Day Eight - 2011 (Hollie,DawnR, DawnS)

Candy Canes: Hollie

I had a hard time deciding what to make my ladies since there are just so many options out there on pinterest. There were cute things, edible things and things with a purpose. I decided to go with a purpose since I could use these things myself and figured most of you ladies could too :)

After having two children, well heck after having my first, I have become extremely forgetful and if I don't make a list I never get anything accomplished. So once I found the cute post-it note idea I knew it would work wonders. The hardest part was picking out the scrapbook paper to go in the frames! One thing I do like about this project is that it can go in any room or desk of the house. Just simply change the paper in the frame to make it match your needs!

Since my first project was so easy, I decided to make a little something extra. Payton brings home more artwork from school than my fridge can hold. So I decided that using clothes pins would be a great solution. That way I could keep all (most) of her artwork displayed and could change them out on a regular basis!

I hope that everyone enjoys their practical, purposeful gifts!

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Snowflakes: DawnR

I love working with felt, love rick rack, and love vintage ornaments. This combined all three.

Naturally I did a Ravens colored on for Nas.

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Mistletoes: DawnS

Looking back at my craft from the great swap of 2009 I seem to have gone with the same theme this year as I did back then.  Something usable and something made entirely of things I already had in my great garage-o-crap.  

So what better way to say I love you gals than make you some cloth menstrual pads.  Very useful and money saving.  I know I was only supposed to make 1 thing but I couldn't stop at 1.  Plus, how useful and money saving would it be if I just gave you 1.  I know this may be new territory for some of you but I know you will find them useful and actually kinda fun.  Did I just say a pad was fun?  But seriously enjoy your pads and think of me every time you use them.  Wait.  Maybe that's not such a great idea.

 Oh, and please don't judge me on the less than perfect sewing job I did.  I am trying to crawl out from under a huge pile of to do's and I tried to breeze through these as fast as I could.  

xoxo

Dawn otf

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Day Seven - 2011 (EmilyD, Megan ,Amelia )

Candy Canes: EmilyD

~a nest~for one of my favorite "mama birds"~

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Snowflakes: Megan

I always have had such a hard time selecting a craftie for all of you. There are so many cute, fun amazing things, but we're a group of girls with some different tastes.  And simple reigns supreme with me - I'm a practical girl all the way.  So, hopefully, your gifts will be usable.

First, each of you received a knitted, felted bowl.  It's a pattern I began using years ago, and have made bowls of all sizes.  The little ones are my favorite for catching all the little things that float around. I have one on my bathroom counter for bobby pins and hair bands, anther on the mantle for all the boys' marbles, and another on my desk at work for paperclips.  I hope yours finds a happy spot!

The second thing was a little last-minute add in. They are the little hand warmer hearts that many of you pinned on pinterest.  I had seen them a few weeks before they started showing up on the boards of some of you ladies.  I am ALWAYS cold, but the boys want to ride bikes, so out we go.  Just tossing these in the microwave for about 30 seconds and then into my coat pockets helps me stay out much longer.  I have to admit, though, I felt bad for tossing those in for you, Jess.  They don't fit your climate so well. Bummer!

Anyway, I hope you are all able to get some use out of these crafties.  I had a blast making them, and again totally lucked out in already having all the supplies in my stash. You are all such delightful mamas that it's a pleasure to send a little something your way!

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Mistletoes: Amelia

Pete calls it the Stash Bag, but it's actually the Spiral Rib Bag from the book "One skein" by Leigh Radford, which has a bunch of really great simple patterns for any of you knitters out there.  I needed to pick something that I already knew how to do so there wouldn't be much of a learning curve.  And it needed to be something portable that I could easily work on during little snippets of time here and there.  That pretty much narrowed it down to knitting.  I went through all my knitting books and found a bunch of possibilities, but I kept coming back to this one because it seemed very OLW, like something the people in my group would like and maybe even use.  I was a little worried they would take too long and the yarn would be too expensive, but I couldn't find something better so I took the plunge.  After I made the first one, I knew I'd picked the right thing.  It turned out to be a very fun pattern to knit up, and after trying a couple different yarns I found something inexpensive that I think looked great and had the right strength for a utilitarian thing like a bag.  I picked different yarns for each one and couldn't tell how they would turn out until they were done, so it was fun to watch each one come together and decide who it belonged to.  Love you all, and loved making these for you all!!  Happy Holidays!

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Day Six - 2011 (Lisa,Nasrene, Misty)

Candy Canes: Lisa

I chose magnets because I don't consider myself very crafty.  Also,I thought that these would be an easy craft for a procrastinator like me.  I really wanted magnets for myself too.  :) I hope that everyone likes them.

