Stash-busting V: Gift-wrapping, Round 2

So, seriously, like EPIC FAIL.

I realized after arriving at my parents' house for the holidays that I forgot to upload pictures I had already taken to Blogger, thus disabling my ability to update  this particular series of posts, which is what I had planned...

I'm very, very sorry for that, but it was good in other ways... like had-a-lot-of-time-to-be-quiet-and-think ways. It was really good to have more than a full week off, to not feel the need to always be somewhere. Times like that really force you to be honest with your own heart.

But more on that some other time.

I wrapped a lot of gifts before we left, continuing to whittle down my stash of gift-wrap supplies. The result? I barely made a dent in what I have left. Sure, I got rid of a few rolls of paper that were nearing their ends and a few rolls of ribbon, but I still have plenty to wrap next year's gifts and possibly more.

Just another lesson for me that I need to use what I have because I have been given so much, even when you're just counting my wrapping paper stash.

Regardless, I still feel like I wrapped some pretty gifts. For gift cards, I taped the same tags I used for everything else onto small white (thank-you card) envelopes, which ended up looking clean but still kind of neat. Here are some images from the second round:

I think the last gift was my favorite in terms of wrapping... The paper was thick enough to not tear easily, but still made good creases and wasn't too glossy to keep tape on. In my view, this is essentially a perfect wrapping paper. I still have plenty left to wrap some things next year, and that makes me look forward to next Christmas!

Stash-busting IV: Gift-wrapping, Round 1

As a continuance of my stash-busting mentality for this Christmas, I decided I needed to bust my gift-wrap stash. Every year, I go out and methodically select wrapping paper and ribbon so that all of my efforts are coordinated and beautiful. I love wrapping gifts, and I love making them pretty.

That being said, I have a lot of half-finished rolls of wrapping paper and spools of ribbon that I've picked up on clearance just sitting in my wrapping paper storage bag (yes, I'm that person). I decided that, this year, I needed to finish off what I already had before I could be justified in purchasing anything new. Should all go as planned, I should be cleaned out and ready to start looking for new paper for next year right as everything goes on post-Christmas clearance (which is the best time to buy anything that you needed before Christmas!).

I'm taking gift-wrapping in chunks this year so that papers are similar in the same families. My first set of gifts to wrap was for my brother-in-law, his wife, and their two boys. I chose two similar papers, both with snowflakes, and wrapped as many as I could in one paper before moving on to the next. For tags, I chose monogram letters this year, printed on card stock that I had left over from last year (stash-busting all over the place). I used this font (Apex Lake), which is available for free at dafont.com.

Thus, I give you a glimpse at my first round of wrapped gifts:

Stash-busting III - Lovely Cowl

So, I want to preface this stash-busting post by letting you know that I totally failed in following this pattern so that the product was as it should be. I realized more than halfway through that I missed something in the instructions that affected the pattern, but I kept going and I still like the results.

Here's the pattern, from Patons. I think you have to create an account to actually log in and see it. But they have a great pattern library online, so it might be worthwhile to sign up just because of that.

I also didn't use Patons yarn, since I didn't have any in my stash. What did I use, you might ask? Baby yarn. Because it's super-soft and it was pretty.

Yarn: Baby Bee, Sweet Delight Baby (60% Acrylic, 40 % Polyamide)
Color: Iris Dreams

Really simple cowl. Essentially, I alternated rows of dtr and sc stitches. You're supposed to alternate one row dtr and three rows sc, but I missed the repeat. At the end, when everything gets joined together, I improvised rather than following the pattern and chained 5 for the dtr rows and single-chained into the sc rows because I didn't want just a line of single chain.

Regardless, here's the result:

It's a Christmas present, so I'm not naming who I made it for. You'll just have to deal. And I'm debating making a second one, since I have more yarn... though I'll try to do it correctly this time.

Stash-busting I

It has certainly been a while since I last posted, well, anything. Our no-media November was a great stretch to refresh our hearts in what matters, to read, to work on projects, and to simply get things done.

December, thus far, has been an odd mixture of both, mostly because this season is busy! And, for me, December often means that I'm trying to finish up as many half-finished projects has humanly possible before Christmas arrives.

This year, I decided I needed to bust my stash.

