More Handmade Gifts and Christmas Decor

Hi! This is a huge picture heavy post!
Christmas is almost here and I am still finishing some gifts.
I made these bags for my nieces.

They are " In Cahoots" from Quilts and more  winter 2010.
You can find the free pattern at the "All people quilt"  website  here .
I made them on the girls favorite colors. Each one is also getting a gift card and a Barbie dress that I have to make yet. Just a simple velvet black dress and a crochet wrap made from furry yarn (Fun Fur leftovers).  They are ages 9 and 11 and had Barbie clothes on their wish lists.
Now some Christmas decor.
We live in a small two bedrooms apartment, what means not lots of space. But we do the best we can with what we have.
The Tree. This is the first year we have a big one. I need to make more cross stitch ornaments. This is a serious new year's resolution.

Some of my favorite ornaments.

One of my  crochet snowflakes from e-bay. I just love them.

Our first Christmas together from Boyd's Bears and our first Christmas as a family from Hallmark

One of my Bearington bears ornaments. The little tired Santa I got many years ago in Brazil, my homeland. One of my favorites.

This little fireplace ornament is very precious to me, also from Brazil from many years ago.

This is from the same batch from Brazil. I got them at Mesbla, a store that closed several years ago.

This is ginger, from Bearington bears. I also have her brother, cookie.

A school bus ornament to celebrate the first year Brenda takes the bus to school.
We also have annual picture ornaments of Brenda. A fun way to document her growth.
Now some other Christmas decorations.

Bearington bears carolers. So sweet!

Cross stitch Santa bell pull. I made this but I don't know who is the designer.

I made this when I still lived in Brazil.

I got this Precious Moments "May your Christmas be decorated"  cross stitch on e-bay.
The Gloria & Pat  website has this and many more free cross stitch patterns .  Just click on the pictures.

Part of my bookcase and my Boyd's bear nativity.

From San Francisco Music Box.

Snow globe from Hallmark.

I love this house.

My darling gingerbread doll.

Sleigh ride plate from Royal Albert. Another e-bay find.

Redwork Baby Jesus ornament.

My girl's room.

Redwork wall hanging. Pattern from the  Gooseberry Patch Christmas Book number 4. I made this about 6 years ago.

 Cross Stitch Christmas pillow. I got the finished cross stitch on e-bay and made it into a pillow.

I made the cross stitch in Brazil. It is a Santa alphabet that you can find at Patterns online
Later I turned it into a pillow. Feliz Natal is Merry Christmas in Portuguese, my native language.

Last picture. Brenda's Christmas stocking. This cross stitch design is from  the Cherished Teddies for the holidays book. She has the matching resin ornament.
Hope you enjoyed  my long post.
I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas.

Ana Paula

Handmade Christmas Gifts

Hi!
Lots going on around here, but I managed to finish some simple handmade presents.
Hope you like my ideas and can get some inspiration.
First, a cover for Grandma's Kitchen Aid mixer. She loves chili peppers, and this was made using leftover fabric from her kitchen window valance.

A  fleece blanket for Grandpa.
We have several fleece blankets and I made all this way. Just get  two yards of fleece, machine sew the  borders  and  make a blanket stitch by hand using crochet thread.

Now, a couple of pink things I made for my Fairy Princess.

A soft and furry reversible throw for her. I just love these fabrics. One yard of each one, to make a  blanket that Fancy Nancy  would be proud of.  Sew the right sides together, turn and top stitch all around. I used a big paper heart  to sew a heart shape on the middle of the blanket to hold the two pieces together.

A  Precious Moments pillow.  I had this cross stitch piece for a while. First I planned to frame, but finally I decided to make a pillow using  left over chenille from her rag quilt that I made a couple of years ago.

Brenda loves Precious Moments. We got her some water globes when she was a baby and now she has a small collection . The one on the pictures is a favorite.

I am working on a very special gift for my sweetie. This week will be crazy, but I need to work hard on her gift, because next week she will be home from school, and will be hard to hide it from her.
Thanks for reading my blog!

