The Mad Dash Starts....NOW!

I'm hearing the ticking of clocks very loudly in my ear this week. (No, not the maternal one...thank goodness!) Time is running out for all the Christmas crafting. And letter writing. And present wrapping. And...and...and...and....you get the idea. Are you in the same boat as me?

So what am I doing? Ignoring it all and blogging! Sounds like an excellent idea.

Thought I'd share the gift I made for Hank's school bus drivers and bus aides. The sweetest ladies ever.  I figured these were PERFECT gifts for all the little kid germs they run across in the course of the day. I found a free pattern for a crochet hand sanitizer cozy here. My crocheting skills are rather rudimentary and I could pull it off, so if you want to start dabbling or are in the baby step phases, it's a good project. Takes me about 30 minutes per cozy. Goes pretty fast.

Here's a close of the cute little thing. I used Vanna's Choice Yarn, which you can get at any major craft store. I busted out my PTI Aqua Mist and Ocean Tides felt and cut with Beautiful Bloom dies to make my flower.

I think the care instructions from Handle With Care, although super practical, really help to make a handstitched project look more bonafide. (Who else loves Where Brother Art Thou?) This tag really is just all about that. Who really needs to know care instructions for this little thing? I just wanted it to look cute! Tag cut with Fillable Frames #9 die (use all the time) and stamped with a smaller design block from BB: Striped Sweater.

Tried to carry over some design elements into the packaging...Aqua Mist, Ocean Tides, the buttons, and the use of BB: Striped Sweater again. I broke down and cut my triple stripe stamp so I could stamp a single line of knit between the score lines of the Photo Finisher dies. Damask Snowflakes in vellum and a sentiment from Love Lives Here: Holiday finish things off. All on a snowflake printed bag from Joann's...make the premade stuff work for you!

I love how much this little project turned out that it will be repeated many times int he future. Cute, practical, sweetly homemade. Can't beat that.

OK. More things to do. I hope to get a few more blog posts written with fun projects over the next few days as well. Hang in there and craft on!

And hey, before I go, I see that BB: Striped Sweater is a pick at Moxie Fab today. You can win it! Check it out.