Christmas in July (but really, August) Swap

Our knitting group decided to have a Christmas in July swap this summer. We didn't exactly have a Christmas theme, but everyone came up with some awesome packages for their recipient.

This swap had a $10 limit, and had to include one handmade item (not included in the price limit). I drew my friend Shanna's name. Shanna loves cute things, knitting notions, and practical items. She also loves the color purple, which is why this second boxie bag is so perfect for her (there's a purple lining, of which I forgot to take a picture):

I also included some adorable strawberry buttons, notecards, a sample of Satin Hands, some farm animal paper clips, gauge swatches, handmade tags, a little bit of Soak, some hair tie stitch markers, a skein of Peaches & Creme yarn for dishcloths, and a beautiful pattern.

I still have to take pictures of the swap package I received, but I'll post those soon!

Finished Object : Boxie Bag!

I accidentally kind-of-sort-of took a nap around 8 pm tonight, so I had this random spurt of energy tonight. A random spurt of energy that's now making it challenging for me to go to bed at a normal hour for someone who gets up at 5:30. Good thing tomorrow's Friday, because otherwise it might be pretty rough.

Pattern : (No Guts!) Boxie Pouch
SoChick! Handbags & Embroidery {Melissa Strong}

I took full advantage of feeling productive and creative tonight and finished this little project. I've got a few more fabrics picked out for it and in the works already, and this one is going to a good friend (unbeknownst to her, I just love surprises, don't you?!). It's very "her," and I hope she loves it.

One of my favorite things about this pattern was the minimal supply requirement: two coordinating fat quarters, a coordinating zipper, some thread, and interfacing. I omitted the clasp on the tab, because I couldn't find any that were the right size. If you do, it's handy to hang your bag up!

Not going to lie, I'm particularly proud of the awesome zipper job on this little boxie bag. Zippers and I have never really gotten along, and this time, I think I mastered it. Hurrah! (And seriously, doesn't that zipper just match perfectly?! *happy dance*)

All I need to do is stitch up the lining, and it's ready to go in the mail. I should have enough time during my lunch break tomorrow to accomplish that, so hopefully she'll get it early next week!

Once I figured out what was going on in the tutorial, it's really quite simple to put together . . . provided you pay close attention to the directions and make sure the fabrics are facing the correct way while stitching them to the zipper (oops). Hopefully the next two won't take quite as long to complete, now that I've got one finished. It makes a good sized pouch, ready for a craft project, makeup, accessories, or anything else you can fit in and want to show off in a stylish way.

Swap Packages!

A few months ago, I signed up to participate in a swap on Ravelry. I always enjoy participating in these, and it's always a fun and exciting adventure. Shopping for someone you've never met on a pre-determined budget, trying to make things as fun, useful, unusual, and/or practical as you like.... and then getting a mystery package in return!

This swap was a small, simple 6x9 padded envelope swap. Basically, what you can fit into the envelope is fair game. We had to include a recipe and a handmade item, plus whatever else fit the budget and the envelope.

I had so much fun shopping for my assigned partner. Here's what I came up with, which I sent off to my new friend, Cati:

Halloween stickers, stamps, and notepads, fall teas, hot cocoas and ciders, some chocolate, lotion, mock cable mug cozy, and a recipe for caramel apple cookies. I was amazed at how much stuff I could find for under $10 total!

Mock Cable Mug Cozy. I never did a proper finished object post on this one...

Today, I received my surprise package in the mail. Such fun things awaited me inside that envelope!

A handmade jar opener!! I'm always having trouble opening jars and constantly asking D to open them for me, so this will definitely come in handy. Why have I never thought of making them before?!

Cute bicycle themed recipe cards! Perfect for writing down Tasty Thursday creations, or sharing recipes with friends.

Pretty notecards, which are perfect for all those times I want to send snail mail to my dear college friends.... and perfect to add to my notecard collection!

A recipe for Pumpkin Curried Soup! Yum! It sounds tasty, and I can't wait to try it out on one of these cool, fall nights. I bet it would be great for a dinner party, too.

And finally, two skeins of recycled sari silk yarn! In the prettiest fall color-- reddish orange! I've got project ideas floating around already... but clearly this is license to spend time on Rav looking up more patterns. :)

Thanks so much for the awesome swap package, Peg/LadyLisetta!!

