Homemade Gifts

This year, like many in the past, I made a lot of the gifts I gave out for Christmas.  I know I teased you a little with last week's post of all the wrapping I did, but I didn't want to give away any clues to my family in case they were reading!  So here are some of the gifts I crafted:

I started off with this blue box that housed something in it's former life, then sanded it and painted it black

I bought some pens

a booklight

(I stole borrowed his a couple of years ago)

and found some great printables online including library cards

library envelope templates

bookplate templates

and some cute little list books (this gal also has some super cute books for sale in her etsy shop!)

and put it all together to make a little library kit for my son:

He and I share a love of books and feel a twinge of sadness that it all seems to be going digital, so I thought he'd appreciate this for the books he already owns.

When my son was in town for Thanksgiving, we went to a craft fair and he saw a scarf that resembled this one, but it was grey and it was crocheted.  He asked me if I could make one like it in black; I told him I could try knitting one and see how it turned out.  He loves it!  I'm so glad- it looks great on him, too.  It's an infinity scarf, so he can wear it like a chain, or double it up to keep warm. 

I decided to "tea stain" some coffee filters and flour sack towels for a few projects.  I live in an apartment, and it was 30 degrees out, so I opted to dry them right there in my kitchen window.  Once dry, the filters flattened out nicely and held a little texture to make these snowflakes that I used for wrapping the presents.

 And with the flour sacks, I ironed them and used freezer paper stencils to make these cute little kitchen towels for my sister:

Other than that, I just printed out some other "freebies" I got off the web, cut them out accordingly, and packaged them as nicely as I could so they could pass for a gift:)

We hope your holidays were filled with warmth and joy and that this new year brings everyone great happiness.

Hannah moved to a new home with her fiance and son over the New Year's weekend and her sewing studio is no longer in the dungeon (the basement)!  She couldn't be more excited- so no more pictures with bad lighting- at least from her house.  I'm still a night owl, so I'll have to work on that!

Cheers to a great new year!

Rock N Roll Craft Show, Reviewed

If you are local, I hope you made it to last weekend's Rock N Roll Craft Show at the Third Degree Glass Factory in St. Louis.  Oh my goodness- there was so much great local talent- I was floored.  It was a show to remember and I can't wait to go again next year; I just hope Hannah and I can get it together in time for FlyChicks to be represented!

Hannah is moving this month and was busy the day we went, so I, along with my mom, her husband, and my son Quentin (who guest posted here!) piled in the car and drove less than a mile (I guess we could have walked, but I'm still recovering from surgery) to the show.  First of all, the building is amazeballs and if you all have a chance to go, the third Friday of the month is a sort of Open House and you can see all the cool people blowing glass!

The sun was inTENSE on Saturday, so please forgive some of the pics I took.  But here are just some of the great finds you can come to expect at a fun, alternative event like this one:

(disclaimer: I didn't intend on doing a review, just happened to have my camera; I didn't get the names of each vendor, so please go to the RRCS website for more info OR if you know the names of the talented crafters and want them mentioned here, please email me and I will put the info up asap.  I tried to link to either their etsy sites or their blogs.  Thanks!)

My son loved these kitschy little necklaces!

The Red Anvil

I loved the display- especially how the prices were marked on playing cards and other repurposed cards.

These plush guys were amusing, offbeat, and just plain cool.

Cranky David 

various artwork by

Hosey and Pod, Sarah Wyman, Anchovy, and more

Um... I LOVE.

Hosey and Pod

there were tons of little notebooks all around the place

mostly from All Along Press

(my new step-cousin, Serena Perrone, just did an artist in residency here in September; she is a fantastic printmaker!  If interested, go to her blog, Print Me Pull You, for some serious inspiration)

Quentin and I loved these handmade journals!  He's like his momma when it comes to journals, sketchbooks, school/office supplies- you can never have too many.

Janice Wallace

photo album or large, square, blank sketchbook made out of an old record album- genius!

These journals were probably my favorite- made from vintage hardback books, with blank pages inside for jotting down notes, sketches, ideas- oooo, I covet!

The Fancy Lamb

cute bibs for babies...

and crayon rolls for the older kids!

Owlette Collective

(the crayon rolls remind me of our blog friend, Sam, who makes crayon aprons- so cute!)

Quentin and I took a load off for a few minutes to watch this guy work on a glass blowing project- didn't get his name, he was workin' hard.

We also strolled around the glass blowing studio area and took a look at some of the artisans' products that were also for sale.

Quent and I got a big kick out of this "flattened" bottle!

Beautiful vase- enchanting design!

The colors in these pillows really caught my eye; they'd be great on my couch.

Bruk Longbottom

Thought these were fun!

Wonderful Handmade

Duct tape clutch

Eleven Peacocks

Clutches- I love the one with the doily.

Fancy Lamb

Little coin purses/wallets

Tyrone's Toys

I really dig the tweed and the braided leather- perfect fall/winter purse!

Daughter Designs

All sorts of fun stuff here!

Katatomic Labs, Thrift Store Junkie, Ebba Handmade, Tyrone's Toys

Those green, turquoise and blue felt brooches remind me of another blog friend of ours, Katie of Blue Eyed Freckle.

Felted bracelets

Hypercraftive

Glass blown ornaments by artisans at the Third Degree Glass Factory

Loved this display with the knobs on the frame!

Lala Lori

I also really liked the display of The Foundrie's jewelry.

Sweet roll-up tote

Squaresville

Screen printed apron

Ebba Handmade

I pretty much love this...

Par-tees

and these- anything with elephants, really.

If anyone knows who made the plethora of plaque mounted animal heads that were everywhere, please inform me- I got such a kick out of all of them!

And, there you have it- I hope a lot of you can make it to next year's show.  It will be in its eighth season by then.  I didn't even mention the wonderful line-up of live music, the coffee, wine, and beer that accompanied this fabulous craft show!  So, now I have.  Go. Eat. Drink. Listen. Buy handmade. Support your local craft community.  My mom and her husband actually got a lot of their Holiday shopping done- yea!