Handmade Gifts

I made a very few gifts this year.

My sister has an electrical panel in her kitchen wall, with a construction-hole above it.  It is ugly and she wanted to hide it a little.  So I made this wall-hanging for that spot.

The material is white canvas duck cloth.   I cut stencil shapes and used fabric paints to stencil the design with different shades and mixes of eggplant, navy, cranberry and teal. I stenciled other designs on top of some of the petals.  I had some trouble with a messy stencil mucking up my white canvas, so I added the little yellow dots to hide the "oopsies".

The photos don't really show the colors, since the light was dim.  You'll have to use your imagination.... this is what happens when you finish something late at night and mail it first thing in the morning.

I finished it with navy bias tape around the edges and some loops for a dowel at the top.

While I was at it, I did a similar design on a couple of dishtowels for my Mom and a friend.

Also, because it's pretty, here is my version of an "ombre" citrus salad that I made for Christmas dinner (recipe from a magazine).

We are continuing our Christmas celebration, finding treats and fun each day as we can.  My husband has spent the last few days putting up Christmas lights outside ("They're not Advent lights" he says) which he will leave up until Epiphany and all our neighbors will shake their heads, but we will enjoy them!  Today we are off to a wedding, and I decided the children can wear their fancy Christmas Eve outfits-- it's still Christmas, so it must be appropriate!