Christmas Gifts Craftiness

[mightyfinewine.livejournal.com]

I made the decision to hand-make (or at least hand-alter) all my holiday gifts this year. I started crafting in the middle of October and have made it pretty far. I figured I'd post pictures of my progress so far!



First thing, not a gift at all, but Christmas stockings for my husband, my dog and myself. I call them "Hip to be square." I have yet to make my husband's, but it's going to be exactly like the red one only in green. The fabrics are just fat quarters I bought at Joann's pieced together by machine with an unbleached muslin backing and cuff. The names are painted on with acrylic.



Next, paintings for my oldest niece, 10, who has gotten into decorating her room. Her colors are orange, pink and green, and her first inital is "M". Acrylic painted on pre-stretched canvases.







Napkin Rings for my oldest sister. She has six members of her family, so a set of six I beaded.







A couple of quilt tops. The first one is a quilt I'm doing for my parents-in-law. I've started quilting (I'm hand quilting everything inside the blue diamond, machine quilting everything outside) and I'm about 1/3 of the way finished. The second is a simple scrap quilt of 3" blocks for my other sister, I plan on machine quilting this one as well.





A set of coasters for my brother, which will be paired with a hand-painted set of stemless wineglasses (which I have yet to handpaint). They are part of the recycled fabrics I used for my sister's quilt top. Machine quilted.





A coloring "kit" for another one of my neices. I bought the tote bag plan and freezer paper stenciled on her name and sewed on the fabric and ric-rac embellishment. The crayon caddy I made from this tutorial to match the bag. The crayon caddy is probably my favorite thing I've made so far, it turned out SO well. Inside the tote is going a few store-bought coloring books as well as one personalized coloring book with illustrations of her drawn by my husband.







Another tote bag done in the same manner as above for yet another niece. This one will hold hair accessories, that I have yet to make/buy.



And finally a "super hero kit" for my oldest nephew, Kaleb. This one didn't turn out quite as well as I envision but my husband assures me it'll be great. Just a long-sleeved t-shirt ($3) some felt and some knit jersey material. This was my first experience with using a thicker, decorative, embroidery stitch. The shirt was the first I did, and that's why the shield is off, but I think I greatly improved when I moved onto the cape. And...of course...a tote bag to keep it all in.









And yes, that's my husband modeling. Not quite a 5 year old, but it works. :P

So, all-in-all, for the first week of November, I feel pretty good. Lots more to go, but I feel like I can conquer it now!

I'd love to hear about everyone's Holiday projects!

ETA: Figured I'd include a list of projects that are still in the works:

•Set of 6 Napkins + Placemats (to go with the napkin rings)
•Photo book for my parents (can't decide if I have time to do this myself or if I should just order it)
•Custom calendar for each of the families on my side (I'm a professional graphic designer, so I've been doing this for years and if I don't do it one year...I might get ousted)
•Hand-painted wine glasses and decanter (as mentioned above)
•Natural, non-toxic finger paints (for my 18 month old niece)
•Art smock to go with those finger paints
•Set of stenciled onesies for my 3 month old nephew
•Set of stenciled onesies for my 12 month old niece (I know, I have a lot of them)
•Knitted scarf for my future sister-in-law
•Peppermint bark and fudge in tins for family friends