Sunday, December 27, 2009

The Easy Way.

Super Chunky Christmas Cookie Mix
Project #46 in '50 in 2009 Challenge' - Set of 5 Super Chunky Christmas Cookie Mix in a Jar

I admit, I took the easy way out this year.

Instead of devoting a weekend to baking Christmas cookies to give out as gifts, I took inspiration directly from Rachel Ray Magazine and layered the ingredients in pretty jars and made my friends & family do the work.

I like to think I'm giving those friends and family members a chance to make cookies at their leisure because if they're anything like me, they come home from every event with a package of more cookies than they should be eating.

Plus they get an awesome jar!

I should send a shout out to the cashier at Hobby Lobby for considering the 3 I bought there as "decorative glass" and giving them to me for 50% off.


Felt Christmas Bows
Project #47 in '50 in 2009 Challenge' - Set of 8 Felt Christmas Bows

You can kind of get a sense of my wrapping scheme this year as well by looking at the line of jars. I wrapped the majority of our gifts in brown kraft paper (until I ran out the night before we left and had to run to the grocery store and grab the cheapest non-blatant Christmas paper available) and wrapped a few strands of deep red yarn around instead of a ribbon. Simple, crafty, and very much the vibe I wish to give off at Christmas. Then a lucky few received a handcrafted felt Christmas bow in a deep forest green.

I saw a blog post by Twig & Thistle earlier in the month taking a tutorial by How About Orange for making package bows out of magazines and using felt instead, and I thought it would be an elegant way to finishing my simple packages. I had grand plans of making one for every package we were giving out, but alas, I started only on Monday night and then forgot to pick up more sheets of the craft felt sheets when I ran to Michaels on Tuesday before craft group. Oops.

I ended up topping each of the cookie mix jars with a bow and then placing one on a package for my mom, sister & mother-in-law figuring they would most likely actually reuse them which was the intended dual purpose.

They're super easy to make, especially assembly-line-style, plus they gave me an excuse to break out the hot glue gun which doesn't get much use around these parts. I'm thinking I might use some of my stashed craft felt to make some more. None of my colors are really Christmasy though, so I'm not sure how much use I would get out of them. They might actually become clutter in a different form. Maybe I'll just put that idea on the bottom of the list and if I need something to do, the idea will be there.

2 comments:

M said...

loved the bow! Great idea and I am sure you can knit 2 socks at a time...just don't forget to count!

The Jesse said...

love the felt bow. i also saw the post on how about orange and i made a bow out of magazine pages for my mom's BIG present from me (a binder filled with meal plan ideas and recipes).