The kid-crafting has gone undercover here. It's top-secret, happening in the late hours of the evening and behind closed doors. I get a peek here and there when a request for help is issued. Matches were requested at 10pm last night. Matches? I was glad, at least, that I was asked first (ahem). All this secret solo making is as quiet as I remember this family being in a long time (likely since last December), with everyone scattered about to their corners in excitement.
There's still a bit of family making happening in our days too. One little sewing project I've been working on is a pile of my bread bags. Yes, more food! It's really one of my favorite gifts to get, and so why not make it one to give as well? I wrote about the bread bags a while back in this post. They're simple in construction with a drawstring for the closure. The fun part is not just choosing the vintage linen or tea towel to make it out of, but then choosing just what bread to put inside of it! Some plans:
WHO Bread (acoustic too!)
Pumpkin Cranberry Bread
Lastly, these lavender sachets have been in production by everyone. Last spring we did a little bit of stamping on linen and had a pile of stamped linen saved. Pulling those out, I asked the kids to choose pieces for the friends and family on our list, and to think of a matching 'word' that would inspire, motivate, or just please the recipient. They used alphabet stamps and fabric-safe inkpads to place this word on another piece of linen, which they then sewed on three sides with the stamped image. They filled them with lavender and handed them to Mama for a little fold-down and zig-zag stitching for closure.
This was such fun to do with them - the flurry of traffic from library to my studio across the hall was heavy and constant and lovely (and busy). I love what they came up with for words! And these sachets will now accompany other little gifties - lip balm, peppermint bark, jams and jellies we made in the summer, and other such treats to the appropriate recipients.
This Mama has some top-secret crafting of her own to do...and so the rest of our Elving will have to be shared with you after the holidays. It's been such a treat to spend the week making with you! Let's plan on the whole month of December next year, shall we? That would be fun.
Now it's your turn - tell us what YOU & YOURS are Elving this week....
