Purses Galore!

I love to make my Christmas gifts for other people. That way, I know they are getting something one of a kind. But it makes for a bummer on my blog postings, since I have to wait until all the gifts are given so I don't ruin any surprises. This year, I was inspired by my friend Melissa to make purses. So with the help of my sewing machine and a couple of great patterns, I went to town! This purse was made for my son's first grade teacher. It's Simplicity Pattern #2396. It has a button and loop closure at the top. One side has three low pockets, the other has a single larger pocket. The style looks a lot like the hobo bags by tween daughter is into, but the fabrics make this a great purse for a holiday gathering.

I made two of these bags. It's the same pattern as the purse above, just without the gathering and yoke top. It has a snap closure. The sides of the purse get their shape from fusible fleece, which the fabric squares are adhered to. Seam binding is then sewn into place over the seams, given the purse a quilted look without the work of piecing. The one mistake I made on both purses was not double checking that I caught all the fabric when I sewed the binding into place. So when the purses were used and twisted, i had a little piece of fabric slip out from under the binding in the same spot on both purses. As opposed to disassembling the purses, I used a little dollop of Beacon Adhesive's Fabri-Tac to keep the fabric under the binding. These purses were for my mom and mother-in-law.

Last, but not least, I switched to McCall's Pattern 6045. This pattern is not for the beginner, but the purse is so stinking cute it is well worth tackling the project!

For your next teacher's gift, dump the apple and look to their classroom for inspiration. This is a room where teachers are able to express themselves and make their environment their version of home. This teacher's room is done in hot pink and lime green with zebra stripes. She frequently wears those colors as well. Someone had mentioned one of the sororities uses these colors, but I don't know if she belongs to it or not. While this purse is too young for my taste, it's perfect for the person it was made for!

Inside, both sides have 3 pockets each. The top is closed with a 14 inch zipper. The purse maintains it's shape with Peltex. This "fusing" has the consistency of fleece but the structure of foam. The last detail that just loved was the carnation flower. The best thing about this purse design was it allowed me to adjust the length of the purse and since its intended recipient is quite tall, I made the straps as long as possible.
I want to make this purse for myself - I already have a leopard print picked out. Now I just have to find the time to make it. Sighhhhhh. Too bad the sewing and crafting are easier than finding the time to do them! Here's to finding lots of time for crafting in 2012!

Mastercard Commercial Quality Gifts

I needed new gift ideas for teachers & friends who had already received my standard glass light block (see previous blog post). So, I came up with these tiles, which I already had in my basement left over from some past projects. I used the Opposites Attract Critcut cartridge to cut the letters for the Girl Scout Tiles. The Girl Scout sayings are part of the Girl Scout Law. The teacher's tile was adapted from a plaque I saw in a store that was actually intended for families. I used the Plantin School catridge to cut my letters and the Locker Talk cartrisge to cut my globe.

A couple of thoughts if you are going to do these projects yourself. The multi-colored tile is unsealed slate. Even though I washed the slate before I added my lettering, I still had difficulty getting the lettering to stick. After laying my letter down, I used modge podge on the whole tile, using a criss-cross motion so that in case any streaking showed, it would look intentional. This sealed both the lettering and my tile. There was some slight show of the modge podge, but the criss cross pattern actually made it look professionally painted.

Need help with sentiments for your tiles? Go shopping! Premade greeting cards, plaques at local hobby stores and home furnishing sections. You can find so much online as well. Then personalize the sentiment in some way. Making something you can't buy anywhere else will make your inexpensive gifts priceless. Isn't that what makes the Mastercard commercials so great??? 1 tile: $.90. Vinyl lettering: $2. Stand: $3.99. A gift made only for them, priceless!

Season of Lights - One "Upped"

I LOVE the glass blocks with the Christmas lights inserted into them and have found they are great, low-cost teacher gifts with high impact. My daughters' teachers still display them in their classes every year and the girls take so much pride in saying, "I gave that to Miss X when I was in her class 2 years ago." But this year I have the Cricut. Which means the blocks have to be taken up just a notch.

My husband is an avid Missouri fan. And if you are from the midwest, you know that MU does NOT mix with KU. We have the Borderline Showdown every year here in KC to prove who is top dog - "bragging rights". My husband's boss is one of those "detested KU people", as was my own grandmother. So for Christmas this year, he broke down and had me make his boss a KU lightbox. I found the ornament at WalMart. The jayhawk is actually a face tattoo. It had great adhesion and a transparency that most stickers do not have. The other KU letters are vinyl cut with the Cricut (plantin schoolbook text).

His boss loved it and has plans to incite other KU fans in the office against my DH!