MERRY (ninth day of) CHRISTMAS!!!
I hope you all have enjoyed time with your family. I sure have, and I enjoyed giving out the few handmade gifts I made this year. The first gift, the two magnetized-for-refrigerator-poetry coffee mugs pictured above, is Not A Sewing Project, and as such, I will forgive myself for doing a particularly crap-tastic job on it. In order to sooth my wounded pride, Andy composed a poem on it and then took a pretty picture. So, just pretend this mug only exists in the soft glowy light of the Christmas tree.
How-To Details in Case You Have More Painting Skillz than I: I painted 2 layers of Magnetic Primer on old coffee mugs, and then covered the primer with acrylic ceramic paint. Neither are “food-safe” so I kept them away from the lip of the mug with painters tape. The speedy way to cure ceramic paint is to bake it in the oven. We are waiting the recommended 21 days to cure it instead, because who knows what the Magnetic Primer will do in a hot oven. For the record, magnetic primer is a HUGE mess. So be careful where you work. I found vegetable oil helped wipe up the bits of metal if they get all over your skin.
Moving on to more fabri-philiac pursuits…
I made my mom a pillow embroidered with all her grandchildren’s hand prints. Tricky, because neither of my nephews live close by. Fortunately, one came for a visit before Christmas, and for the other, my sister scanned his hand and emailed it to me. Notice, that she included a ruler so that I could print it to scale.
I used the log-cabin blocks I teased you with to make the back.
After she received the pillow, my mom told me that she had been secretly hoping that the sneak-peak was of a present for her. I’m happy to oblige, Mom. 🙂
My two god-daughters welcomed baby siblings this year, so I thought the little ladies would enjoy diapering their own baby-dolls while their moms were busy with new baby care. The free pattern is available on Skip to My Lou.
And of course, Pajama Eaters were required for my nieces and a nephew.
I heard a good number of you were making Pajama Eaters for Christmas presents this year too! I would love to share some of my favorites in a post later this week. So be sure to add them to the Pajama Eater flickr pool, or send me an email (sewfearless at gmail dot com).
What beautiful gifts! I knitted a couple gifts, but did not sew a THING this year.
Maybe you had a little I-Just-Wrote-A-Sewing-Book Burnout? 😉
These gifts you’ve made are lovely! Bravo!
Aw, I love the mugs!! Don’t be so hard on yourself!
Also, I bet the mugs would get an even bigger “cool factor” if you started with a dark colored (black or green or…) mug.
And good call on not putting it in the oven. Sometimes chemicals are weird!
Also, just wanted to let you know that there is a very happy little boy with his new “pillow monster”. It works both in the car on long trips and at bedtime, and induces some pretty cute giggles! Thank you!
Oh wow the mugs are fantastic! What a good idea. I love magnetic poetry. I’m still yet to make a pajama eater – it’s on my 2012 to make list though. They are fantastic!
Those Pajama Eaters are adorable!!