Hopefully, this will need little explanation. Most of us have a stash. It's that section of storage that is made up of leftover and inherited craft supplies that you keep, but for which you have never found a use.

Well, I decided mine was overgrown and needed to be trimmed down, so I took a strategic aim at Christmas gifts in particular (but, you know, projects in general) trying to find items that could be made with stuff I already had.

My yarn collection is receiving the brunt of the fall cleanup, while I'm thinking my fabric stash will receive the brunt of the spring/summer cleanup.

See, this was my yarn collection before I began sifting through it:

I scoured a bunch of sites for free crochet patterns to see what my options were, and I was pretty amazed at what I found: Everything from stuffed animals to home decor to practical things like dishrags and mop covers, and scarves, hats and clothing. I printed off my favorites, set all my yarn out on a clean couch (I know, right? It's been a while since that last happened) and started matching project printouts to yarn I already had.

Great sites with free project patterns:
caron.com
favecrafts.com
michaels.com
redheart.com

Over the next few weeks, I hope to bring you glimpses of what I've done with my stash (though some projects are, naturally, still unfinished). The first major project I undertook was the gingham blanket I finished earlier this fall, which was done completely with stash yarn. But there's a lot more to come...

Christmas & Crafting

Christmas was a little different this year, as we went to Nebraska to spend the holiday with Christopher's brother and his family (they have a little one who was born at the end of October, and he was still too little to travel). Regardless, it was really nice to get to decorate our home knowing that we are going to be here next December, as well.

You see, we've never lived in the same place two years in a row - so every year, it's a matter of finding new homes for decorations and merry-making items.

Surprisingly enough, I didn't wrap many presents this year and I didn't take any pictures of the ones that I did. It was kind of an off year because I didn't have my normal warm-up wrapping at my parents' house. It was nice to be able to use that time for some other things (some of which you can see over at our renovation blog, http://mercuryreno.blogspot.com), like a ton of crafting and reconnecting with Scripture.

Our camera is fritzing, so I've been taking pictures here and there when I feel like putting up with it for a while, but I realized after Christmas that I didn't take pictures of all of my projects like I probably should have. They included:

• A sizable counted cross-stitch pattern of a family of wolves (bought approximately 10 years ago for my dad), that I picked up when our power went out in October and continued because (though I was supposed to) I never went back to work in November as planned. I'll try and grab a picture of it the next time I'm at my parents' house, where it now lives.
• A few stuffed foxes for friends' little ones. Some turned out better than others, but it was kind of tricky because the actual stuffed animal was much smaller than I had anticipated and a little more complicated to sew because of its size. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), no pictures. I used this pattern: http://matsutakeblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/electrified-fox-lamp-tutorial-and.html
• Earrings. Seriously, earrings? I never thought I'd see the day when I would make jewelry, but a co-worker gave me a bag of pretty cool beads, so I thought I'd see what I could do with them. I learned a bit about endcaps and spacer beads, bought some tools, and went to work. These are some of the ones I kept for myself, but I made something close to 20 pairs to spread around amongst various friends. Again, some turned out better than others, but it was a great learning experience, and I look forward to learning more.

• I created an Advent calendar after looking for several weeks for a decent one with which I could do what I wanted - what I wanted apparently doesn't exist. Nobody does a full four weeks, just in case Advent goes a full four weeks (which it did this year). And they all have Santa on them, which is silly because Christmas is about Jesus and not Santa. In the end, I covered a piece of cork board with some fabric and printed off little triangles with names of God and readings from the Book of Common Prayer for each day. It's a little awkward to take them off and put them back on, but it'll work until we figure something else out. Regardless, it helped me remember that Advent is the anticipation of the Savior - and that is always something worth pursuing. The picture I have is bad because I packed it away already, but I'll hopefully get a better one next year.

• Back in September, I started cutting out felt in anticipation of our nephew becoming a big brother. Due to my job, it took until November to finish the cape and get it shipped to Nebraska, but it turned out pretty well, in my opinion. Not bad for a first go at clothing.
  I adapted it from this tutorial: http://pukingpastilles.com/?p=57

 

• Earlier in the fall, we were also trying to find a way to put the people we pray for in a place where we could go and see them and spend some time in prayer. I finally settled on stringing a bunch of ribbons across the walls of our littlest bedroom and using clothespins (some decorated, some plastic) to hang up slips of paper with names. It's been pretty cool, though we've often had a house full of guests - meaning that we don't go in there as often as we would like. When we've prayed for a name, we take it down and put it in the box until all the names are down for a particular row (one row each for the girls and boys from the youth group and one row for friends and family members) and then we put them back up.

