Christmas Crafting

Howdy, friends!  I know, I know.  It's been so long.  It's all my fault.  You know how it goes: life gets busy and the blog just gets...forgotten.  And I'm sooo sorry.  Can we be friends again? 

Okay, great, thanks, because I'm ready to blog again!

My friend Katie has asked people to mention what homemade gifts they are making for Christmas this year, and I've found tons of inspiring ideas from craft bloggers out there.  For example, the family tree that my friend Liz channeled Martha Stewart to make is stunning and I will totally be copying that idea next Christmas!

Well, John and I traveled down to SC for Thanksgiving and Christmas all rolled up in one, so many of our Christmas presents have already been exchanged (since my side of the family is much bigger than his) and unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the homemade ones!  Of course, part of that is because my digital camera does not want to work properly right now, so I didn't take any pictures at Thanksgiving/Christmas at all!

I used a cute navy floral fabric to make pillows for my sister-in-law's couch using (roughly) Amy Butler's pillow pattern.  I actually used the pattern from her book, In Stitches, but she has posted a very similar pillow pattern on her website for free here!  The one in her book does not have the hourglass design, so it is just one fabric.  I used a different fabric for the covered button in the middle.  Her patterns and fabrics are so gorgeous that one day I might just have to try one of her quilt designs! 

I also made a knitting needle case from the same two fabrics using a free pattern that I picked up at Joann's a while ago.  It was really fun to make and super easy.  It was pretty much just simple cutting, straight seams, and a lot of ironing.  No fancy stitches, which is good since I don't really know how to use my machine very well yet!  I got it last Christmas but I really haven't used it much until recently.  I'm dreading the day (soon) when my bobbin thread runs out or when I don't want to sew with navy blue thread!

Because that project was fun, I'm making these cute make up brush rolls from Little Big Girl Studio next to give as gifts to John's sister and step-mom.  I got them both a small makeup bag from 31gifts, so I picked out coordinating fabrics last night (on sale!) to make the make up brush rolls to go with them.  I'm not quite ready to transition to fully homemade gifts because I don't have a lot of confidence in my abilities yet!   

When holiday fabrics are on sale after Christmas, I think I'll make some fabric gift bags to use next year (and the years to come).  I know we currently fill several trash bags with wrapping paper, tissue, etc. after gift opening time with my family!  These are some cute ideas I can't wait to try from Lark Crafts and the Green Bag Lady! 

Let's see how much of this list I actually get done...