Update in Shop!

Autumn is officially here! I don't have to put off getting my fall decorations out any longer! It took a lot of self discipline on my part not to drag out my pumpkins and leaves and candles when stuff starting showing up in the stores - in JULY. I don't know about you but I feel like stores are rushing us through the seasons now. I like to celebrate them one at a time! And fall is my favorite!!!!

Anyway, I have a new TWeeK up in my shop, WinterBerry Glen. It is a pillow box set with autumn in mind. Pumpkins and leaves make this a kit that you can use the next few months for lots of gift giving ideas.

Here is a pic of my pumpkin pillow boxes all done up. Each kit comes with supplies to make cute gift packaging for 5 gift boxes.

There are also two different styles of pumpkins and buttons to choose from to make it mixy matchy. I am going to be giving these out right before Thanksgiving break to my little guy's teachers. I also think that they will make really cool place settings at our Thanksgiving dinner. I can write each person's name on the pumpkin and inside I can tuck some little treats.

I also sell the pillow boxes by themselves to be jazzed up for any type of gift giving.

Thanks for stopping by!

Teacher Gifts - for XC Coaches

I just wanted to show you some fun gifts that I made for my son's 3 teachers. They coached his cross country season and made the effort to be there at every single practice and game. That's 5 days a week after they put in a full day of teaching, folks. I think that deserves some recognition, don't you?

You'll have to excuse the lighting this time. It was late at night and I wanted to snap a few pics before I toted them off to school the next day to give away. And yes, I had to bring them because my 7th grade son said that they were too girly looking. He did sign the card so I guess that's all I can ask of a tween boy right now. ;)

Here is one more up close and personal. I took a paper sack that Made by Mish sells in her store and folded it almost in half. I sewed up the sides so that I could have extra pockets. Each gift came with a matching card, a matching notebook and Starbucks gift card. The pockets made plenty of space to easily fit those things plus more.

I took these into the front office and the ladies in there ooohhhed and ahhhhhed. It's nice when you can tell that people appreciate handmade gifts. I will have to make them some notebooks of their own for Christmas this year. ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

PS. If you are wondering about the papers I used, I got them in a kit over at Made by Mish's store. She is always updating her shop with fun kits and tags.

Hi, ho, hi, ho - it's off to work I go...

Well, not me really. One of my close friends is going back to work this week after being a SAHM for many, many years. She is working in the office at one of our local schools. The job she took seems perfect for her schedule since she is only part time and goes in at 11am and leave by 2pm. She is still able to be home in the morning and see her kids off to school and come home in the afternoon to be there for when they get back! I think that's a great thing.

So, I wanted to make my buddy something for her to take with her as she heads back to work. I will miss her for those few hours! I got inspiration from one of my favorite blogs, MISH MASH. Michelle's sense of style, whimsy and color combo make her work stand out from the rest, IMHO. She is always creating new and exciting things and I just love her packaging for her gifts as well.

Here is a notebook that I made for my friend. I used a lot of different MME papers to make this.

I figure that she is going to have a lot of little notes to take while she gets the hang of her new job. Plus, it will be all hers and no one will take it off her desk.

I used my sewing machine to stitch around the outside of the front cover. I also stitched the ribbon in place on both the front and back covers so that it won't fall off when she opens it. This makes it easy to re-tie when she is done with it. I am planning on putting a little pen in there for her and the knot in the ribbon should keep it from slipping. :)

Here is a quick peek at the card that I also made her.

I am putting these in a wax paper sack and tying it with some ribbon and tags. You can find the sacks that I am using here. The notebook peeks out just a little over the top of these sacks but I just love the translucency and feel of them so it doesn't matter.
Anyway, thanks for stopping by! Hope you are having a great week.

Christmas gifts for Teachers - Homemade Body Scrub

I absolutely {love} Christmas time! I think that it has to be my favorite holiday. I love the snow we get here, the time spent with family and the fact that my kids are out of school for a couple of weeks. There are so many things to do leading up to their Christmas vacation that I end up vegetating most of their Christmas break till I catch a second wind. I get overwhelmed and race around like a mad woman beforehand, though. I promise myself each year to get more organized, cut back on volunteering, shop early, etc. and each year I find myself in the same place. LOL Oh, well!

I love making handmade gifts to give to my kid's teachers. This year I tried something different. I like to make baked treats but I know that teachers can get so many of those things that they regret it come January. I made some body scrub for their teachers this year, instead. I got the idea from a blog called Deliciously Organized. I made a scent I called Christmas Candy because it reminded me of candy canes. As a funny side note on of the teachers said her daughter tried to eat it because she thought it was a dessert. It came out wonderful and I even had some left over for some gifts for friends. I had to snap a few quick pictures before I sent them on their merry way to their new homes. So forgive the picture quality. I like the way the tags came out.

 I cut the tags out using a seasonal Christmas Cricut cartridge. On the back side I used a Christian stamp from Stampendous. It's hard to tell but I got to use my Papertrey patterned paper to make this tag; it's from their Flourishes and Swirls set. it's such a pretty set. I tied on some lace ribbon and added two tags to each jar. One was the pretty one above and the other was a tiny tag that I punched out with a MS punch to add the "To and From" stamps. Add a rustic jingle bell, a tiny safety pin, some twine and cream seam binding and there you have it!

This could be a great gift year round, just change out the fragrance. I put them in some quilted mini mason jars that you find with the canning goods. It was the perfect size!

Thanks for looking!