Sneaky Santa Inspiration

My Winter Scene handpainted glass vase with "snow"

I needed a little Christmas inspiration because not only do I love Christmas, but I love to create a lot of my own gifts at Christmas.  I'm always on the lookout for new ideas.  I feel that my gift giving wouldn't be complete without some little handmade addition to Santa's sack of goodies for friends and family.
The faculty at my school does a voluntary gift exchange which we fondly call "Sneaky Santa".  This year I picked the assistant pricipal's name, and although we began working here some 36 years ago and have probably been each other's Sneaky Santa more years than most teachers at my school have been teaching, I still feel the need to give her something handmade in addition to a storebought item. 
Another reason I like to give handmade gifts is because they're different, unique and from me and hopefully the recipients will enjoy them just a little more for that reason.  I put a little of myself in everything I make.  I am not a really confident storebought gift- giver because I always second guess myself.  Can the person can use it? Will they like it?  Will someone else get them the same thing?  It's so much easier to whip something up and rest secure in the knowledge that they will not receive anything else like it.
The other day, I spent about 2 1/2 hours scouring the stores at our local strip mall for a unique gift to give my Sneaky Santa because the gift I was planning on making was not finished.  I picked up countless candles, potpourri containers, baskets and even thought about making a little bag of Christmas wrapping paper, bows, gift bags and tags, but for the amount we were supposed to spend, the bag looked pretty meager.  So I found these pretty felt snowflakes placemats, which, I have to admit, I have been eyeing myself.  I bought 4 and a little red felted cardinal ornament.  I wrapped it all in tissue paper and put it in a Santa themed felt bag, added a card and a ribbon and was set to deliver the gift.  But then I just didn't feel right because there was nothing handmade in the bag.

The next day I had a thought,  I only had a couple of hours before I was going to give the gift to her, but since I get to school early, I figured I had enough time make her an additional gift and finish it before homeroom or at least in my free periods. I was a woman on a mission.  I packed up a glass container I purchased at one of our local department stores, and my brushes and set out to school ready to  paint!

Wine Bottles Christmas Display
from www.cleverlyinspired.blogspot.com

I found a beautiful inspiration a few weeks ago for the gift I was about to make. It was a wine bottles Christmas display.  I tried this out on a large wine bottle, but since I wanted to add a more artistic touch,  I painted a little scene with houses and trees in the middle of the bottle and added the "snow" at the top and bottom.  I wanted to work a little smaller for this gift, so I purchased a nicely shaped glass container, gessoed it. and sponge brush painted the sky and snow, so it would cover easily.   Sponge brushing is so much more forgiving than using a regular paint brush.  I painted tree branches and evergreens with a little cardinal perched on a twig.  I added the Epsom salt snow (what an inexpensive and clever idea from the tutorial) on the bottom of the container, the top and randomly in the sky.  I used Mod Podge as the glue for the snow, but also added a layer on the container and an extra layer over the snow to help it adhere.

Detail of my Winter Scene handpainted vase

By my first class, I was finished and let it dry a couple of hours.  When it was dry, I wrapped it in red tissue paper which I actually forgot to bring with me, but being an art teacher with a closet full of miracles, my problem was solved.  I slipped it into a candy cane striped gift bag that I brought with me and brought that and the store bought gift with me to our holiday luncheon and presented the assistant principal with my final Sneaky Santa gifts.  I can't wait to see how she liked her gifts, after all, I left a little bit of myself wrapped in that red tissue paper in the candy cane bag!

Countdown to Christmas

I haven’t written about my sewing club much lately.  We have been working on the same projects we started several weeks back.  It’s hard to really get anything done in a half hour after school, but the girls don’t seem to lose interest in their projects, even if they miss a meeting or take longer than expected to finish.

      Fleece hedgehog pattern and tutorial from the book Wild and Wonderful Fleece Animals

My little hedgehog

Last time we met, I had planned on making cute upcycled mittens made from old felted sweaters.  One of my students felted a very heavy sweater which was difficult to work with, so she abandoned that project.  Another girl, who used a thinner felted sweater, actually cut out a pattern and made one mitten today.  Some of the girls worked on their felt owls, pillows and some began this really cute fleece hedgehog pattern I found online before the meeting.   I tried it out 45 minutes before the meeting and was putting on the finishing touches when the meeting began.  The girls fell in love with this little hedgehog and much to my delight, were definitely onboard with the project.  I had enlarged the pattern slightly and brought my fleece out of the closet.  I made mine in gray, but some opted for pink, turquoise or multicolor hedgehogs. One or two of them have decided to give their little creatures to a younger sibling for Christmas.

The pattern called for sewing the hedgehog by machine, but I made mine by hand and decided that was a quicker and easier route for the amount of students who showed up for the meeting.  I explained how to cut out and pin the pattern, how to place the one piece on the fold, and how many of each piece to cut.  Some just cut, some just pinned, and one actually stitched her hedgehog body to the bottom and added the eyes.  The one student who started putting her hedgehog together has had several years of sewing experience, so she catches on to projects immediately and works quickly and skillfully.  Although some have very little sewing experience, they are moving along pretty well.
Honestly, I don’t care which project they work on during the meetings, I am just happy to teach them a little bit about sewing and watch them as they become more adept with each new project.

Student hedgehog in progress

When I was out and about doing a little Christmas shopping about a week ago, I was inspired by the little felt gift bags for sale in several stores, and thought that would be a great project for the girls during this holiday season.  They can decorate the outside of the bag with hand stitched appliquéd shapes and then stitch the bags and handles via the machine.   I’d better introduce that project soon.  I can’t believe we only have 2 more Thursday meetings until Christmas vacation!