Christmas presents…unwrapped (II).

The internet has been down in the library for the last two weeks or so, which has delayed the posting of this blog and many of my lesson planning efforts. But, I must say, I have read two good books in the meantime and started a third. Here are the rest of the presents Nathanael and I created.

Project #4 Blue-jean potholders




Even though we were given a potholder for a wedding gift, Nathanael and are constantly encountering the need for more skin area to be protected from pans and the hot foods they carry. Pumpkin puree is especially explosive and has caused me more than one burn. Thus, the baking mitts we designed cover a large arm area and are insulated with multiple layers of cotton batting as well as a reflective fabric and cotton lining. The recycled blue-jean exterior and cotton interior should help them wear and wash well. Unfortunately, since the blue-jeans were the only recycled materials this was one of our more expensive projects.

Project #5 Cashmere purse
For Nathanael's Mom I created a purse out of a recycled pink Cashmere sweater. I didn't have a pattern, but tried to utilize each piece of the sweater (sleeve, front, back) as well as I could. In the end I used all but a few small scraps of the material, and created something one of a kind. This project as well as the stuffed pig and chicken have really inspired me to find uses for out of style sweaters.
(Sorry, I forgot to take photos of this one, as well as the next two.)

Project #6 Blue-jean apron
Nathanael's first present to me while we were dating was an apron that he made for me out of some neat canvas material. My Mom recently mentioned that my Dad could really use a nice tough apron for all of his cooking endeavors both at home and for the events he caters for our church. So, Nathanael decided to fashion him an apron out of a recycled pair of blue jeans. The result was sturdy and really stunning, I will try to collect a few photos of this one from my parents.

Project #7 Homemade fudge
Nathanael has been really excited to make fudge for me from an old candy book he has from the 1930's. He made two recipes, a chocolate fudge and a ginger fudge as stocking stuffers for his family. The ginger fudge was flavored with ginger brandy, which strangely makes it taste like ginger ale.


Project #8, 9, 10, 11, 12 , and 13 Hand bound notebooks with handmade covers

Micah's notebook





For each of Nathanael's brothers I made a handmade notebook. The covers were each 6 to 8 layers of plastic shopping bags that I melted with an iron between layers of tissue paper, then trimmed, sewed the edges (on Nathanael's old black Singer), and then bound over pages of graph paper. Most of them (all but Micah's) had drilled bindings, and each one had a different pattern of binding stitches. Since four of the six had two or more snaps, Nathanael spent most of Christmas Eve hidden away from his family, sewing them on for me.


Judah's notebook





Almost all notebooks