Blisstree » handmade-christmas-gifts

hand made Christmas stockings

Chloe Findlay-Harder — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 20:27:50 +0000

One of the Christmas traditions in my house is stockings filled on Christmas Eve. I made stockings a few years ago using velvet & upholstery samples for my parent & brother. My new sister-in-law misplaced her childhood stocking in a move and hasn’t found one to replace it.

I volunteered to make one for her and I finally got it finished last night (who me, last minute panic?)

I used a border print for the body of the stocking, kasha satin for the toes and used a piece of hand-made lace to trim the top. Of course, my DH still doesn’t have his own home-made stocking from me, but I think I may need to wait until next year…

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hand made Christmas stockings

unusual Christmas packages

Chloe Findlay-Harder — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 23:47:29 +0000

My mom received a beautiful set of origami envelopes in the mail the other day and they inspired me I love taking origami patterns and reworking them in fabric. I’ve made envelopes from fabric before, but never for Christmas presents before. I always make candy & baking to give as gifts during the holidays, and I thought this one might work nicely as a gift bag.

I used this pattern and a 16 inch square of cotton fabric, ironed onto heavy weight fusible interfacing. I pinked the edges and ironed all the folds really well.

Here’s how it turned out:

I’m definitely going to make more, but next time I’ll use a second piece of fabric to line it. I think I’ll also zig-zag around the edges instead of just pinking them.

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unusual Christmas packages

a handmade Tangled Thread Christmas

Chloe Findlay-Harder — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:55:12 +0000

My DH & myself got our tree up last night – I have to admit, I’m like a little kid at this time of year Want to see how we decorated?

Here’s the igolochkoy ornament I made earlier:

Of course, it’s not Christmas at my house without a yo-yo garland on the tree:

I’m a big fan of reusable fabric gift bags too

I really do need to sew up a proper tree skirt though…

I made these reindeer several years ago as a display project for a fabric store. I made my stocking from velvet & upholstery samples.

And last but not least, here’s the world’s easiest Christmas tree ornament – perfect for kids to make! Just thread large jingle bells onto pretty ribbon, tie a bow on the top, and presto – you’re done

If you’re looking for our Christmas present to you, the Winter Wonderland contest, it’s still running here

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a handmade Tangled Thread Christmas

Christmas gifts for the doll house fan

Chloe Findlay-Harder — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 04:00:47 +0000

My mom made a Christmas request for her spool-knitted & carved doll, Tottie Tomato. She asked for accessories or other things that she could use in photographs with Tottie.

I’ve been thinking about different things that I could make, embroidered pillows perhaps? Or even an eensy weensy little yo-yo quilt – but I decided on a machine embroidered doll house carpet.

It’s a great way to use up smaller scraps of fabric or to experiment with different embroidery stitches. I used long strips of fabric, machine embroidered onto a base of heavy-weight interfacing. Each strip of cloth has a different color of thread (I used my fun variegated rayon flosses) and a different stitch on it. I satin-stitched around the outsides and added a fringe on the short ends.

It took me about two hours to complete – and was definitely fun to do So for a gift for the little girl (or the young at heart) on your gift list, how about doll house accessories?

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Christmas gifts for the doll house fan

Advent calendars

Chloe Findlay-Harder — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 03:07:33 +0000

I loved Advent calendars when I was a child. My mom made beautiful hand-made ones for my brother & I – and of course, my parents then had to fill a pocket with a little goodie each morning

I’ve been looking for a free pattern online for an Advent calendar, and I’ve found a couple! Here’s a flat, tree-shaped Advent calendar from HobbyCraft:

Or how about this charming Advent stocking garland from JoAnns:

There’s also this lovely felt Advent calendar from HGTV:

There you go – enough easy Advent calendars to keep the kids in your life happy until Christmas!

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Advent calendars

Christmas Gifts blog showcase

Chloe Findlay-Harder — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:48:32 +0000

There are a lot of busy bloggers this month! I’ve put together a link round up of some of the best Christmas Gift posts from November

Mary Emma from Quilting & Patchwork continually discovers unique ideas for Christmas gifts and gift wrappings as she explores other blogs. Take a look at Jen’s idea for making gift balls with fabric scraps!

Noreen from Hankering for Yarn has been crafting up a storm and has a bunch of great ideas for Christmas presents!

Cyndi from Layers Upon Layers has made a lovely art quilt and she says “Now is a good time to start if you’re going to make handmade gifts that take a bit of time! Gather together your fabric and paper scraps, and put together a unique art quilt for a special someone.”

Maitri from Dragonfly Cottage has been making amazing hand-dyed scarves.

Virginia has been creating beautiful and useful holiday gifts and benefit the American Cancer Society (ACS) at the same time.

The online Fiberart For A Cause Shop is open with artful designs focusing on hope, serenity and beauty. Apparel, totes, mugs, mousepads, and notecards are available. All profits ($5 per item) go to the ACS. Here is a blog post with more details:
http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/blog/archives/372

Or go directly to the Fiberart For A Cause Shop:
http://www.cafepress.com/virginiaspiegel

Fiberart For A Cause has already donated more than $135,000 to the American Cancer Society.

I’ve been making Christmas cards, stamped gift bags & embroidered Christmas tree ornaments.

Happy crafting!

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Christmas Gifts blog showcase