• I also made myself a new cover for my Bible because I got sick of how I had rigged my last one to close; this one's a little easier to manipulate, and I really like it. It's amazing how you learn so much from mistakes you make the first time you do things...

All in all, though, it's been a neat season to see what I can make with my hands. I've been frequenting a lot of DIY/lifestyle blogs and they always make me want to make something or try something different with what I have. Pretty cool.

I got a few crochet books for Christmas so that I can teach myself some new patterns, and I'm hoping to learn a bit more about quilting this year and make my way through some of the stash that I've had for a few years now in anticipation of such an occasion. I recently rearranged closets in our bedrooms, and finally got all of the crafting supplies into their own arena, nice and tidy.

Easy to find stuff = easy to work.

Got lots of books for Christmas, and I'm excited to start in on them once I'm done with L.M. Montogomery's "Emily of New Moon" series.

Listening to: On the Altar of Love, downhere
Reading: Emily Climbs, L.M. Montgomery

Peace, Peace

Can I just say how much I appreciate Sara Groves and her ability to continually put forth album after album of music that is so incredibly good for my soul? This year, after having "It's True" on my everyday playlist for more than a year, Christopher and I went ahead and purchased the rest of her Christmas Album, "O Holy Night." All through December, I listened over and over to amazing words of songs that have been around for years - and felt as though I heard them for the first time, as Groves shaped the music around them in a different way.

One of my favorites is a song called "Peace, Peace", which includes a line from "O Little Town of Bethlehem" - "All your hopes and fears are met in Him tonight." What a beautiful line! And one that I have listened to countless times without actually understanding the profound nature of those words!

Peace, peace - it's hard to find;
Trouble comes like a wrecking ball to your peace of mind,

and all that worry you can't leave behind -
All your hopes and fears are met in Him tonight.

I usually love Christmas (and wrapping presents, which I could gush about for a while), but there was something so incredible about this Christmas. Early on, I began praying that my heart would be softened - that I would experience anew the incredible joy of our Savior's advent.

The end of the fall was particularly rough for me in places, but so sweet in others. In the wake of my grandmother's death, I finally found a perspective of what it means to hold to Christ all of our days - to walk with Him, to trust Him until the very end.

And I think that's when it hit me that God loves me. It's not this thing where He kind of tolerates me and decided that, since He was already saving a few others, I was available to throw into the bunch. Had that been the case, there would have been no need for things to have happened as they did.

To think that, not only did God humble Himself in becoming a baby boy in all of our human limitations, but He did so with the intent of taking on our filth so that we could be with Him each day of our lives on this earth - as well as the next day after we leave it.

I think I cried every day of the first two weeks of my winter break. Sometimes tears of sadness when I was overwhelmed by the still-new grief of my parents over their mothers' deaths, but mostly tears of gratitude and joy - something I haven't experienced in so much time I'm ashamed to admit to my lack of feeling.

God was faithful in answering my prayers that my heart be tender and softened for the season - all of my hopes and fears were met in Him.

Peace, peace - it's hard to find;
Doubt comes like a tiny voice that's so unkind,
and all your fears they conspire to unwind you.
All your hopes and fears are met in Him.

And, yet, it is difficult to return home. My hopes and fears here seem so very different than what they were when we were with our parents or at Faithwalkers and surrounded by our church family. I'm struggling to breathe the free air that I so easily experienced elsewhere. In my battle with apathy, I feel the ever-consuming urge to control what I doubt God can do. I've become laden with anxiety, my sleep has become erratic at best, and yet, still - All of my hopes and fears are met in Him tonight.

How splendid that my doubts and apathy have no effect on the goodness and glory of God - that even when I fail, He is still meeting all of my hopes and fears! My God is still in control over this mess that I continually make for myself. My God still rules the very air I breathe.

With that knowledge alone, I ought to (and can) have peace.

Peace, peace.

[[lyrics from "Peace, Peace" by Sara Groves, Ben Gowell and Aaron Fabbrini]]