial {I know, random, but it needed a little something else}.
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It made me happy to add to their collection of sewing notions, and I can't wait to see what they will create with these tools!

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Wrap it up ~ trees and pompoms

Every year we draw names with Doug's family and buy a gift for the person whose name we draw. Last year I had his sister Meta's name. I wrapped her gift just before Christmas but it was too close to the big day to post photos of it, so I saved them in a random folder on my computer. Finally, I'm posting these pix. :o)

I used freezer paper to wrap the box and then cut simple triangle shapes from card stock scraps for the trees. I finished off the bottom of the trees with a pair of decorative scissors, and just glued them all the way around the bottom of the box. The pompom on top was made with yarn I picked up at a yard sale and may be one of my all-time favs! (I did a quick pompom tutorial that you can see here.)

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This year I'm using a lot of pompom toppers for gifts as well. Turns out that our brat-cat Whiskers doesn't bother with yarn the way he does with shear ribbon so he's leaving these alone.

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I love being able to take the time to create a pretty package {and for the record, not all of my gifts are done up like this!}. How are you doing with your gift wrapping?

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That extra something...

I couple of weeks ago I won a blog giveaway from Lizzie. I received my package in the mail the other day and just couldn't have been more thrilled. Not only is the book fabulous (SO well put together and professionally made) but everything was packaged up so sweetly. And! She included some handmade flowers - which of course, I am loving right now! :o)!!!

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Now, it's one thing to put something in the mail and send it off, but it's another thing to add some thoughtful little touches. Everything was wrapped in silver tissue paper tied with a pretty bow and a lovely note enclosed. Thanks so much, Lizzie. Your little extra touches were greatly appreciated! xo

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PS: You can visit Lizzie's Etsy Shop to see more of her beautiful wares.

It's party time.

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Hooray! The day is finally here! My niece's bridal shower. I'm up early, sipping on my first (and only) cup of coffee, and using my time wisely(?!?!?) by creating a blog post.


Yesterday afternoon I wrapped Krissy's shower gift with some homemade paper. (You know you're addicted to blogging when you can't wrap a single package without documenting it with photos so you can post it later.) :o}

I love using freezer paper for gift wrap. Only problem is that it's fairly shear so you want to make sure you'll be wrapping a box or item that doesn't have print that will show underneath.
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Just stamp the image and wait for it to dry... (I used a pigment ink that took FOR.EVER. to dry!)


Tie with tulle (making sure no tulle-eating-cat is anywhere near...)


Create a matching card and it's all set.

I'll show you what's inside later.

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I'm off to celebrate my niece and her upcoming marriage!

xo!

Package Pom-poms How To.

One of my favorite things about giving a gift is packaging it! Here's a fun way to add a little fluff to gift giving. I make these simple pompoms like this:

* Tie up your package and leave the ends of the tied yarn long

* Loosely wind yarn around your hand. (In this case I used just three fingers because I wanted it to be a bit smaller.) For this one I wound around 15 times.

* Carefully slip the yarn off your fingers and position it on top of the loose ends on your package like this:

* Tie the loose ends up and around, pulling tightly to secure the yarn loops.

* Trim the ends to the same length as the loops

* Clip the loops and fluff the yarn to finish your pompom.

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I've seen pompom makers that make tight, fluffy pompoms, but I like this method for a loose and slightly messy looking pom for gift toppers. I also like to use different types of yarn in other colors to add some interest like this one that I did for my friend's baby shower.

xo

I ♥ paper punches.

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Because here's what you can do with them...

Tags for the Valentine bean bags for my niece and nephew (Presley and Stone):


I used foam stamps for the letters. Have you ever used these? They are meant for use with acrylic paint, but I love the look of them done in ink!

A little extra... Here's my view this afternoon as I tried to get some half-decent light for this shoot. See the teal colored thing behind the patio post? That would be Carrie's thrift store bookshelf purchase from last weekend still sitting on our pool deck waiting to be washed and taken away. (eh-hm.)

And the clouds in our beautiful Arizona sky blocking the light.

I really didn't mind...

~sigh~

What a great day.