Handmade Gift Exchange

My partner in this year’s handmade gift exchange hosted by Linda at Craftaholics Anonymous lives in sunny California and loves bright colors and polka dots. She and I freely perused each other’s Pinterest boards trying to learn about our tastes and preferences.

I noticed right away she seemed to like chunky jewelry. It so happens I love making chunky jewelry. After playing around with different colors, sizes, and textures, I settled on cheerful felt balls, some of them beaded, alternated with gold plated resin nuggets, yellow pressed glass beads, green wooden disks, and (died) turquoise spacer beads.

For L.’s home I made some jewelry, too. A six or seven ft. garland made from brightly colored polka dots, sewn together with yellow thread.

Of course I couldn’t just send off her gifts. I always like to have some fun with the giftwrap as well. Last year I discovered the fun of sewing paper stockings for Lola’s teachers to hold their gifts. For L. I sewed her necklace into a paper ornament. The only way to open it, is to rip it apart. A real Christmas tree ornament made from vintage sheet music holds a small card, and a little bottle brush tree and a red felt snowflake adorn the paper stocking that holds the garland.

I very much enjoyed creating these gifts for L. and I hope she will enjoy them, too. I will show you what L. made for me tomorrow. I can tell you now it is fabulous. She definitely spoiled me.

Merry Christmas, L.!