Christmas Candle Gifts

These are the candles I "made" for gifts this year. I didn't make the candles, I just embroidered the flowers and glued them on. The pattern in from Embroidery Library (as usual.) I'm really happy with the way they turned out.

This Year's Christmas Ornament

I make a Christmas ornament for my family members every year. Lately, they've been machine embroidered. Here's this year's ornament, made from a pattern purchased at Embroidery Library. They take a while to stitch out, but they turned out beautiful.

An Easy and Adorable Bag

This bag is made from a purchased (very cheap) canvas bag embellished with ruffles and flowers. I got the idea from UCreate! I pinked the edges of my ruffles instead of stitching them (saved time and looks better) and I ran a gathering stitch and pulled it up instead of gathering the way it says in the tutorial.

This was my first attempt at fabric flowers, and I got ideas from several places on the web. I think there's room for improvement, but I'm fairly happy with these for a first try. This one is for a gift -- I just might have to make one for myself!

Bookmark Mania!

I've been making bookmarks for gifts. I'm going to give them to my book club kids, among others. I still have some more ideas, but here's what I've got so far.

I love magnetic book marks. I think they work GREAT. You don't have to worry about them falling out of your book, and you can even position them on the side of the book precisely where you left off on the page. So, the ones in the middle are magnetic, made of fabric with Heat-n-Bond between the layers. You just glue on thin magnet strips (I used an old magnetic business card off the refrigerator and cut it up.) The heart one is laminated, but I don't like that one as much. I'm also planning on making some out of some pretty scrap booking paper. You could get really creative and do a patchwork design, or use ribbons, etc. The possibilities are endless.

The one on the left is a lace lily bookmark, machine embroidered using a pattern from Embroidery Library.

The one on the left is a book thong, made with beads and boggles from my stash. I'm planning on doing some more of these too.

Let me know what you think!