The Organized Elf

Ornament

Each year I get my four godchildren an ornament as part of their Christmas gift.  I was planning to make ornaments, but then I saw this one.  Perfect!  My order is in, and I can cross that off of my Organized Elf list.

How are you doing with your list?

Soap question :)

Hi there, fellow elves! :) I have sort of a random question. I'm in the process of kicking my holiday crafting into high gear, and I have to give a lot of gifts to random female members of my boyfriend's family. Now here comes the weird part. I have about 10 bars of bright purple Ivory soap (don't ask. A gift from my grandmother last Christmas. She means well, but has no clue). I'm a body wash girl, so I'll never use the bar stuff. Is there any way to safely melt down commercial soap so I can repour it into cute molds? I can knit up a few washcloths and towels to make adorable gift sets for some of these random females, and I'd get the added benefit of clearing out some of my stuff.

Any suggestions?

Some Progress, No Pictures

I posted about this on Holiday Headstart as well.  My camera and computer aren't talking, so I don't have pictures, but the other night I knit up a dishcloth...I'm thinking of using a fancier pattern as the one I used leaves me feeling "meh". 

I am crazy for the embroidery I've been doing, though.  I finished one in a set of tea towels, and I plan to do a few pillow cases as well. 

I've also been mulling over Girl on the Rocks adorable Weavette projects.  I love the needlebooks and pincushions, and I think I may need to make the cocktail napkins as well.

How goes your holiday preparation?

How's Things?

Hi Elves, how ya doin'? 

The leaves here in CT are starting to change.  I've seen tinges of red around all week.  This tells me that not only is fall around the corner, but so are the holidays.  Have you had a chance to make anything for your gift list?

I'm pretty pleased to share that I'm halfway done embroidering the first of a set of two towels with an adorable Sublime Stitching pattern.  These will be for Neal's best friend; last year I made her a sock dog, and she went nutty for it, so I know she likes dogs and handmade things.  I think I'll go through my list and see if there are any other people who might like a set of embroidered towels.  I know I would!

I also wanted to share this great idea: coffee cozies.  While I couldn't find a tutorial, I think if you have some sewing skills, it would be easy enough to take a paper cozy from your local cafe and use it as a template. I see a lot of potential for embellishing these, and I think I like the fabric ones much better than knit and crochet ones I've seen around. 

Let us know what you're thinking about doing next to prepare for the holidays, ok?

Ahem...

Hi Elves,

Remember me?  Remember this project?  Well, what with my wedding and selling my condo in New Mexico, I haven't been the best Organized Elf, and I'm sorry to have let you all down.  The good news is that there are still more than six months until the big holiday, so I can have a renewed hope in being fully organized before then.

I've decided to knit some washcloths for gifts, and I may take a trip into soap making.  Have any of you tried that?  What are your best soap making resources?  If soap making turns out to be a disaster, I've got a back up plan--some luxurious shower gel to go along with the washcloths.

Tomorrow is a big seconds sale at the local pottery studio, so I'm going there with Christmas in mind, too.  I thought a fabu gift for some of the sibs would be mugs, hot chocolate mix, and a frother (I love mine to bits).

Hope you're all doing better than I am with being organized Elves!

xx

Confessions of a Lame-o Elf

That Korky a day idea of mine?  Well, I haven't done too well with it.  I've got a handful of the little guys done, but I think I'll be better off spreading the Korky love over a few months.

I did start on Bejeweled in Fiesta La Luz for a Christmas gift for a family friend.  I'm also finishing up socks promised (are you ready for this) in 2005.  Ahem.

How goes your holiday crafting?

Let's get crackin'!

So. I finally finished the gloves that were supposed to be my mom's 2006 Christmas present. Not 10 minutes after I sewed in the last end, my mom asks me if I might make her a blanket for next Christmas (has she learned nothing from the gloves?!), "out of that same stuff you made the dog Snuggles in?!" She meant LionBrand Homespun. Not my favorite, but it does knit up fast. So...

I bought yarn. I'm planning on making her a log cabin blanket from Mason-Dixon knitting. :) Good thing I'm graduating in June and I have a car trip in July - midterms and knitting don't mix, and blankets don't make good train knitting.

Gift Tags

After looking at the 2006 Christmas cards for a month or more, I finally used a tag that I had as a template to make adorable gift tags for next year.  Not only will they make my 2007 gifts more festive, but they will remind me of my friends as I'm giftwrapping in ten months.

Thanks to Jeanne for the suggestion to change the way posts are marked.  When you write a post now, your name should automatically show up in the footer.  You'll also notice that I finally listed the Elves.  If I didn't link to your blog, feel free to e-mail or leave a comment with your addy, and I'll pop it up there.  If you asked for an invite and haven't responded yet, I didn't add you to the list.  I'm not sure what the problem may be, so get in touch with me if you think it's on this end, ok?

I'm gathering my supplies for March Korkinesser Madness.  Anyone joining me?

Finally, I'm extending the request for TOE buttons a little longer.  I have to post one more, but I'd like to see a few more for everyone to choose from.  I'll have a neutral party select his or her favorite, and the creator will get a fabu skein from my overflowing stash.  Contest end date:  The Ides of March!

Quick Gifts for Knitters

The girls made these "personalized" knitting needles for Grandma's birthday this week, painting the knobs in two of Grandma's favorite colors.  (I chose needle sizes that correspond to the girls' ages, too.)

It's an easy, inexpensive gift that even the younger kids can do -- Julia is not quite five.  We used a pair as a teacher's gift for Laura's kindergarten teacher last year with much success, too!

A few more details here --

Jeanne

Valentines Cards, and the like

Thanks to Martha Stewart, I have another Idea.   Full credit to Martha and Kodak of course.....

Take a piece of scrapbooking paper, or wrapping paper, and cut it to 7 1/2" by 7 1/2". 

Place, or glue, a picture of you and your valentine in the center, turned diagonally, so that the four corners of the paper points are pointed out like a star. 

Don't worry about putting the picture in the exact center, imperfection is what makes this card unique. 

I purposely made the paper slightly bigger, so that the picture corners do not touch the edge, this overlap will conceal the picture when you fold in all of the corners to the center. 

Fold in the corners, creasing along the edge of the picture.

After you fold in the corners, seal the flaps with a sticker, or, if you really wanted to go fancy, melt red wax on it and stamp it with a wooden block stamp.