handmade gifts galore

I guess it's been quite a while since I've been here. Sorry about that. Home school planning, outdoor playing, and ya know, general wife-mom-crafter stuff has been filling up the days. But, I am here and that's what counts, right? Now, just so you know, this post has lots of pictures because I want to share with you the things I have been working on lately. Okay, do you remember that this is the year of handmade gifts in my little corner of the world? Well, it is and I have really been enjoying it. Making things, it's nice. Creating things, it's nice. Sharing this joy with my girls, it's really nice. So here's where this project begins...the gift bag. I had this perfect brown bag but it had a store logo on it..not good. The girls and I decided to break out the paints, naturally we started with pink. One wide column of pink down the center to cover the logo then some white paint on the sides to frame it...cute. After the paint dried I took our favorite scented marker...chocolate brown...and drew some flowers around the happy birthday part.

Here's to whole kit and caboodle of the handmade loot...four washcloths, one headband, two lip balm cozies. All made of Sugar n Cream yarn...so yummy.

First, let me tell you about the gift tags though. While the girls and I had the paints out we decided to cut up a cereal box and painted the printed side...pink, of course. Then on each tag I wrote the name of the crochet pattern I used. The girls enjoyed the paint and glue...a sticky pink mess, but oh, so fun. Now for the close up of the goodies. First up, the Vanilla Grit Stitch washcloth...my new favorite.

Next the Bark Sedge Stitch washcloth. Such great texture.

The Basket Weave washcloth, a great one. It turned out great, but small so I added a row of double crochet around the outside.

My original favorite, such a unique look and a wonderful feel...the Rub-a-dub Scrub Spa washcloth. Okay, maybe this is still my favorite.

This is a headband. Great for holding your hair out of your face while you wash it with a soothingly soft washcloth. I just did a couple of double crochet rows with single crochet around the outside, some decreases on each end then a nice chain to tie it up with. Hmmm, maybe I should have written that pattern down. I'll make another and write as I go so I can share it with you.

These are the lip balm cozies. Cute, simple, quick. On my Christmas gift list, for sure. They just need a key ring attached.

Oh, and this. This is a narrower headband for me. Cute, no?

All of these will be going in the Crochet-Along Flickr group. Have you crocheted anything to add to the group? I've got to start working on the Christmas gifts soon. I've still got a few birthdays to cover, but after that it's all Christmas gift making. Okay, maybe some just for fun projects too. Happy Monday. xoANG