The trouble with batteries

Is that they like to die. The even bigger trouble with batteries is that car use them. Meh. So instead of running to the store to get the materials you need to work on holiday gifts, you end up being stuck at home waiting for AAA to come. Some how I don't think I will be making it to the store tonight, how sad. So instead you get to see the many different projects in the works and the new books that I got.

Books!

If any of you are into costuming I highly, HIGHLY suggest the book on the left, Nineteenth-Century Fashion in Detail. It has amazing pictures of garments from the Victoria and Albert Museum and sketches of the entire garment with descriptions on every page. The textiles in the 19th century were amazing and I am seriously beginning to think I was born in the wrong time period. The Macarons book, I'm planning on tackling and attempting to make some this coming week when I invade my brother's place to use his oven. There will be some pictures and notes from the attempt. Finally, the cupcake book it just adorable!

Modular origami pieces and fabric for a bags

I'm out of glue AND thread at the moment since someone decided that my thread spools were toys and managed to put them in her water bowl. Not to point any fingers or anything, Tangie....The fabric is from Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane collection and is for a few little clutch type bags for my friend and possibly a little wallet with the leftover scraps. Or depending on what I feel like I might just make a wallet and a larger bag. We'll see what the fabric wants me to do when I get thread. Does that happen to anyone else? You think you know what you want to do with a certain fabric, but when you finally get to it it wants to be something else? Maybe it's just me...

Either late or absurdly early for Halloween

I'm going to go with absurdly early for next year. These wonderful little squares are slated to be split up into two different Halloween bags for my little sister and one of my cousins. There are two squares of each print, originally of 50 pints, but I snagged two sets for some bows. I haven't decided whether I'm going to split up the sets or keep them together. Luckily my little sis's doesn't have to be done until the end of January and my cousin and I are exchanging gifts in mid-January when we see each other so I have a bit of time left on these two.

Beginnings of the gift making

Halloween hasn't even happened and I have already decided that I needed to start on my holiday gifts so this is just the first of many, you know, unless I procrastinate after this one and decide to buy a bunch of stuff instead. It has been known to happen many times. I also figured that I needed to get this big little one out of the way quickly incase it gets waylaid on its journey halfway around the world to my friend in New Zealand.

I called this my big little gift because it is small in size (under 3" tall and 4.5" wide), but took quite a bit of time and has lots of other components to it that I still need to work on. My friend loves advent calendars for Christmas and tries to get a new unique one every year and so who am I to not add on to her collection? I looked at quite a few different ones online, but some of the items I wanted to make sure as anything would not fit in the little pockets so they would have to be wrapped separately and numbered. Well, they sure as heck won't fit in this one either, but it was too cute not to attempt to make. Instead of numbering the wrapping paper of the gifts I'm going to wrap them all in different papers and tuck a little piece in the day it should be opened along with a little candy or something.

Some of the smaller things that I have ready to wrap include some cute Christmas tree silicone baking containers, holiday themed cupcake wrappers and toppers, a couple of DVDS, a couple of candles and a few other things that I know I'm forgetting.

Before the bow it was missing something, I still might change the bow if I can find ribbon I like better. At the moment the bow doesn't look right.

I made the entire thing out of little match box like boxes. The boxes are the same height and width of the 32 count match box boxes, but about 3/4" longer. The paper and brads were from Oriental Trading Company as were the ribbons; the buttons and embroidery thread came from my stash. I would like to add something to the sides to jazz it up a little, but they are really odd shapes and none of my stamps would fit. I'm thinking about running to the store and looking for some fake holly and replacing the berries with some red beads I have. Eh, I think I'm done with if for now while I work on the gifts that go with it.








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