Holiday gifts and a blog break

Hi all!  
I bet you're all busy busy now getting ready for the holiday celebration and the gifts preparation...

Today, I'd like to show you some of the handmade gift items that I made so far.   Due to the lack of time, I was able to work on quick projects only this year.  Also, for some of the handmade gifts I made, I forgot to take pictures!  So, these are just a portion of handmade gift items, but I still wanted to show them here...


For this Christmas, I made a couple of these simple reversible coasters for gifts.  
And here are one of my favorites.

I really like these apple prints from Alexander Henry Farmdale Delicious collection.
They are so modern yet warm!

This pencil pouch is made of Echino bird fabric.
This deep purple is my favorite color.

A small wood bead is attached to the zipper pull.

This one is  a simple key fob made of French Soleiado fabric in the center.
I used light blue cotton webbing to match with the floral fabric.

I also made several of these fabric rag wreaths for gifts.  (See my tutorial here).  As far as I can remember, I think I've made a total of seven of these wreaths as gifts this year. 

I really enjoy making these fabric rag wreaths.


 And BTW look what I received in mail from my dear blog friend, cocostitch...

Beautifully patchworked logcabin coaster and gourmet chocolates

were packed inside!

 Isn't this log cabin coaster gorgeous?  I love, love, love the cute bird in the middle!! She sells many other lovelies in her shop, so check it out if you haven't yet.


And last but not least, I want to let you know that I will be taking a short break from blogging.  We will be out of town for a while to visit our relative who lives out of state.  My shop, will be temporarily closed, also...

I look forward to return to blog posting and to reopen my shop sometime early next year.  Meanwhile, I wish you all have a wonderful Christmas and a new year with your loved ones.  

With best wishes throughout this holiday season,
Amy  xoxo

Hope to see you all soon ;)





Personalized birthday gift

Just like many of you, December is the busiest month of the year for me. 

I'm already feeling swamped after trying to manage everything about our kids and their schedules, my part time work, regular household routine chores, and all the Christmas preparations going on... \*o*/

But fortunately, crafting works therapy for me,

especially during the time like this.

Last week, I managed to make this personalized tote bag for my daughter's friend, who turned eleven years old.  

Her initial "J" is machine appliqued on to the front side of the bag.

 

This is the back side of the tote bag.

My daughter selected the fabrics for her friend, so of course,

they're all pink again!!

 I like to attach these pom poms charms to the bag, which is

made of crocheted cords with two pom poms at both ends.

 Side view.  It's very roomy.

The reversible side has large pockets...



Hope the girl likes her new tote bag, as much as I enjoyed making it!

Metallic crochet flower bobby pins

I had another busy weekend with family matters, holiday shopping, and Christmas preparation around the house...

But I managed to make these small crocheted items. 

These are small crocheted flower bobby pins, made of metallic crochet thread with a faux pearl bead placed in the middle.

The crochet flowers are very small, measuring approximately 0.75 inch (2 cm) in diameter.

Back side looks like this.

I just listed in my shop.  

Thanks for viewing and hope you are enjoyoing your December days :)



Handmade Christmas lavender sachets & ornaments

I just added these  hanging Christmas lavender sachets/ornaments in my shop.

The stamps of wreath and the holly leaves on linen are made of

handcarved erasers made by me :) 

The listing comes in a set of two hanging sachets/ornaments.

The first set with wreath stamps: other side is the red polka dots 100% cotton.

The second set with holly leaves stamps:  other side is the green button cotton print.

I think these items can be used both as sachets or as (aromatic) ornaments.

When used as stocking stuffer, it will add that beautiful aroma

of dried lavender to the gifts... so soothing!

Thanks for reading and hope you have a wonderful weekend ;)



Cinnamoroll birthday gift

As you may already know from my previous blog posts, I've made so many of these carrying pouches as birthday gifts for our girls' closest friends, and yet I made another one this week :)

This one is specially made for the birthday girl who just turned nine, who goes to the same Japanese (Saturday) school with my younger girl.  

This time, I attached a small covered button to the zipper pull (pink polka dots).

As you can see, the main fabric used for this pouch is Cinnamoroll, 

one of the popular character from Japanese Sanrio.

My daughter specifically selected this fabric for her friend.

It seems like Cinnamoroll is very popular among Japanese young girls...

Lining is pink, of course! (As selected by my daughter).

 My daughter is looking forward to give this gift to her friend tomorrow

at Japanese (Saturday) school. 

Hope her friend likes it!!

Reversible grocery bags

I added 2 new items in my shop today: reversible grocery bags.

This particular bag shown above is made of fun elephant fabric in heavy weight home decor fabrics, and the reversible side is made of 100% cotton in navy/white polka dots. 

Bias tapes are used for the center ribbons to securely hold items in the bag.

These bags are very roomy and durable. They can hold fairly large items inside,

such as big milk cartons, tall tissue boxes, a wine bottle, and a bag of bagels, with ease.

And the best part is that it can be folded in to a compact roll like this!

This is another reversible grocery bag listed in my shop today.
The exterior of this bag is brown/pink polka dots (heavy weight home decor fabrics) and the reversible side is 100% cotton in cheerful birds.

I personally own five or six of these grocery bags myself, and I usually keep them in my car.  Every time we go shopping to our local supermarkets, farmers' markets, drugstores, etc. I just grab these bags from my car and head to the stores.

... Or actually, I often forget to bring these bags when I go shopping.  When that happens, our girls and I rush back to the parking lot to get these grocery bags from the car and go straight back to the store... Oh what a hassle!

Sorry, girls, your mama gets forgetful at times :P

Anyways, this is the reversible side of the brown/pink polka dots grocery bag.

I like this fabric with cheerful birds on branches.

I also wanted to show you the same bag pattern in blue polka dots print,
which was recently sold in my shop (thank you :)

As you can see here, the handles of this bag are "O" shaped.

And for these newly added bags, the handles are "U" shaped. 
Can you see the difference?

As mentioned, the bag size and pattern are exactly the same for these bags.  

 I just wanted to experiment with the handles placement.

I figured that whether the handles are "O" shaped or "U" shaped,

the bag still holds as much stuff inside and they both fold compactly into a roll, which is just wonderful!



Well, thanks for viewing and hope you have an eco-friendly shopping season!
Just don't forget to bring your own bag to the store :P