Still catching up post-Covid, I didn't get to all the DIY December ideas on my list this year. No scrap ornaments nor holiday banners like my Celestial Banner for Search Magazine! What I did do came down to the wire, and the reactions to this trio of festive projects were...mixed?
The Jewelry Treasure Chest
I saved this top opening gift basket several years ago but forgot what I had wanted to do with it – until I saw it again this year, that is! I thought the flip top made it the perfect treasure chest for my niece. She's been sorting through some of my jewelry making supplies for the beads she likes, so I made as many bracelets and necklaces as I could with her favorites, the pink bead discards I don't like, and all the odd, low quantity, fun beads that don't match anything else. Many of the bug and butterfly charms and unique bobbles came from three cases of beads I found at Goodwill earlier in the summer for $8 each. Unlike some of my seemingly elaborate Black and White Bobbles, these were all done with simple elastic cording that can grow with her or can be taken apart later if she wants to do her own creations. More plastic Mardi Gras necklaces and fake pearls removed from other cheap costumes supplemented the chest along with her play masks, tiaras, and folding fans. I also put some of the jewelry sets I made in smaller boxes or little velvet bags within the chest to make them seem even more fancy. This was seemingly the biggest hit of the holiday when my niece didn't want to open anything else on Christmas morning because she had to go through the entire chest claiming she wanted to wear twenty pieces at once. Unfortunately, she only wanted the pink and later red jewelry – refusing to consider any other color even when playing with the mask and fan. So... I guess it was worth it?
Potter Scrap Pumpkins!
I got a pair of Gryffindor pajama pants for my husband that turned out to be quite long. Upon hemming them, I saved the excess inches intending to make something, but what? Once I knew making personalized scrap ornaments for each of my family wasn't feasible this holiday season, I realized I could still at least make Stuffed Pumpkins for my older niece with these pant ends. Once upon a time she was a big Potter lover, but this print is mature and subtle enough to just be regular autumn décor without screaming boy wizard. One end is gathered closed before the stuffing with fabric scraps and plastic bags. Rustic twine for the pumpkin sections, dollar store leaves, curly pipe cleaner vines, and a cinnamon stick stem topped off this gourdy pair. Upon seeing them on Christmas Eve, my niece first asked where I got the fabric and if they had been worn before they were pumpkins? Which I guess I could see as humorous because they hadn't been, and likewise, they weren't stuffed with dryer lint – although that is a perfectly viable stuffing option in a pinch. All gathered were very bemused and said that I was a very resourceful person. I'm not sure, however, if that resourceful was meant as a positive or just being polite, for I was also teased for saving all the holiday package shipping paper. Hey, man, it's good for painting drop cloths and scrap sewing patterns!
It's a Christmas Vacation Pillow
I get my husband a lot of character shirts at the thrift shop that he may like until they wear thin but sometimes the sizes aren't right. Usually I give away the too bigs and too smalls immediately or make pillows for the bean bag. This National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation shirt, however, I found again wrapped around loose ornaments when I opened my ornaments tote bin this year – meaning I must have intended to make it a pillow last year. Fortunately, unlike my Wonky Halloween Pillows, this was in good condition and easy to cut out the design square before running it through the machine. Again scraps and plastic bags were my stuffing – this is only a decorative pillow rather than needing to be soft and cozy. Its hockey playing Santa pillow companion was an earlier upcycled thrift find – I only have two Santas in my house and both are left shooting hockey players! There are more ready to retire shirts that I would like do as a quilt like my Memento Mori piece, but only my husband would probably get all the pop culture shirt references, for no one seemed to get, care, or notice the Christmas Vacation quote on the pillow. Oh well. Thankfully, everyone did eat all the pizzelles of course.
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Carving and Baking with Real Pumpkin
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