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!