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Snowflakes : Nasrene


                                      Un-holiday cards!

I chose this crafty because I knew it was something I could do with my limited crafty skill level (ha!) but would still be appreciated by the crafty mavens of OLW.  What initially drew me to this subgroup in the first place (back in the old days of OBBC) were Emily’s beautiful photographs on her blog of her every day life with Noah and Joe.  I loved how she made the seemingly “ordinary days” appear so extraordinary through her lens and her blog posts.

I soon found that so many of you ladies shared this very same talent…making the most of each day, savoring the “ordinary” days, and making the little moments in life special with your families.   Last year Sarah-of-the-Avy-Quinn posted a brilliant, quick and easy gift idea, which served as my inspiration for this gift.  Enclosed is a week’s worth of blank notecards, pre-stamped ‘cause I love ya.  ;-)  I made them using photographs I took around my house and around my city.  Simple little snapshots of the ordinary things in my life that make my ordinary days extraordinary.   I hope you share these little bits of pretty with your friends and family for absolutely no reason or holiday.  They are ordinary, any day, un-holiday cards.   Use them to say thank you, I love you, I was just thinking of you, hope you had a great day, or really anything at all.  

We don’t need to wait for Christmas to give, New Years to resolve, Thanksgiving to be grateful, or Valentine’s Day to love.  It’s the ordinary, “un-holiday” days that make life extraordinary after all.

I hope the recipients enjoy them as much as I enjoyed creating them for you.  

♥

Nasrene

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Mistletoes: Misty
This year I made you girls reversible half aprons.  Pinterest was my inspiration.  I thought the aprons would be a fairly simple "first" sewing project.  I learned a lot in the process of making these, and had so much fun doing so! I hope you girls all enjoy them, and that they make you smile when you wear them.  I love each and every one of you!! -Misty

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Day Five - 2011 (Allison, Kristina, Beth)

Candy Canes: Allison

I decided to try counted cross stitch for the first time. My mom makes cross stitch Christmas Stockings for family members and I always wanted to try, but on a much smaller scale. Ornaments were perfect for a first timer. I had a lot of fun making them. I know we were aiming for a half point to 1 point, but these were well worth the extra time. I am so proud of how they turned out. I hope Team 1 likes them as much as I do. I did my best to pick out who got what since they are all different.

Here is a close up Collage of Allison's Ornaments:

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Snowflakes: Kristina

These bird ornaments are sort of a family tradition.  It's a pattern my mom made when I was little and she's made them for years.  When she started making them this year, it came to me that this should be my crafty!  I've never made them before, just received them.  :)  I hope you all enjoy!  It's been awhile since I busted out my sewing machine!  lol

 Also, please forgive me for not including any sort of card, but Day #5 is from ME! 

Love, Kristina

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Mistletoes: Beth

When I saw THIS I just knew I had to make it.  Reading through the directions seemed easy enough, so I evaluated my supplies...and to utter surprise, I had EVERYTHING I needed to make this for everyone. 

When I was looking, I wanted to make something cute and purposeful.  I personally have always wanted to have something to hold my keys when I walk in the door.  I just never have seen anything that really caught my eye until then.  It met my useful and cute criteria and was something that I myself would have liked to have had. 

I hope you enjoy the key holder!  I surly enjoyed making them for everyone! 

Merry Christmas-

Beth

Day Four - 2011 (Sharron, Sarah, Melanie )

Candy Canes : Sharron

 I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to do because the thing I had my heart most set on was something that some of my swap partners said they would never use, so I scoured the internet. I mentioned it to my media clerk the next day, see if she had any ideas and she told me about this scarf she saw at a college football game (they charged $25 for one of these). I thought they were cute, so I looked for a picture, and really went off that, I didn't use a tutorial :) It is a plus that they are nice and warm and cozy!!!

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Snowflakes : Sarah

The craft that I chose was a travel sewing kit. Originally I wanted to make something with felt because I love felt but I made my first one it looked like a 4 year old did it (!) so I decided to stick with what I am better at which is sewing! I found a few on pinterest which I did not pin just in case you saw it ;) The one that I saw and loved was a little too detailed for making 8 of them so I came up with my own design. I know that not everyone sews but I am hoping that some day you need to sew a button or just pin something. And I got my felt in by making the felt flowers on the front which all are different! Hopefully you find it useful! Merry Christmas :)

Here is the link to the one I saw on pinterest: http://lotsofpinkhere.blogspot.com/2011/09/travel-sewing-kit-tutorial.html

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Mistletoes : Melanie

I have this great reusable shopping bag that I got at the GAP recently.  It's so convenient to stick in the glove box or purse for shopping...  or to stick in the weekend bag and use for a dirty clothes bag. (realistically, I use mine for this the most. )

I have used ripstop nylon in the past for other projects, and it's pretty fun to sew... so I thought I would create some bags for you ladies to use as well.  I pondered lots of different designs, but as I use and like one just like this, I thought I'd go with what I know.

