Craftaholics Handmade Gift Exchange

I partisipated in .  I first made the above tote bag.  I call it The French Country Tote.  This tote is reversible.  The second picture shows it reversed, shoing the pocket.  The pocket is divided in two and one side is shorter for you cell phone.

I worked really hard on this tote, then hurried to the post office to mail to my gift partner.  I was so proud of myself for completing  it and mailing it on time.

I received 6 beautiful bracelets and two decorative balls from my gift partner. Sorry I thought I had a picture of her gift to me, I will post later. She had not received my gift to her, when she emailed me she was going on vacation.  No problem I know I mailed it, she will get it while she is on vacation.

After the last email I decided to checked its progress and it showed delivered.   But something did't seem right she should have had it, so I went back into the email I was sent with her name and address and found I had sent it to the wrong gift partner.  I had been assigned a gift partner but hadn't gotten a responce from her, so I asked for a new gift partner.   My first gift partner and my second gift partner had the same first name.  I thought I had deleted the email with the first gift partners information, I guess not!  I feel really really bad about this.  I soo love the bracelets I received.  I have been wearing one of them almost everyday since I received them. 

So gift partner #1, I hope you are enjoying the gift I sent you.

I will put pictures of the 2nd gift I made after gift partner #2 receives it.. I made sure and mailed it to the correct person this time.

Now I am off on vacation tonight.  I will be back next Sunday.

Shorts to skirt

I found this great tutorial at http://rubymurraysmusings.blogspot.com/2011/03/refashion-tutorial-5-10-minute-trousers.html.  I had been wanting to try it out for a while.  I just didn't have any pants to use.  Then I found a pair of shorts I thought would look great a skirt.  I used the tutorial to re-make the shorts into a skirt.  Then I added lace around the bottom to finish it off.  It is really comfortable and cool for the very hot days we have been having here in Illinois, and I think it looks really cute.  I may be bias but what the heck I like wearing it.

Aunt Auction

I made this necklace and earrings back last December for my father-in-laws family Christmas gathering.  Sorry for the back photography, I almost forgot to take a picture of the necklace and earrings.   My father-in-law's family gathers for Christmas around the middle of December, and after dinner his sisters and wife have what we call the aunt auction.  It all started the aunts would gather items they thought the kids would like and gave them play money to bid on what they wanted.  Now everyone but the aunts bid, so last year we (the cousins & spouses) decided to have our own aunt auction for just the aunts.  The necklace and earring above were my contribution.

Claire's Tote for Beach Towels

My Oldest daughter wanted me to make her a really big tote bag.  It doesn't look as big as it is in the pictures.  The finished measurements are 19-1/2" x 23-1/2"x6".  She wanted it to hold beach towels, sunscreen, and more.  The striped material is cotton, and the rend is Linen, I think.  My husband donated the black material, it used to be work pants that don't fit him right.  Her tote definitely changed as I made it. It wasn't going to be this fancy, just a tote for the beach or boat.  I think I need to get beach towel and make her a tote to actually use for beach towels.  I will be giving it to her tonight.  Just in time to use for our family canoe trip.