Fourth Day of Christmas – Crocheted Fan Bookmark

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12 Days of Christmas, book club, book lover, bookmark, Christmas, Christmas gift, crafting holiday craft, crafts, Crochet, crocheted, crocheted gift, fourth day of Christmas, gift giving, gift ideas, gift tag, gifts, handmade, homemade, literature, personalized gifts, present, reader, reading, twelve days of Christmas

On the fourth day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me her Crochet Fan Bookmarks, Crocheted Snowflake Ornaments, Wine Glass Charms and Glass Globe Ornaments…

With eReaders becoming more popular, bookmarks may become a thing of the past. I haven’t giving in yet to the craze. There’s just something about the weight of the book in my hand, the texture of the pages on my fingertips and the aroma of the ink that just seems to allure me. With the amount of time so many of us spend on the computer, I can’t justify more time staring at a screen. This gift is for the book lovers like me…

Crocheted Fan Bookmark

I had the directions for this crochet fan bookmark, bookmarked on my computer for years. I had yet to make it and I thought now that I had started to crochet with thread, I’d give it a whirl. It took my a while for my to get started, unsure if I was following the directions correctly. You can customize the bookmark to the recipient’s favorite color, using multicolored thread is a nice touch. For easy blocking, I suggest you lay the bookmark flat in a book for a few days, remove it and spray it slightly with fabric starch.

How to:
Follow the directions in the link above, remembering to block it and starch it when you’re done.

Approx. Cost:
Spool of crochet thread about $5.  It you already have a hook, it’s about 20¢ a piece.

The perfect gift with a book, or alone, whatever the occasion. Attach a bookmark as a gift tag to the outside of a wrapped book. Give bookmarkb to the members of your book club at your holiday meeting.

Even Rory liked the bookmark so much that he pounced on it once it was finished and ran off with the prey in his mouth…

What book are you reading right now?

2009′s Christmas Countdown – On the twelfth day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me, her chocolate Christmas fudge, chocolate bonbons, coconut clusters, cranberry almond bark, chocolate amaretto cherries, pecan turtles, raspberry chocolate truffles,gingerbread fudge, peppermint bark, dark chocolate peanut butter balls, cracked glass candy, and her peanut butter fudge recipe…

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Monster Dolls

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Baby, baby gift, children's dolls, children's toys, cute monsters, doll, felt dolls, fleece dolls, gift giving, gifts, kid's dolls, kid's toys, Kids, monster dolls, stuffed animal

It’ been a week since I last posted, we’re still trying to catch up for the wedding in NC last weekend. I have a few projects for the weekend, so hopefully I’ll post more.

I got the idea for these Monster Doll’s when I saw a cute onesie and bib at my BFF’s baby shower. My youngest nephew’s first birthday was the perfect opportunity to make him a cute monster doll (or two, or three…). His older brother just turned two in November and I decided to make enough for them to able to share. I thought it would be cute for them to have a small crowd of monsters.

After quickly sketching a few quick cute monsters, I cut their bodies out of fleece. I cut out their eyes, teeth and other features from fleece and felt, then stitched them on their faces with my sewing machine. Then placing wrong sides together I stitched together their bodies, leaving some room to stuff them. I trimmed the excess fabric, notched the curved edges, turned right side out, stuffed and stitched closed.

Gifts from Belle

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dog biscuit, dog bones, dog gifts, dog treats, dogs, frugal, Frugality, gifts, healthy dog, healthy pet, homemade dog biscuits, homemade dog bone, homemade dog treats, pet gifts, pets, recipes

My border collie Belle, really wanted to make gifts for her cousin and friends. So when I saw a cute set of bone shaped cookie cutters (which I scored for free with my craft store rewards coupon), I knew she would be able to fulfill her generous wish. We looked on-line through several recipes and decided to create our own recipe based off of common ingredients and what we had on hand.

Dog Bone Cookie Cutters

Ingredients:
2 c. flour, 1 c. cornmeal, 1/2 c. wheat germ, 2 Tbs. beef bouillon, 1/2 tsp. yeast, 1 Tbs. crushed mint, 1 Tbs. parsley, 1 egg, 1 Tbs. vegetable oil, 1 cup hot water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300°F. Mix together hot water, bouillon and yeast, set aside. Mix together flour, cornmeal, wheat germ, mint and parsley. Stir in egg  and stock mixture to flour mixture. Allow dough to sit for 20 minutes. Roll dough out on a floured surface to about 1/4″ thick. Using cookie cutters, cut dough into bone shapes. Bake for 45 minutes. Turn off oven, leave biscuits in the oven with the door cracked open.

Homemade Dog Biscuits

My beautiful border collie, stayed in the kitchen enjoying the excitement of making gifts for others.

*I’m going to bag the treats and create little gift tags (ie: To: Marley      Love, Belle) for Belle’s buddies.

*I used three different bone sizes and didn’t need to vary the baking time.

*Next time I plan to brush on egg wash before baking, this will give biscuits a polished look.

*This recipe created about 70 dog biscuits, for a fraction of the cost at the store and I know there are no filled and preservatives going into my dog.

Personalized Towels

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embroidery, gift giving, gifts, hostess gift, personalized gifts

My MIL was in need of new towels and I wanted to get her a new set for Christmas. I dreaded the impersonal gift, but decided to add a personal touch by embroidering the towels for them. I got to use my friend’s Bernina Deco 330 and their new Bernina Deco 340 simultaneously! I used a white thread to match the white stripes on the towels, as well as to keep the towels neutral and add subtle class.

Personalized Towels

Gift Bow Bonanza

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Being Green, crafting, crafts, gift bows, gift giving, gifts, green Christmas, holiday wrapping, present wrapping

A few months ago I had seen the idea about making gift bows from recycled magazine or catalog pages. I tried a few tutorials with no success, they were either more difficult than the directions and/or the end product didn’t look nice. We can’t have ugly bows, after all, the wrapping is the prelude to the gift. Finally I stumbled upon “how to” instructions on this blog and had success with the directions.

You can make the bows smaller by making the strips of paper smaller. I made a larger bow by adding a larger outer layer first, I made the original loops larger to allow this. My gardening bulb catalogues seemed to have the best colors for bows and the paper was thicker than some magazines, which also helped.

Gift Bow from Magazine Paper

Gift Bows

BFF’s 30th

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accessory, clutch, gift giving, gifts, Handmade Jewelry, jewelry, jewelry crafts, jewelry making, sewing project

One of my BFF’s 30th birthday is this December, right before Christmas. With a birthday so close to the holiday it’s hard to get everyone together for a party, so her husband decided to throw her a surprise party a month early. Tonight, right now…

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Black Clutch, Purple Chandelier Earrings & Necklace

Knowing she truly loves and appreciates my handmade gifts, I knew just what to make her: A chic clutch stuffed with glamorous goodies.

The clutch included a pair of handmade chandelier beaded earrings and matching necklace and homemade exfoliating soap. Click on the picture for a closer view.