After finishing the baby hat and sweater for my friend Kristi’s baby-to-be, I couldn’t stop knitting. I broke into my stash of yarn and found some self-striping yarn I had bought last winter. I don’t remember why I bought it, aside from the fact that it is self-striping. I mean, isn’t that cool? You just knit and it makes stripes for you. It boggles my mind to think about how this works.
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Inside the boxes, I packed 2 types of caramel (the cinnamon ones from round 1 and then I took round 2 and dipped it in chocolate), red velvet cake bon-bons (recipe from Bakerella) and candied citrus peel…
A close up of the red velvet cake balls:
And the candied citrus peel:
For the goodie bags, I made “cranberry bliss bars” (a la Starbucks) using this recipe:
And oatmeal chocolate chip cookies using this recipe:
And now that Christmas is over, I am turning my attention to our upcoming New Year’s party and the possibilities for all sorts of goodies (remember the cupcake decorating kit?…)
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My kitchen was busy last week… pumping out all sorts of goodies made with butter, sugar, and chocolate. I’ve delivered 1 treat pack and plan to deliver 1 more tonight… The treat packs include a little box and a bag:
I’ll show you what’s inside after they are all delivered :D …
Here’s last year’s packs:
It included a heat-therapy-lavender-scented-rice-pack-thingie made using this Sew, Mama, Sew tutorial and a ton of cookies (brownies topped with marshmallows, rosemary-cheese “cookies”, raspberry thumbprints, etc etc etc). It was a big hit. This year, I procrastinated so much I did not get to do a sewing project gift, but I’ve been trying to be greener and edible gifts are definitely “green” (though not as friendly to the waistline).
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Tonight, my Santa (aka D.) decided to surprise me… with a spanking new sewing machine!! Apparently, he has been contemplating this gift for weeks and after consulting with the little old sewing ladies at the store where he bought it, decided it would be better to give it to me now to use in my Christmas crafting (thank you, ladies).
It’s a Baby Lock and fancy with a screen and you don’t even need to use the foot pedal (I don’t know what to think about that yet). This will be replacing the trusty Brother that my mom gave to me about 10 years ago.
Now, don’t get me wrong, the Brother has served me well. It’s like your first car in high school: the no frills, get you from point A to point B ride. It strains under the weight when you volunteer to give your friend a ride to the mall. But you love it because it’s your first car and it means freedom. Beep beep…
But, oh, the new machine. She is like the car you get in your thirties: pretty, with leather seats and V6, and room to grow. The engine purrs along effortlessly even under the weight of 5 full size adults. And while your first car meant freedom, this car means your world is expanding. Zoom zoom…
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I’m still in holiday planning mode. Trying to think of what to give to my friends and families. Last year, I made a decision to have a less materialistic Christmas and it was probably the best Christmas I can remember from an emotional well-being point of view. I made “relax and indulge” packets for my friends. I enjoyed baking and sewing for the weeks leading up to Christmas and I enjoyed giving my friends something they could use (I mean, who can’t use cookies? Seriously. I could use a cookie now). And since it was successful last year, I am here trying to plan a similar success for this year…
Here are some of the Ideas for crafty presents I’ve been looking at for my friends and family:
For D. from the boys…
- Soaps? This could be a fun project to make with the kids
For the kids…
- What every little boy needs: a holster for their light sabers
For my girl friends…
- Quilted Pot Holders
- Wavy scarf
- Homemade bath salts or herbal bath tea or bath bombs
- A reusable grocery bag like this one from morsbags
- I had a thought about buying simple tea pots and making tea cozies (I really want a tea cozy for myself) and adding some tea bags and cookies to the package as a gift pack.
- A “green pack” — like some cloth napkins or knitted dish or face clothes, reusable bags, other green stuff
- Other cute gift ideas from Sew, Mama, Sew
And on a selfish note: I love these flasks from Moxie and Oliver on Etsy –
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