I finished a table cloth and place mats for niece . Finished a lap quilt for a cousin

I recently found a recipe to make Christmas cards you can plant.

You take junk mail (preferably some without heavy gloss) tear it into pieces, puree in blender with a small amount of water. Making a pulp that is not to runny.

Spread evenly onto flannel, blot excess water and sprinkle seeds onto it.

Let dry completely, cut into squares and send with planting instructions.

it sounds amazingly simple, which I think is why I am sceptical.

Has anybody else tried these? 

Happy, that sounds like a neat idea.  I've never tried it, but if you do let us know how it goes.

How is everyone doing on their crafted Christmas gifts?  What have you completed and what are you still working on?

I just bought scrabble tiles and three lots of fabric squares for making pendants, quilts and coasters.  Hopefully I can get started on them by next weekend if everything shows up in the mail by then.  I plan to start making up cookie doughs and freezing the weekend after Thanksgiving when we do the Christmas decorating.  That way I can pull, thaw and bake for cookie tins. 

Nuts are on sale starting this week.  I was thinking about making up some spiced nuts in the crockpot (found a recipe) and storing them in canning jars with fabric screwed in the top and ribbon around the neck for gift-giving.  Is it too early to do this for Christmas gifts, or if they're airtight do you think they'll keep?

All this talk of Christmas gifts made me remember that I pretty much finished DD's Christmas shopping last weekend!  I was able to get 3 costumes (supergirl, generic princess, pirate), 1 new set of faery wings with antenae headband, and 1 rainbow clown wig for DD's dress up kit.  I got the costumes for $30 and the wings and wig for another $8.  Everything was 50% off using the post-Halloween sales.  I would like to add a doctor kit to the kit as well, if I can find one around $5.  And DH wants to add a dictionary to her books, gift #2.  Spent about $7 two months ago on the books; the dictionary DH wants to buy is the next level up for ages 6 and up.  The one she has now is for preschoolers and way below her capacity.  I think it's maybe $5 for the new-to-her one.  I also picked up a sleeper with convertable feet as present #3.  That was $10 brand new, but will fit for 2 years.

I also picked up a big bag of fun-sized hot tamales on the 50% off halloween candy section for my mom.  Now, if I could just get DH to tell me at least a couple small things he would like for Christmas....  Other than new boxers, I can't think of anything.  LOL  Poor guy came in with some tattered boxers when we got together.  I've been slowly getting rid of them!  LOL

got my chapters orders! so the webkins for my mil to give to dd and the dvd for dh. 

went to can. tire and got a mini shark steam cleaner for me and one for my mom for xmas.  were on a 1/2 price sale. for 24.99

I have finally finished the last of my Teddy Bears for my Grands , finished the quilt for my Grand daughter that due on the 25th of December ..  I made slipper socks for the whole bunch ... I gave up on the hope of knitting my DH a sweater the lady who teaches knitting told me I must have confined my self I cant do it ..  oh well maybe next year. LOL ..

juju_mommy:

They look like a very simple one-pocket purse and look like they are made out of a colorful quilt.

I saw something similar in a gift store and they are nice and not a bad price but if you're crafty and have a lot of fabric it could be done for less. We go with restaurant gift cards although $25 increments don't seem like enough in some places. I thought maybe adding another gift card/certificate to Pampered Chef (since all my in laws love it) would be good. A few years back I realized that a large portion of my Christmas budget went to gas and wrapping supplies. Walmart sells gift cards to places like Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Chili's, Subway, Burger King, ITunes and of course Walmart, I just go there and I'm done.

I am about 1/3 of the way thru cross-stitch bookmark for DH's niece.  It's on metal so it's quite difficult and I can only work on it so long before my hands just give out.

I have all of the supplies now for my niece's bulleting board.  I got a large piece of foam board at Hobby Lobby for $2--it was just what I needed.  I have the cutest fabric in pinks, sheer pink polka dot ribbon and "jewel" buttons.  I bought some mini clothes pins to use on the ribbons and some clear push pins for the rest of the board.  DH will help me cut and glue the fabric next weekend.

I have the thread for Mother's pillowcases and have chosen the monogram.  I just need to get it on and start stitching.

All of the crocheted sachet bags are finished and ready to be stuffed.  I'm waiting to last minute on those since I don't want the fragrance to fade too much before gifting.

re-tired

I've enjoyed this thread! Sounds like everyone is making good progress, too.

 

I've got a couple of simple striped hats knit up for stocking stuffers for some of the men on the list, and will finish the rest over the next month. I dug out my big tackle box o' beads and supplies recently and made some pretty sparklies to hang in kitchen windows -- those will go in some of the gals' stockings. I'm working on a silk poncho (knitting) for my mom, and if I have time I think I'll knit up a couple lacey scarves using some fine mohair-blend yarn and a keyhole design (they are shorter and take less time and yarn) for a couple of the women in the family.

 

I also have some homemade jam to give, because I like to give a gift bag of food stuff to each household in the family. I thought this year I'll include the homemade jam, a summer sausage from the local meat market (a local farmer sells his own beef and pork in his own shop) and a jar of local honey, and a bottle of local wine or hard cider. Oh, and I'll include a handknit dishcolth and one of those towels with a knitted top that hangs from the cupboard handle or the fridge door. My husband used to tease me about knitting all these dishcloths, until people started begging me to make them some more. LOL

 

Oh, I forgot. I also have knit up a couple "soap sacks" and bought some wonderful smelling handmade soaps from a gal I've ordered from for years onlline. (Cardigan Mountain.) I plan to put a bar of yummy soap in each sack and add those to the female stockings at the family get-together.

 

I need to think of a few more stocking stuffers for the men! The women are always so easy, especially for the smaller things. There are only so many multi-tools and Swiss Army knives that any man needs, and after that, I start to  lack ideas for men... the handknit hats (I did scarves one year) feel like a good idea, but other than that, I'm out of inspiration for the guys.On my own side of the family, books (including used books) are always a great choice, but on my hubby's side, not so much.

The initial on Momma's pillowcases is too large for a regular sating stitch so I've learned a new type of satin stitch called a Romanian stitch.  It anchors the stitch in the middle.  I really have to concentrate while doing this so the pillowcases are taking longer than I had hoped.  I hope it looks decent when I finish or else I'll have to rip it out and find a different stitch!

re-tired