{Also, I just realized that November 6 was officially 4 years since I've joined Rav. Many, many thanks to M and Nicole for convincing me it wasn't just a Twilight-themed fan club and that my life was not complete until I joined. They couldn't have been more correct.}

Welcoming Guests in Style

Some of my favorite college memories come from touring with my university's Wind Symphony all over the country {and internationally! China 2009, whoo!}. We had two tours each year, a long weekend in the fall and our 10 day Spring Break, visiting Lutheran congregations and schools, sharing our music and faith with those in attendance at our concerts each night. {Of course, we had some free time as well...}

Each night after a concert, we stayed with host families from the congregation we visited, spent time getting to know them, and relished a few hours of sleep in a bed substantially more comfortable than a bus seat. One young couple we stayed with junior year truly understood what it was like to live on a bus for 10 days with 60 other college students, and provided us a useful little basket in our room full of toiletries we may have forgotten or already used up. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts I could have received, and I loved that she went the extra mile in making our stay pleasant. :)

This past weekend, my best friend M came to visit {of course, for the State Fair. I'm going to pretend she came to see me, too}. In the same vein as our lovely host mom years ago, I provided her with a little welcome gift and toiletry basket.

Except mine..... came in a margarita glass. How fun is that?!

Items I included:

- shampoo and conditioner

- lotion

- deodorant

- toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, mouthwash, and some gum {Trident sample from my dentist's office}

- comb

- TRUFFLES.

So many of these items I got as samples from various organizations, or my mother-in-law {who happens to work in a dental office and loves sharing the free goodies with us}.

You could also include soap, tampons or other feminine hygiene products, shaving cream, aspirin, bath pouf, or anything else someone may forget to pack. It depends on your guest -- you know them, so it's easy to personalize it.

I also included a little bath set for her to take home and a handwritten note designed to sound like a hotel welcome card. The best part? The first words out of her mouth upon seeing her margarita: "Bleez! It's just like on tour!" :)

What are your favorite ways to welcome your out-of-town guests?

Finished Object: Chopper Mittens

Brother-the-younger requested some chopper mitten liners quite a while back. He made the outer parts himself... I never realized how resourceful our family can be. After almost two months on the needles, I'm finally finished with them. Ends woven in and everything! (Weaving in ends? Yeah... definitely my least favorite part.)

Yay!! Mittens finished with plenty of time to spare.

This was my first attempt at knitting mittens, and I'd say it was pretty successful. The pattern made sense, although following the layout was confusing at times. Glad to have finished these... there's so much more summer knitting that's just waiting in the queue!

"Brown paper packages tied up with strings...."

I should be working on homework and outlining my exams. However, I have decided to take this moment to share with you all some lovely items I received in the mail this past week! Seriously, it was one of the best weeks ever for mail. :)

First of all, I shipped off this lovely box to the west coast. The swap I participated in on Rav is now over, so I can share some of the lovely things I did for that! I was so excited about sending this box off to my swap partner, and I am happy to report that she LOVED it! Yay!!

Awesome swap package for my new friend! Including some yummy Malabrigo, Cascade 200, coffee, cappuccino, apple butter, homemade soap (not by me, though!), a coffee mug, chocolates, fuzzy socks, and stitch markers!

Here's a close up of the stitch markers I made for her! I love them, and think they turned out great! M actually helped me with them as I put them together while she was visiting. I feel so crafty!

I'm really glad my swap partner enjoyed receiving her box... I'll be honest. I really wanted to keep that Malabrigo for myself, but I'm also glad to have shared it with her. I guess it just means another trip to the yarn store to see if they have anymore in stock!

But what fun is a swap if you don't get anything back?? I also received a wonderfully awesome box from my swap partner the other day in the mail! I was so excited about everything she included- it's just perfect! She included a cowl pattern and skein of chunky Montana yarn for the pattern- it's so soft and wooly! There was some local coffee, a variety of teas, mini tea tongs (ingenious!), handmade coffee cozies, a bookmark, chocolates, a mini notebook, and some sticky notes that say "Given enough coffee, I could rule the world!" So perfect!

It was such a fun, yarn-filled week. But that's not all! I also received a surprise package from my dear friend the Historian. The Historian and I went to college together, and she is one of the best package givers I know! She put together a President's Day package for me, complete with cherries (Washington!), Presidential flash cards, coloring pages!, chocolates, conversation jelly beans!, and a Hello Kitty valentine. <3  Her wonderful package definitely brightened my day, and made the looming exams not so stressful.

Tonight I enjoyed the much needed companionship of two new friends of mine. There's something about bonding over a cup of coffee that really does the heart good. :) And with that.... we're back to our usual weekend activities of homework and exams. I'll be so glad when March rolls around and life will somewhat return to normal (for school anyway!).