Merry Christmas! 

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Day Three - 2011 (Jen, Jess, Keri)

Candy Canes: Jen

Thanks to Pinterest, I had no shortage of ideas for this swap.  Tank tops turned into totes, rings, ornaments - then I came across a tutoral for these little keychains, and I knew I had a winner.

http://www.scrapscene.com/2007/05/mini-layouts-on-a-keychain.html

I looked all over for tags (you know, cause I only half read the tutorial and didn't see the suggestion to use laminate chip samples) but couldn't find the,  Luckily - we have an Archivers near by.  :)  Then covered them with scrapbook paper, and used pictures lovingly lifted from Facebook. A couple layers of Mod Podge, and they were ready.

Merry Christmas, everyone - can't wait to see the rest of the gifties!!

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Snowflakes: Jess

My craft is a wreath ornament. I had a tough time deciding if I should do something Christmas-y or something that could be used all year long. I went to everyone's go-to source for crafty inspiration--pinterest--and saw these mini wreaths (http://christopherandtia.blogspot.com/2010/12/handmade-yarn-wreath-ornaments-2010.html). They looked cute, could be somewhat personalized with colors and didn't seem too time consuming. I decided to give it a go. I ordered the mini wreath forms from the site the the tutorial listed, but you could also use shower rings. I bought a couple skeins of yarn and everything else came from my craft stash.

After I finished the wreaths, I thought they looked bare so I decided to add a bow and a charm to hang down to add some extra "flair." I used this site for the charm (http://www.sarahortega.com/2011/05/diy-bird-nest-necklace.html?m=1). 

Each wreath has its own color scheme, picked specifically for its recipient. I hope you all like them and know how much fun I had making these for you all!

Mistletoes: Keri

For the swap I decided to do the glass pendants #1) because Melody made these for our FIRST swap and I get so many compliments when I wear it, I wanted to make more. So I made more, and more, and more. I used scrapbook paper I had on hand and I love the way they turned out! I bought the necklace part at JoAnns, and it's important that you know you PUSH TOGETHER, THEN TWIST APART. I wanted to make sure you had a necklace that you could slide the pendant on and off, in case you had another one you'd rather use. 

For the second part of the gift I did a version of these

 http://rubies-pearls.blogspot.com/2011/ ... celet.html

Super quick, super easy and cute! 

And then, of course, who doesn't need one.more.scrappy.flower! 

Hope you like!

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Day Two - 2011 (Valerie, Anna, Stef)

Candy Canes: Valerie

I am crazy about felt. I also love ornaments and traditions and wanted to make something that was meaningful and looked antique / vintage. I made several different variations and picked each set for each person.

Here is my inspiration but I was way too chicken to use paper, so felt won!

I chose to make 2 turtledoves because I felt that they were the ultimate symbol of Christmas Spirit : Friendship, Kindness, Companionship, Devotion and Love - all things that bring a smile to me and my family.  We strive as a family to support and provide those characteristics to others and I wanted to share that with you and your family. 

It was the perfect distraction for bed rest!

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Snowflakes: Anna

I made chalkboard tags a la Pinterest. Pretty simple. Wooden shapes from Michael's, primed and then painted with chalkboard paint. Drill a hole before you paint. Decorate with paint pens. Voila!!

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Mistletoes: Stef

I hemmed and hawed over what to do this year because I wanted to do something special, but I didn't want to do something too cheesy.  I am a fan of utility -- I like to make gifts that will be USED instead of just admired...

I spent a few hours scouring the interwebs and Pinterest and came across THIS TUTORIAL.  Then I saw THIS ONE.  So, I decided to combine the two into my swappie gift.

It was MUCH more time consuming than I had anticipated, but after I had the first one completed, I knew that I had to make 6 more.  I did buy additional fabric to do them, but I really liked how they turned out with the yellow/gray combo.  Remember my sneak peek (see attached photo labeled sneak_peak).  I bet you all thought you were getting something "bedroom" related.  The fabric you see on my headboard is the same fabric I used to make your swappie!!

The only thing I would do differently is actually learn how to make jewelry and have a clasp at the end -- since I couldn't figure that out, they all have chains long enough to go over your head.  Sorry if the length isn't ideal...

sneak peek (below)

 Hope you all enjoy them!  I sure enjoyed crafting them for you this year!


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