File It Away for Next Year
Due to a pre-Christmas cold, I did not get a chance to show you the gifts I made, in time for it to do you any good if you were looking for ideas. But here they are and maybe you can use the ideas next year.
My grandson has a lot of relatives, and a lot of toys, so his parents stress to us not to spoil him with more. So I made a little activity book out of cute quilt fabrics and some sturdy upholstery fabric samples, with some super-sized snaps and hooks and eyes, a zipper, some pockets, etc.

Sample page from the cloth book. The fish came from machine embroidered towel. I used some of those plastic curtain rings to make holes in one page, for peeking at animals on the next.
And for my daughters, I took photos of the letters in all kinds of signs, and then arranged the letters to spell out the names of their houses. I printed them on cloth, and sewed them into banners.
I didn’t get any baking or decorating done this year, but I been wanting to make these projects for a long time, so I am glad I got them done!
great gifts! that activity book is the best.
I always meant to make one for my own kids, but never got around to it, had to wait for the next generation! 🙂
love them both! My mom made me an activity book when I was little and I adored it. I planned to make one for my nephew when he was two but… he’s six now… Maybe I’ll finish it in time for his kids to play with…
That’s how it worked out for me! I’m just glad I was able to get the banners done for my kids’ homes and not their retirement homes. 🙂
A memory that will last a good while. Blessings Always, Mtetar
I bet you have made activity books like that!
Treasures, each and every one. Just saying, “My mom made this” gives one such a warm and cozy feeling.
It is fun to make something personalized.
I get a warm and cozy feeling when my mom makes me a cheesecake. Just sayin’.
I especially like the large grommets that give a peek at what’s next in the book. I assume the smaller grommets came on the upholstery samples. And you must have had fun taking photos of those letters. After all, the maker should enjoy the gift in addition to the receiver.
You are right about the small grommets being in the samples. I actually bought some more about that size, but I ran out of time before using them. No buttons either, because I couldn’t find my buttonhole attachment, and I would have had to learn how to use it if I did find it! 🙂
I like your idea about the maker enjoying the gift too. That is very true.
Fun and creative gifts–but I’m sorry you didn’t feel better!
It wasn’t bad at all – just enough of a cold that I knew if I tried to accomplish anything, it would all go horribly wrong, so I didn’t even try. It was a good excuse to stay on the couch and read. 🙂
Happy New Year, Gwen. Thanks for sharing your gifts with us. 🙂
Thanks, and right back to you! I enjoyed your 2015 recap and I read some of the posts I missed when I was out and about this summer. I would have sworn I read them all, so it was a nice treat to find more.
I feel like I’ve missed a lot this year. But … I know that means I was doing something else. So I guess it’s okay. 🙂