More Thrift Store Finds

Hi!
Things are going crazy here! My apartment needed  so many repairs, and finally the landlord decided to do it. First were the plumbers to re pipe, them the dry wall guys, the carpet cleaners, today is floor replacement day. Soon they will send the painters.

Since all I do now is clean a mess after another, I will just post some fun stuff from  Salvation Army.

First, a granny square blanket in very good condition, looking like new! I just love Thrifty Stores, don't you?

Them this cool room divider. I am still working on the pictures. I love it! Great way to display family pictures.

The Hallmark Family Tree. I got the set of ornaments on e-bay. I am trying to get another one.
Sometimes I am very lucky there.
Hope soon I can have a normal life again. I started decorating for Christmas, but things are going very slow.
Take care!

Recycled denim backpack

Hi!
As I promised, here is one more handmade Christmas idea.
Usually when my daughter's clothes don't fit her anymore, I donate to charity or give to a friend.
But, there are some stuff that I just can't do it.
So, sometimes to put it to good use. How? Making something new! Recycling!
Here is an example.
I had a cute denim baby dress that Brenda wore just a few times. Too cute to get rid of!
I am a teddy bear maniac, and this little cutie is so adorable...I had to save her somehow.
I got some scraps of flannel from Brenda's baby quilt.

She loves bags to carry her things. So, I made her a backpack.
The dress was very small, I had to be creative putting the pieces of fabric together.
I used some crazy quilting embroidery stitches. I had fun making this!

As you can see, I used the material from a tiny baby dress and flannel scraps the best I could.
The pattern is very simple, A drawstring bag  as a backpack.
Brenda loves it. She can carry a little snack , toys or a book.

My suggestion is to make something similar as a gift bag this Christmas.

I plan to make Brenda a new one and put a book and some little treats inside.
That's my idea for a fabric gift bag. A green gift bag that can be used long after Christmas.

Thanks for reading my blog! I hope this can inspire you as many of you talented ladies inspire me.

Garage Sale Finds

Hi!

Today I want to show you something that I found some time ago at a garage sale.
If I remember correctly the lady of the house was going to a assisted living place and her nieces and nephews were there to clean up the house.

I looked around, was already very picked over, but them I spotted a pile of collectible plates covered with dust.

I am a huge Hans Christian Andersen fan.  So... there is no need to say how excited I was to find it.

Everything was very dusty. I started to pick up the plates.
I saw some vintage crochet doilies and a tablecloth.
They told me that I could have all 10 plates for 10 dollars...I asked about the crochet stuff and all was included on the deal. Nice!

I feel sorry for someone that collected these plates for all those years...she loved them, I am sure. I always think how sad is when you get old or you die and your family sell your treasures . These are my favorites.

 The little Mermaid

The little match girl. It is my favorite Andersen story.

I love this one too. I love all of them.
Looks like this plates were made until 1999. About 30 plates. I believe the 10 plates I got are from the first year they were made.
Now the crochet. I gave them a good soak.
The tablecloth has some holes, but the doilies are in good condition.
I will probably cut parts of the tablecloth to use in some Shabby Chic sewing projects.

Not bad for 10 dollars! What do you think?

Mini Quilt and Doll Bed Handmade Christmas Gift Idea

Hi! With the holidays approaching I decided to share some handmade gift ideas. Things that you can make using scraps,recycled fabrics, thrift store finds, things that you already have at home and very little money.
Some time ago I made this for my daughter.

First, I found this cute bed at Salvation Army. I have a weakness for doll furniture.

Them I painted it white. I used a gloss white craft paint from Michael's.
I made the mattress using a recycled Laura Ashley fabric from a pillowcase and some fiberfill.

I had  some Flower Fairies Fabric squares from England that I got on e-bay. I used the cutest one and some scraps to make this little quilt. My own design.

I also made a matching  little pillow, and invited a little bear from the toy box to sleep on the bed!

She (it's a girl) likes her new bed, don't you think?
Please check back soon and I will have more handmade Christmas gift ideas.
Thanks for reading my blog.