Well, That Didn't Go As Planned..... And a Bookmark Tutorial.

 I took last week off from the Salon so I could get some Christmas gifts made. We make almost everything. Usually we get a couple of purchased things but the  majority of our gift giving is home made. So.... I was all excited to start making..... And then..... The flu!!!

I'm almost caught up. We have heaps of things made (that I can't show you yet), but I have LOADS more to do. Mostly at the sewing machine. So I guess it will be between clients this week rushing to get it all finished. Really...... Every year I say I'll start earlier next year.....

Wanted to share this gift we made with Beastie.

It's pretty fast and easily made with things you probably already have in the house already.

Here goes...

Beastie Bookmarks:

You'll need:

Cardstock

colour printer

computer to manipulate photos

Photo of child reaching

Packing tape

sharp scissors small

white glue

Embroidery floss or string or ribbon

gauzy fabric

thread to match and hand sewing needle

bead

I took loads of pics like this. I had Momma Beast hold a string WAY up above Beastie's head and told her to reach for it. I wanted a shot that had her face up and arms up with a straight back. If you can get them to jump a bit for the string that works too.

I loaded the pic onto my PC and then onto a site called Picmonkey. Then I got rid of most of the background and made a frame around the pic. I flipped the framed pic so I could have a two sided bookmark. Then I printed it out in a couple of different sizes. Some folks like big books and some like little ones.

I cut out the images along the frame lines. This is helpful for keeping the images lined up. I glued the two mirror images together and let them dry flat. Once dry, I covered each side with some packing tape to make it more durable.

Then I cut those things out! I cut a tiny piece of fabric and gathered one edge with a running stitch and then I used the needle and thread to sew the tiny capes right onto the backs of the Beasties!

These are the beads that we made last year. We used FIMO Kids clay and had a HEAP of fun! I sewed a bead onto the hands of each bookmark using embroidery floss but you could use anything. Thread, ribbon, dental floss...... seriously! Whatever you have is great.

Beastie was thrilled with these!!! She wants to keep them all. I had to wait until nap time to put them up out of harms way..... I left her one so she could fly herself around the house like a tiny superhero.

We've been cookie baking too! These are the tiny tots creations. We added a bit more spice than the recipe suggested. We added cardamom and anise and ginger to the cinnamon and nutmeg. We also used a cookie mold shaped like an acorn leaving an indent in the middle of each cookie. Beastie wanted to fill 'em up with walnuts and chocolate. She is onto something here I think!!!

Wanted to share this recipe. It's from a very, very old out of print cookbook. Hope your Holiday plans are going smoothly and you're avoiding the flu!!!