More Gifts to Spain

A good friend of mine (we just met and became friends 5 or 6 years ago) was born in Spain, but moved here when she was young. When she was a teenager, her family moved back to Spain and she stayed here.

Her cousin (which is more like a sister than a cousin to her) just had her first child - a baby girl and asked me to make some personalized burp cloths that she could send to her...yes, in Spain.

I think that is so cool!



It's hard to tell in the photo, but below the ribbon is brown rick rack.



To see the first gifts to Spain, click here.

My Special Friend

All my friends are special, but this particular one is special because she and I have been friends since we were about 15 years old and we have never met.

Go, ahead and re-read it if you want. We are both 40 years old, have been friends since we were 15 and we have never met (we've been friends for 25 years).

You see when I took Spanish (my Freshman year in High School), everyone in Spanish class was required to get a Pen-Pal from Spain or Mexico. Balbi is my Pen-Pal from Spain. She and I still write, although it is now e-mails (very few hand written letters). We have kept in touch all these years. She writes more often than I do (I am so fortunate for her to not give up on me). I have good intentions, but life gets in the way sometimes.

It is very neat that she and I were both born in November (less than 2 weeks apart) in the same year in two different countries, became friends, and stayed friends all these years.

Well, Balbi just had her first child, a baby boy! Boy is he beautiful. He almost makes me want to have another one...ALMOST!

I made these burp cloths for Balbi and her precious new little one and mailed them to go over seas to Spain.






To see other things going to Spain, click here.

MOPS Retreat

We just had our MOPS Steering Team Retreat this past weekend. That is our planning session. We work for about 24 hrs (with just a few hours of sleep) to plan our whole up-coming MOPS year.

It's pretty intensive, but it is also fun. We (the Steering Team) really get to know each other (which makes working together the next year easier).

As Coordinator for our group, I want to thank the ladies that are willing to take on the responsibilities of the ST and are willing to server other mothers and make MOPS possible. They also give up a weekend in the summer to plan the next year (thanks girls - I really appreciate it), plus so much more. So here is what I did for my ST.

I personalized buckets (using my Cricut) with their last name and crocheted a cotton dish cloth to go with it.







It's hard to tell from the picture, the colors of the buckets are cherry red, hot pink, teal, and country green.

I also personalized totes (embroidered their first name on the tote) so they could have something to carry their MOPS stuff back and forth to MOPS meetings, ST meetings, etc.







In the totes, I had their notebooks (used Cricut to make the cover). Each notebook had the title of their position, our theme for next MOPS year (starts Sept. 2011) and inside I had a pencil pouch with pen & pencil, a gift card, a coupon for a free hamburger, and post it notes. Inside each binder was the handbook for their specific position, our meeting dates for the next year, a calendar with all pertinant info (ST b-days, MOPS meeting dates, ST meeting dates, etc.) filled out and highlighted. There was paper for them to take notes at the ST Retreat and anything else that they might need. They should be able to use the notebook through out the whole next year.




I want my ST to know how much they are loved and appreciated. I have a fantastic group, otherwise I would not be able to be a Coordinator. They make my job easier. This is just a small token of my appreciation. There just aren't words to express what I feel for this special group of women.

Nursery Ensemble

A good friend of mine (the one that suggested me putting a boutique in my home salon) needed a baby gift for a friend and asked me to make it. She said the mom bought a black w/ white polka dot diaper bag and she wanted a bib, burp cloth, receiving blanket and wipes case to match. She said that she also wanted the baby's name embroidered in hot pink on the items.

This is what I came up with...



...a wipes case (top view)...



...a wipes case (angled view)...



...a burp cloth (free instructions here)...



...a bib...



...a receiving blanket (free instructions here).





I used jumbo rick rack in hot pink for trim to match the embroidered name. On the back of the receiving blanket I used black flannel. It is soft and it won't show stains (spit up, if you lay it down on a dirty surface to keep baby clean, diaper blow-outs, etc.).

