Holiday Gifts!
I said here that I'd post a picture of the tree I made during a Morris Arboretum workshop and here it is. It is made of boxwood, with trimmings of lights, garland, red glass balls and bows as well as fresh white mums and baby's breath. The picture doesn't do it justice. It is really pretty! It was also hard to make...the tree part, putting all the boxwood in properly, but I definitely want to do it again next year!
I said here that I'd post a picture of the tree I made during a Morris Arboretum workshop and here it is. It is made of boxwood, with trimmings of lights, garland, red glass balls and bows as well as fresh white mums and baby's breath. The picture doesn't do it justice. It is really pretty! It was also hard to make...the tree part, putting all the boxwood in properly, but I definitely want to do it again next year!
Original blog:
I love making holiday gifts. I’m a crafty person. I used to do tons of needlework--needlepoint, counted-cross-stitch, etc. I even used to make clothes for my kids and myself. There was nothing I liked better than a craft project. Here’s a picture of a beautiful mirror I made during my stained-glass phase (I had to put that away when the kids came along--nothing more deadly than sheets of glass).
I’ll post a picture of the tabletop tree I’m making at a Morris Arboretum craft class later in December. Through the years I’ve made wreaths, centerpieces, stockings, you name it. Sadly, once I started writing, many of my crafting projects languished in the back of my closet. You just can’t type and sew. And I decided I preferred to type! And many books later, I’m still typing.
However, this year, I’m better organized. My writing is on schedule. My desk is organized. So, I decided to make some scarf holders as gifts. Everyone I know is wearing scarves.
At the bottom you’ll find the two websites that gave me some inspiration. You’ll see by the finished holder that I did more than the first example, and far less than the second :) I decided to recycle. I used a coat hanger I already had in the closet. I didn't choose the pink one in the end because the white one was thicker and heavier and I felt would hold more weight without getting all bendy.
The big goal for my scarf organizer was to make it easy to see the scarves as well as easy to take them off and put them on the holder. I also knew I wanted the holder to be able to be hung in a closet. I, personally, don’t have space to “display” my scarf collection. It needs to be accessible, but invisible.
The rings I used were a combination of silvery plain shower curtain rings as well as fun napkin rings. They were all on sale, so the cost wasn't bad. In the end, the pipe cleaners I have in my picture of materials didn't work out. No matter how I tried, I couldn't get the sharp little ends to be completely secure, and I decided I didn't want the scarves to get snagged on the metal tips. Same went for the silver wire. So the sparkly pipe cleaners and silver wire went back into the drawer for another project. I used dental floss instead and then decorated with some ribbon here and there. This one was made for my daughter who is a girly, girl and who will love the sparkles and flowers. So here is my first attempt . . .
One lesson I learned very early . . . it really doesn't matter how a gift project turns out. It is the thought, the effort you made on someone's behalf that really counts!
Have a Happy and Crafty Holiday!
Ann
Hi Ann! you are very talented! I love your expression "stained-glass phase" . I had those phase too, did some oil paint and false glass stain, now I am mostly doing jewelry making, and I love it!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I tried painting but could not get the perspective thing! I'm better at something that had directions and when I can see a sample.
ReplyDelete