MakingMine

J’s birthday is quickly approaching! He’s turing the big 2-5, so we’re going to have to celebrate in style. He’s awesome at giving gifts, so I need to step it up! :)

This is where you come in…. help me brainstorm! He’s into techie stuff, fitness, etc…

What do I get a 25 year old guy?

This is another DIY Christmas gift that I completed. I wanted to find a creative way to give gift cards, so I put together gift cards as 4 different seasonal surprises (date night, shopping spree, etc), placed them in fun envelopes corresponding to each season, and packaged it all together with a 2012 calendar.

I used scrapbook paper to make the envelopes. Here’s how it went down….

I then wrote out labels to place on the front of the envelopes, filled them with the gift cards, and placed them throughout the calendar! Here’s the finished package…

With more time on my hands than I expected and an excess of creative energy, I decided to make one last gift for little Mahala right before we headed home for the holidays. I thought Hoots the Owl turned out so cute, that I tried my hand at one more softie. This time I picked an adorable elephant pattern.

I completely underestimated the difficulty of this project. The pieces don’t fit together well, so it takes a lot of careful pinning to get this little guy put together. My sewing abilities on the sewing machine have definitely improved though - the curves weren’t nearly as hard to maneuver this time around. I had a minor mistake right under the trunk that I ended up just hand stitching to correct, but otherwise I think it turned out great! I hope little M enjoys adding Ellie to her zoo!

It’s officially after Christmas, and all the gifts have been opened. Now I get to share all the goodies I’ve been working on for the ones I love :)

First, Hoots the owl for my niece Mahala.

I found this pattern on Pinterest and thought it was absolutely adorable. M’s nursery is animal themed, so I thought this softie would be a cute addition to her collection. Since I’ve hardly dipped a toe in sewing, I didn’t have an arsenal of scraps to turn to for making this project. However, I found a great alternative. At JoAnn Fabrics they sell fat quarters in all sorts of patterns. They are super cheap and were an easy way to get a wide variety of colors and designs for this project (and my next project as well, but more on that later).

The pattern is very straightforward and easy to follow. The only thing I would change is that I would sew on the eyes and beak BEFORE attaching the two sides together. It was really tedious to do this step once the front and back were sewn together.

Here’s my finished result….

I had a great time making Hoots the owl. Everything from picking the fabric to making him perfectly plump with stuffing was more fun knowing that this was a gift for the delightful little M. I hope she enjoys adding Hoots to her family of animal toys! :)