Archive for December, 2010
2011 Goals and Teasers
Have any of you started Creative Gifts for 2011 yet? Harriet has come up with a brilliant idea that the rest of us may want to adopt. Based on the 24 Creative Gift Ideas–with freedom to substitute, alter, etc.–she aims to tackle two a month in 2011. Can you imagine ending up with 24 handmade [...]
Creative Gifts – Day #24
A cardboard stocking form + some glue + fiber scraps + ribbon scrap = ornament. Now, what I really wanted was a tree form, since I had all those green scraps. I would then decorate the tree with beads and sequins, but this is the last remaining form in my stash; I used the trees [...]
Creative Gifts – Day #23
I contemplated calling it good at 22 Creative Gift Ideas, but it’s just not in me to quit this close to the finish line. It doesn’t matter that it’s Christmas Eve and that I have no images to illustrate the last two ideas. I still have half-a-dozen possibilities on my list; surely I can just [...]
Creative Gifts – Day #22
This is a necklace pendant blank. Several years ago I couldn’t find these anywhere, but now I’m seeing them everywhere. Of course, now I don’t want to buy them; I want to make them myself, but that’s another matter. It’s a perfect little holder for some embroidery, no? So idea #22 is an embroidered necklace [...]
Creative Gifts – Day #21
Yesterday, we talked about charitable contributions, gift certificates, and homemade coupons for services and shared time. Today, we’re going dress those up in a whole lot of fun: We’re going to wrap them in a puzzle, the most entertaining gift wrap I know. It’ll be a snap; I’ll show you. Choose a place where you [...]
Creative Gifts – Day #20
eautiful! Susan’s done another stocking. The next Creative Gift idea–a two-parter that begins today and ends tomorrow–can actually go inside a stocking, making this a nice illustration for today’s post. Thanks, Susan! Heads up, friends–stitchers, readers, everyone–this is a creative gift idea you can really do this year, and I really, really, really hope you [...]
Lunar Eclipse
There was not a cloud in the sky last night during the lunar eclipse, and we had a great view through our front windows. The last lunar eclipse to occur on the Winter Solstice was in 1638. Entering earth’s shadow. Nearing totality. Total lunar eclipse. Total eclipse and Orion. See Betelgeuse? Total eclipse. Emerging from [...]
Creative Gifts – Day #19
Harriet’s back with another creative gift idea and sketch. This time, she’s making placemats. While a project like this can be the opposite of quick–I know this from experience–she plans to speed things along by using readymade placemats. Smart. She’ll use a shiba dog pattern which she’s created. If you’re not comfortable with freehand embroidery, [...]
Creative Gifts – Day #18
Hmm…let’s see…what shall I pick from the Idea List today? How about this: “Stitch on felt/fleece.” This list is brilliant, no? Perhaps I should explain. Felt and fleece don’t fray, they’re easy to stitch on, and lots of things can be made from them. They lend themselves to quick projects, and let’s face it, time [...]
Creative Gifts – Day #17
On the tattered bit of scrap paper that contains my extremely official, top-secret Creative Gifts list of ideas–yes, that’s it there, below an old sudoku puzzle I tested–uh-huh, right there it says, “stitch on ready-made anything.” “Anything” may be a stretch (or not, I just thought of a way to stitch on a BBQ grill), [...]
, by Elizabeth Strout.
by Kathryn Stockett
