Thursday, January 12, 2012

Holiday Hand-dids

Now that the family Christmas celebrations are over, I can finally share with you a glimpse of what has been keeping me really, really busy the last few months...

There were 5 different pincushions made for the sewing women in my family. Each quite different from the other, and I only took pictures of one... I think I had intentions of photographing them all together when they were finished, but well...
I made 36 mini bags of Peppermint-scented rice and flax for the nieces, nephews and classmates, and 12 adult-sized bags of the same. My kids love to keep theirs in the refrigerator, so that they are cool at all times and ready to soothe bumps and bruises. I heat mine up most evenings to help my chilly bones get warm.
There were 7 tents made for little ones to play in, and 1 crocheted blanket for the Grandma whose own hands have crocheted many, many blankets for Kids and Grandkids over the years. My sister made sleeping bags for each of the kids to go with their tents.
I hand-quilted 2 play mats for baby boys to roll around on,
and bottled 5 containers of my home-brew.
Along with several jars of my Green Tomato Chutney.
And last, but certainly not least, 1 personalized My-First-Sampler kit for an almost-9-year-old niece. Complete with a design made just for her, hoops, needles, a pincushion, fabric, thread, and enclosed in a vintage sewing basket. Here's hoping she likes this new stitching experience!

14 comments:

Sarah Beth said...

I hope your niece enjoys her stitching too. Its always fun to be able to teach this fun stuff to someone else. You were very busy. Love the tents and the quilted pay mat.

Siobhán said...

Oh my gosh!!! I am so impressed. I love all the handmade stuff--I'm trying to encourage my girls to knit and crochet in the hopes that they can embrace hand made over monetary gifts. They come up trumps each time! Beautiful work.

Happy new year to you & yours!

Penny said...

Beautiful and oh, so special gifts!!

Gayle said...

Wow! You were very generous with all your hand stitched treasures! NICE!

Julie said...

What a lovely post and such special gifts. I do hope you'll share the other pin cushions with us :-)

Your niece is a lucky gal. Love that basket! Where do find such "finds?"

gracie said...

How wonderful it all was/is! I love the pincushion...very nice. Hummm, Raspberry Vodka.....

MoonBeam said...

Sounds like 12 Days of Christmas. What a variety of cute ideas!

Mouse Droppings Folk Art said...

So thoughtful of you to hand make so many Xmas gifts and beautiful ones at that...you put me to shame...Susan

Teri said...

What wonderful handmade and homemade gifts! You have a lot of lucky family members. Looks like your niece will especially enjoy the sampler kit! My favorite gifts of all time are the handmade barbie doll clothes I received as birthday and Christmas gifts from two of my Aunts. Gifts to treasure for a lifetime.

Catherine said...

All of your hand-mades look great! Will you share a pic of the piece you designed for your niece - or eventually show her finish?!?

Donna G. said...

What great gifts! Do you sleep? :o)

Laurie Dyche said...

Beth, those gifts are amazing! Your raspberry vodka looks awesome too :-)

Laurie D.

marly said...

Giving your talent and time is the most special of all gifts. Looks like you planned and prepared such a wonderful gathering for all.

Tim W said...

With Elijah learning to walk, our rice and flax bags have already been in use. They are awesome. Also, we made Raspberry Lemonade with the Vodka and it is wonderful!