This year's teacher gifts

My boys always want to sew something for their teachers for Christmas.  This year we decided to make some personalized book marks.  Here are the little elves at work.  They love sewing on the machine!

We used 3 inch strips of fabric and placed a piece of Warm and Natural in between.  I like to work with 2 1/2 in pieces when making bookmarks, but the boys like to use all of the decorative stitches, so it gives them more area to play around if the pieces are a little bit larger.

And here are their finished products!

My 9 year old did most of his own sewing with the exception of the outside top stitching.  My seven year old needed a little assistance putting it together.  He had a problem with sewing through pin heads.  Thank goodness they were flat!  I think that they both did a fantastic job!

Yesterday was the last day of school before vacation.  The boys delivered their gifts and said that they were a hit!  If I had to do it over again, I would have been more prepared with a Border's gift card to put with it.  Maybe next year.

And as an added bonus, here is elf number 2 helping with the spritz cookies.  We had a great day of baking last weekend.  It was lots of fun!



Scraps from projects past...last minute Christmas gifts

I needed a little something to stick in with some other gifty things that I had made for some friends, so in an attempt to use up some scraps I made bookmarks.  All of the recipients are avid readers, so I'm sure they will come in handy for them.  I love using scraps because it brings back memories of other things that I have made.  Most of these fabrics were made into pillows and bags and potholders at some point.

I also made this rice bag which was inspired by my achy, pregnant body.

I think that this will be my gift to myself this year.  Again, these were scraps from a past project, Potholder Pass 4.  I loved the fabrics, so I am glad that I can now enjoy them myself. 

I filled a tube of muslin with rice and put it in the outer case.  The end closure is velcro.  I would have liked to use an invisible zipper, but I didn't have one on hand.  Now, just a few minutes in the microwave and I'll be feeling good!  Only four more weeks to go!  I can make it!

SMS Giveaway Winners!

Thanks to Mr. Random Number Generator we have our lucky winners!

#29 and #9 (I was glad that he chose low numbers!  That made my job easier!)

Prize #1, the owl coasters, go to Sarah, who just happened to be a birthday girl yesterday!  Happy birthday!

Prize #2, the knit hat, goes to Deserae!

I will send you both an email and wait for you to send me your addresses.

Thank you to all who entered and gave me a volume of ideas for my Christmas baking.  I will be baking today.  Hopefully I won't be testing out too much of what I bake. 

Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day!

SMS Giveaway closed!  Thank you for participating and sharing your great comments with me!

Welcome to Modified Mix!  Thanks for stopping by!  I'm sure that many of you are visiting for the giveaway from the Sew, Mama Sew blog.  I'm so excited to take part in the this!  Please take some time to check out some of my other posts and projects.  Things have been a bit quiet here for a while due to pregnancy, but I am getting back into the swing of things.

I am giving away two of my crafty creations.  My two favorite hobbies are sewing and knitting, so I chose things that I have made with my machine and my needles. 

I will choose two winners randomly.  International entries are welcome!  All you have to do to enter is leave a comment stating which item you would like the most and if you feel like it tell me your favorite Christmas cookie.  (I am having a brain freeze in the holiday baking area!)  The giveaway will be open until December 17th at midnight.  I will notify winners on the 18th.

First I have a set of whimsical, quilted coasters.  I'm sorry to say that I really don't know what fabric line is, but it sure is cute.

The second giveaway prize is this knitted lime green hat.  It is made from a wool blend yarn and should fit an adult with a smaller head or a child.  I made the pompom removable in case it just isn't your thing.  You'll just need to untie it and take it off.  Then you could hang it from your Christmas tree or something.  The hat looks a bit wonky in the photo, but that is only because I had to have a Webkinz model it.  I couldn't find anything else.

Good luck to all!  I hope you come back and visit again.  I will email the winners, so please make sure that you post your email in the comment.  

Cute Christmas Ornament

I thought I'd share this cute little skier ornament with you.  I can't take the credit for crafting it.  One of my former students made it for me a few years ago in her home ec class.  It has been one of my favorites ever since.  My son has a severe walnut allergy, so we were very cautious after we found out.  He can't even touch the shells of some nuts because of the oils, but this one must be old enough that it hasn't affected him.

To make one of your very own you need an acorn, a walnut, some fleece scraps, one craft stick cut in half, two tooth picks for the ski poles and a hot glue gun.  Although I haven't made one yet, it looks pretty easy to put together.  It would be a great craft to make with kids, unless of course they are allergic to the walnut. 

Next year I'll have to gather some acorns and try to make a few.  I just love the acorn head!  It is so cute with it's little cap.

And on a happy note, it was another snow day today!  I can't remember the last time we have had two in a row.  It is STILL snowing.  My poor lab, Toby had to lift up his chin to walk through the snow this morning before we cleared some paths for him.  (When I say we, I mean the boys.  This prego mama isn't handling any snow until after the baby is born!)  I did do some Christmas sewing today, but I can't show it until after the recipients open it. 

Stay warm everyone! 

Sewin' While It's Snowin'

As a teacher, I do love my surprise snow days.  I love settling in and being all cozy with a hot drink and my sewing.  (My fighting kids, not so much.  Will they ever just get along??)  Even though there was fighting, I was pretty productive today.  I found a pretty table runner called "City Windows"  on the Moda Bakeshop website for my awesome Twelve Days of Christmas Charm Pack that I won from Bobbi and Heidi during a Friday Night Sew In. 

There was only one problem... The back was way to pretty to put on the back! Have you ever had this happen?  So, one table runner turned into two table runners and I used a snowman print on the back of both. My loving 7 year old picked out the fabric from my small Christmas stash.  It doesn't really match the front, but it is cute.  I don't think anyone will turn them over anyway.  

Now I have one for my table and one to send to someone special!  And it is still snowing like crazy!  Could there be another sewing day tomorrow??  I still have a few Christmas gifts to sew.  It sounds like a good idea to me.

And in baby boy news, only 6 more weeks to go!