Christmas Crafts Revealed Part II

Hello Lovies~
Show and tell is fun, so let's get right back to it, shall we?

The next thing I wanted to share was an ornament I made for my mom. This was not what I had intended to make for her, but I was running WAY short on hours in that last week before Christmas, and so her original Christmas gift, will now be her Mothers Day Gift... yeah, that sounds about right... if I start now, I should be done by May. ...insert uncomfortable laugh here...

Sooo, anyway! Do you all read Posy Gets Cozy? It's the blog of Alicia Paulson, it's great. I check it every day, but she only updates once or twice a week (I'm such a stalker!) I love her blog, she makes really pretty things, and really great looking food. I loved her set of Walk in the Woods felt ornament kits. I would have loved to order a set, but I swore to myself I'd stay on a tiny Christmas budget this year. Besides, I already had everything I needed to make the one I liked best for my mom. Seriously, I didn't have to buy one, single thing. How nice is that? So, since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and I didn't sell anything I hope that it's ok blog/craft etiquette that I share it with you guys...fingers crossed! My design wasn't as cute as hers... I did a quick sketch for reference a couple of months ago, and never rechecked it... shame on me. With that said, I think it came out pretty well. Here we go!

I kinda got so busy near the end that I wasn't taking pictures, here in this first picture, I've pretty well got most of the "cottage" put together.

Next I added a cute little flower/wreath thingy on the door and Christmas "lights" to the shrubs.

Then I hung the "lighted garland" around the eves, and a couple of "porch lights" as well as added a rickrack loop for hanging and some "smoke" for the chimneys. I finished by lightly stuffing the piece and  stitching on a back piece. This was a fun little doodad to make, but it took some time... I'd say probably 5 or 6 hours.

Here's my little Snowy Cottage, on the tree and ready to be wrapped up and given to mom. She really like it. Truth be told, so did I... again... shoulda made one for myself.

 

 

So tell me crafty ladies... you sew and stitch up a storm for everyone else on your gift list, but what about the most important person? Your other half, your hubby? Somewhere close to my deadline it occurred to me that none of this crafting would have been possible without MY sweet husband. I mean, for three weeks I came home from work, barely cooked a little dinner then disappeared into the spare bedroom, where my sewing table is set up and didn't hardly come out again until well after he'd gone to bed every night (I'm a night-owl, Sean is not. At all.) He'd pop in and sit for a bit, then it was back out to the couch & ESPN. Poor Sean was spending a lot of time alone (which, who am I kidding, he probably enjoyed not having to share the remote), not to mention doing a lot more than his fair share of chores so that I could get all this stuff done, and for what? I wasn't making him anything... He's such a sweetie, he may not be my loudest cheerleader, but he's my most supportive. I decided this wasn't fair. He needed something special too. Sew... what to make for the man? Hmm... he likes ice hockey, and Star Wars... Star Wars!! There had to be something... Google here I come!

I found a couple ideas that I

1. Already had the materials to make and
2. thought I'd be able to tackle (on my lunch hours... no, seriously)

Yes, I'm deranged... in the last minute madness I took on 2 more projects! But what the hay, he's worth it!

These pieces were both inspired by things I saw on Stitch Wars. Just goes to show, even when you think your creativity tank is near empty, some really cool things can happen. I actually like these two little pieces quite a bit. Geeky goodness!

Here is the first:

Boba Fett! A galactic bounty hunter... Sean's favorite guy. Here's a close up.

I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but this was fun! These felt pieces come together fast! Oh! I stand corrected, I did have to buy something for this project, a new 7" hoop. Wood, I painted it black. When I was finished stitching Boba all together, I cut the fabric (spare from this project) close around the edges of the hoop, I'd say 1/2" or so, then ran a bead of hot glue around the inner rim of the hoop and folded down the extra fabric neatly. Easy peasy! Sean loved this, he was so surprised! He didn't expect that I would have made him anything. That felt good to me, I like giving him surprises.

Oh no, that's not all! I wanted a little companion piece for Boba Fett, so I also whipped this little baby out.

Heeeheeeheee! He really wasn't expecting this one! If light sabers were real, Sean would have one in every color, I'm sure of it. Looks a bit of a mess though, doesn't it? It's organized chaos, French knots, tons of them! Here's a close up. I cut a small square out and placed the embroidered piece against some starry black fabric (that you can't see very well), then framed the whole thing in a small black frame. I left the glass off so you can feel the texture, it's neat, all nubbily and stuff. Me happy!

This concludes show and tell for today boys & girls! It's so neat to be able to share this with the world at large, how fun! I'll be back again tomorrow to wrap up with the Christmas Crafts show, I hope you've enjoyed taking a peek as much as I have sharing these with you guys.

oxo~ Lisa