Sweet Sentimentals

A friend of mine from asked if I could embroider some handkerchiefs for a family member. Someone had passed from this world and they wanted to present the family with a keepsake item (not the traditional plant or angel) and they also wanted it to be practical (you know how I love practical).

They had me embroider handkerchiefs with the deceased's initials and the birth & death date. It will be a memento of their loved one and if they need a hanky during the funeral - they will have one handy.

I absolutely love that idea. How thoughtful.

She brought me some ladies' handkerchiefs and some men's handkerchiefs. The ladies' handkerchief already had white flowers embroidered in one corner (that's the reason I chose white thread for the embroidery that I was doing). It was a smaller handkerchief and since it was for ladies, I did it was a more feminine font. For the men's handkerchiefs I used a block style font and continued with the white thread so they all looked alike.

Are you tired of seeing my Christmas stuff yet?

...I hope not. I couldn't show these before Christmas because I couldn't risk anyone seeing what I've done and spoiling their Christmas surprise, so you get to see them all now. (That's another reason for me being behind in my blogging. Everything that I was making - I couldn't show and left me with nothing to blog about - if I even had time to blog at all, which I didn't. If I were able to find a moment to spare, I was too tired to do anything.)



I did several blankets for Christmas and personalized them. Some of these are done in school colors for the boys.

They are like the ones here.

More Christmas Items

A friend of mine, bought these cute bags (in all colors) for the girls on her Christmas list. She asked me to embroider their names on them. I think they are adorable. I bet they had fun opening these up for Christmas.

This is the front of the bag (they all look like this) and I embroidered their names on the top of the bag.






I want one!!!!!!!

Napkins for Mary

Mary, one of my closest friends in the world, asked me to make some napkins and place mats for a couple of people on her Christmas list. Here's what I did...






You can see more napkins I made here. The place mats are just something I came up with in my head.

I just love these napkins. The ones with the linen look (I can't actually afford real linen) are my favorite. They just look more elegant to me. Simple, yet sophisticated.

I also did some napkins for people on my Christmas list, but can you believe that in all the craziness of Christmas and making Christmas gifts that I forgot to take pictures of those? I know, it surprises me too. Oh, well...a napkin is a napkin.

Here's one that I forgot

I purchased this fleece blanket (I was running out of time to make more) and personalized it myself for a friend of my boys.

It already had the hunter green blanket stitching around the edges, so I matched hunter green embroidery thread and Voila!

Christmas is Over

I have been busy making most of the gifts for the people on my Christmas list, so that left no time for blogging...sorry. But, now maybe I can catch up on my blogging and now that Christmas is over, I can show you what I've been up to.







For my nieces and nephews, I made them all personalized throws. I made fleece blankets and serged the edges and embroidered their names on them. Maybe that will keep them warm and cozy this winter.

We have had lots of snow (for this area anyway). The kids were out almost 1 week before Christmas break. After Christmas break they went back for almost a week (were out the last day, Friday - didn't actually snow, but the weather forcasters were predicting a huge snow storm - for this area - they missed it and the snow didn't come until Saturday). We have been out this whole week so far and I am guessing that they will be out tomorrow too (it isn't getting above freezing so the snow isn't melting). It is supposed to get above freezing over the weekend.

I have been wanting to learn to knit and because of the weather I have not left my house since going to church on Sunday. Since I have been homebound, that has left me lots of time to learn to knit and I think I've got it. Just the basics anyway, now I just have to practice and perfect it. It's fun. I still enjoy crocheting. They each offer something different, but I'm having so much fun learning a new skill.

A New Christmas Tradition and a Christmas song

Two years ago we started a new Christmas Tradition at our house...Santa Bags. Each of my boys has his own Santa Bag (you can see one here). On Christmas Eve, the boys place the bag where they want (under the tree, on the couch, etc.) and Santa puts their gifts inside their bag.

The next morning they open their bag to see what Santa brought. A friend of mine asked me to make her boys Santa bags this year. They are approximately 2 feet by 3 feet, red fleece with a gold drawstring. I embroidered their names in white. I hope they enjoy the new tradition as much as we have.

Now here is one of my favorite Christmas songs by one of my very favorite Country Music artist.