Friday, December 18, 2015

December News

Well.  That was a much longer absence than I planned on!  I have been a very busy elf around here as you can imagine.  I can't believe the big day is almost here and I still have presents to make!!  Will it ever be any different?  I highly doubt it!

Without further delay, lets get started on what I've been up to since the big blankety ta-da.
My crochet hooks were kept busy with a few more gifts:  I made a snuggly scarf for My Favourite Boy in nice chunky yarn:



Next I stitched up some fingerless gloves for My Favourite Girl:


I am hoping to make a matching hat so I see some furious hooking in my future!

I also crocheted a few kitchen things for my piano teacher.  She is very patient with me so I wanted to do something a bit more involved than a coffee card:



I managed to cross stitch two ornaments and finish off a third I had stitched last year:



This is stitched over two on 40 count linen.  It is a free design that can be found HERE.  Lots of lovely freebies to see there.


I made five or six of these because they were so fast.  I just stitched a face onto evenweave and used the fabric covered button tools to attach the fabric to a shank button.  Afterwards I glued the button to one of those plastic snowflakes from the dollar store.  Nice and easy and I used a few as package embellishments.


Last year I had an idea for a quick stitched ornament for the times you want to give something stitched, but don't want to take two weeks to do it.  I used metallic thread for the letters on my own dyed fabric.  It was quick to stitch, but I can hardly call it a quick finish when I take a year to make it into an ornament now can I?

Of course I pulled out all my decorations and had a grand old time doling out the Christmas cheer.  I have some new crafty additions this year:  first up are more sweater pillows, this time in festive red.


I used more sweater remnants for little hearts to decorate the mantle this year:




I also have some new hoop art courtesy of Bustle and Sew magazine.  I believe these are from last year's issues:


This is part of a larger design but I didn't want to do all the hand stitching for the lettering, so this is my abbreviated version  !    

       
This was originally designed to be a tea cozy, but I wanted something festive to hang in my kitchen.  There was much singing of the Christmas carol as this was being stitched!

So now the cards and parcels have been mailed; gifts have been bought and wrapped and the kids are off school.  We still have baking to look forward to, and a few church choir performances before we can all relax and tuck in to a nice turkey dinner cooked by Mr. Crafty World.  It has been a hectic season thus far, and I am looking forward to a break of tea sipping and cross stitching in my chair watching holiday movies and planning for next year.

I know this is already a really long post, but I wanted to talk about these next gifts as I think it's worth mentioning.  I read in our local paper about an initiative to adopt a senior citizen in long term care for Christmas.  As it happens there are quite a few seniors living there who have no family members to visit them over the holidays, or give them gifts on Christmas day.  This just about broke my heart, because I think getting bypassed for gifts at Christmas would be just as disappointing at 95 as it is at 5.  There are always gift drives for young children at this time of year, and I think that is important too, but these are people who have contributed to our society and are now being forgotten about just because they are old and out of sight.  When I called to inquire about what was involved I felt so sad again, because requests were for things like a tube of red lipstick, or a pretty hairband.  We ended up adopting four senior ladies, and hopefully these little gifts will brighten their day on what can be a very difficult time of year.



Two of our ladies requested costume jewelry; one a hair brush; and the last wanted a stuffed animal to hug and had a fondness for British sweets.  I also added a few chocolates and some lip balm, just to make it more of a surprise.


I wrapped these up as pretty as I could, because sometimes opening a nicely wrapped gift is more fun than seeing what's inside.  I am also aware that this may be the last Christmas for some of these folks in the residence and I think it should be a nice one.
So, if you are considering where to put some of your charitable Christmas contributions, think about putting them here, with a local seniors residence.  The dollar outlay was minimal, yet these were the gifts I enjoyed buying the most.

Thank you so much for reading this far!  Now go and enjoy something festive and have a wonderful Christmas!

Happy Days,
Jenn

6 comments:

Robin in Virginia said...

Jenn, your gifts (especially the fingerless gloves) that you created are lovely. Your stitched snowman faces are adorable. I am truly touched by your kindness and generosity toward the seniors. You are so right that everything is aimed for collecting for children. I know you have made 4 senior ladies very happy. Enjoy your weekend!

Brigitte said...

Jenn, what a wonderful post this is. Those gifts that you made for family and friends are just gorgeous. And I love the ornaments that you finished. A great idea what you were doing with the cording on Jingle Bells. I had never seen that before. But you are never short of creative ideas, aren't you? The sweater pillows and little heart ornaments are the best proof of it. And your hoop art is so beautiful.

Adopting a senior citizen and putting together a gift box for them is such a wonderful thing to do. The ladies that receive your gifts will be full of joy. And you are so right about a nicely wrapped and decorated gift.

Have a great Christmas holiday with your family.

Justine said...

Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! Your posts are always full of lovely things and this one outdoes all the others!
If I had to pick just one thing to mention, it would be those lovely cushions, but everything is so perfectly done it's not fair to choose a favourite!
Hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

mrs. smythe said...

Jenn, what a wonderful post. The part about the seniors really touched me. I wish there was a similar program in place in our area. What a neat (and important) charity. It makes me sad to think of elderly people alone and forgotten at any time - but especially over the holidays. And, I think you're so right about going to the extra trouble with the wrapping. Those presents looked beautiful and are a joy simply to look at, let alone open. It's obvious you put extra time and thought into those gifts. Impressive, considering how busy you're been! Wow - what a lot of crafting you've been doing! Great stuff all around, but I especially love those pillows and the little hearts. Also - the fingerless gloves were lovely. I think my daughters would like a pair of those!

Merry Christmas to you!

Carol said...

I know I'm always in for a treat when I see a new post from you, Jenn! You sure have been busy and I'll bet your needles and hooks are busy even today :) I love your scarf--such pretty colors! And all the little ornaments and hoop art are darling. I think that is a wonderful idea to adopt seniors at Christmas time--I'll have to see if our local nursing homes do anything like that. It is so sad to think they would be all alone and get no gifts if you hadn't stepped in...

Wishing you and your lovely family every happiness over the next few days and on into the New Year! Merry Christmas!

Becki said...

I'm so glad I read this. How inspiring. You have not only touched the lives of 4 seniors who received your generous gifts, but you've touched, no doubt, quite a few of us here on the internet who will be inspired to follow in your footsteps.

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