Secret Santa

For a fun little gift exchange, I decided to give up attempting to be a "secret" Santa since handmade would be the biggest Santa clue ever. I'd rather go with handmade and lose the secret anyway!

First I made a felt business card holder, using this tutorial from Jennifer Ladd Handmade. If I were to do it over again, I might make some changes to take down the thickness of the end result, but it still turned out cuter than the formerly used cheapie plastic sleeve.

Next: rose quartz earrings.

Phew! December was a busy month.

A doll skirt to match

The very first skirt I made Sasha has withstood the test of time and is still her absolute favorite skirt.

With the small amount of fabric I had left, I decided to make her baby doll a skirt to match her own favorite skirt.

A quick and easy stocking stuffer!

Stocking #4

Stocking #4 was inspired by the deer on my stocking from last year.

This time, he's Rudolph with a swarovski red nose!

And a moon and crystal stars in the sky.

The other side is the E ornament finishing up L-O-V-E...now all the ornaments together!

Hooray.

Stocking #3

This third stocking is for H's younger daughter, modeled after Sasha's stocking from last year. Plus swarovski crystals in her hair.

Love those rosy cheeks!

The other side is a V ornament as we continue spelling L-O-V-E.

One more ornament to go!

Stocking #2

Stocking #2 is for my friend H's older daughter, so naturally, it's fashioned to look similar to her! Also modeled after Sasha's stocking from last year, with swarovski crystals.

The other side features an ornament O as L-O-V-E is continued.

All four stockings are made entirely from felt, with the children's stockings featuring glitter eco-felt.

Stocking #1

When a friend commissioned me to make her family of four Christmas stockings similar to the three I made last year, I jumped at the chance!

We brainstormed all the designs together. One side of this first stocking has a bird on branches, similar to the one on my stocking from last year, plus red swarovski crystal berries/flowers and bird eye.

The other side of the stocking is an L ornament for L-O-V-E, which will be spelled out with the other three stockings.

More to come!

Oilcloth amp cover

When Mike was gifted this vintage amp a year ago, we knew we needed a way to keep it protected from kids and cat hair. So we stared at an old flannel sheet over it every day. Charming.

For his birthday, I made this custom oilcloth amp cover. Now his 1963 Fender Bandmaster can be protected in style, and our living room looks a whole lot better too. The oilcloth is from Fabric Temptations in Arcata.

Cherry earrings

I'm back in the jewelry making! Only for a while longer, I suspect, because I'm going to tire of jewelry making supplies all over the dining table by Christmas dinner.

I made these earrings to go with another gift for my dear friend N, whose name I drew in the Christmas gift exchange. The pink beads are known as cherry quartz, which is actually glass and not a gemstone. Along with a milky glass bead and sterling silver wire, I think they turned out pretty fun!

Tooth Fairy pillow

I was so excited to have someone the right age to make a Tooth Fairy pillow for! We drew O in the gift exchange and the timing was just right.

I used the tutorial on mmmcrafts and made a more boyish version with a red sparkly mouth to put the tooth in. Then the pillow can either be left on the bed, or it can hang on the doorknob with the ribbon top for easy fairy delivery!

The tooth is all eco-felt, with buttons and ribbon from my stash. Bamboo stuffing rounded the tooth out nicely.

Zipper Pulls

A fun, simple gift for kids - zipper pulls!

These zipper pulls can be attached to any favorite zipper - a coat, backpack, sweatshirt - wherever!

I found these darling beads at our local bead stores, and had to refresh my memory of wirework. Fortunately, it came back to me.

My original plan was to use lobster clasps, but when I found these lanyard hooks in fun colors, I thought they would work much better for small hands.

Sasha's Christmas skirt

Kids are silly. I had bought this fabric at a thrift store ages ago and didn't even love it. But it called to Sasha - she pulled it out of my stash and proclaimed that she needed a Christmas skirt. So she got one for her birthday!

I added a red rick-rack hem to make it even more Christmas-like. The fabric has grown on me now, those little pine needles and cones are pretty cute with random red dots.

A handknit!

It's been a while since I finished a knit item - April 2008, to be exact. Seems like I go from craft to craft, and just dive deep into whichever one is my favorite of the moment. Since I got back into sewing, my knitting certainly has suffered. Until my dear friend Z said he would help me turn my logo from concept to digital reality in return for a beanie - now that is a trade I am up for! With his color preferences in mind, I crafted this up.

The pattern is one I found on Ravelry: Subtle Twist Hat designed by Jennifer Tallapaneni. I used two strands of brown cotton yarn held together throughout, Mission Falls 1824 Cotton and Sugar n Cream Cotton, along with the orange yarn held in that section too. A very nice pattern that took me forever to knit because (a) I rarely knit anymore and (b) I had to undo all the cabling and start over because I got off track at some point.

The most important thing is that Z loves it and I haven't seen him without it since I handed it off! A crafter's dream!

We have a winner!

Congratulations to Lisa of Question Everything, you have won a skirt! The 18-24 month sparkle owl skirt is yours!

I used random.org to select a random winner, and Lisa - you're it! I will email you for your mailing address. Thanks to everyone who visited my blog and entered the giveaway!

Giveaway Day!

Today is the big day!

I love the Sew Mama Sew blog for amazing ideas, tutorials and inspiration. Today they coordinate a huge internet-wide Giveaway Day. So go visit their blog and enter tons of contests to win free stuff! But first, scroll down to enter my giveaway...

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade saraisabee.etsy.com

My Etsy shop is open! I am selling skirts for little girls ranging in size from 12-18 months through 4T. Surely you have a little girl in your life who would love a new skirt to twirl in!
To enter my Giveaway:
1. Visit my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/saraisabee and choose a skirt.
2. Come back to this post and leave a comment letting me know which skirt you would like to win - your choice!
3. The contest is open now through December 6, 2009 at midnight Pacific time.
4. Comments must be through this post on www.saraisabee.com, not through Facebook or any other method.
5. I will ship anywhere in the United States.
6. Be sure your email address is available in case you win!
7. The winner will be selected randomly.
Good luck!

Heather Ross Wildflowers

Ah, Heather Ross...how I love her designs.

This darling little 2T apron skirt is almost too cute to part with. A plum purple solid skirt with apron overlay using the fuschia Wildflowers print from the Heather Ross collection Lightning Bugs & Other Mysteries. It's long out of print and rare, so this is special!

In other news, my Etsy shop is now open! I have a new sidebar link with photos for your viewing pleasure. Don't you have a little girl in your life who really deserves a new skirt?

Next up: Giveaway post no later than Dec. 2 at 6:00 a.m.!