handmade gifting: pocket watch photo album

Grampa has a collection of pocket watches going back generations, so when I saw this pocket watch photo album idea from The Mother Huddle, I thought it would be perfect! I found a pocket watch shell on Ebay and put grandkid pictures in. 

I used some no sew Heat n Bond to attach the photos to a strip of fabric. I also added a little felt circle and heart at the bottom to help it look a bit more "finished" and a tab at the end to help lift the photos out. 

It was a fun little project and I'm happy with how it turned out! 

handmade gifting: laptop sleeve

I needed some sort of gift that would be sufficiently nerdy for my gamer brother. I had mom measure his laptop while he wasn't looking and made him a laptop sleeve.  It's another one of those things that would be easier if you could try it out along the way, so hopefully his laptop actually fits in it.  My first thought was to do an Atari logo on the front, since he plays lots of video games on his computer, but then I thought the commodore 64 logo would be perfect since we spent tons of time playing video games on the computer when we were little.

handmade gifting: jedi cloak/cape

A hooded cape was requested for one of my Star Wars obsessed nephews. It's sort of a cloak/cape combo, and I just had to make it up as I went.  Sam gets frustrated when velcro capes get pulled off, so I did an elestic/velcro combo to help it stay on better. It was rather hard to get a picture of without a model....

So I stole another picture from here on Robyn's blog.  

handmade gifting: eReader covers

For my BIL and SIL I made covers for his tablet (Ohio State colors for him) and her iPad mini (pretty pattern for her). I used this pattern from the pinkpoodlebows shop on etsy.

The pattern was very detailed and came with different measurements for different eReaders. It is something that would be easier to work on if you have the eReader with you so that you can check to make sure it is fitting into what you're sewing.

But hopefully they work!

handmade gifting: clean-up apron

For Robyn I made a "clean-up" apron. She was in need of a small apron that would work for carrying  small objects (LEGOS) back to their home while she was cleaning in a different part of the house.  I love picking out fabric for Robyn because usually I can just choose something I would like!

handmade gifting: princess leia hat

After making Alice's Halloween costume, a princess Leia hat was requested for Niece #2 for Christmas. I traced the outline of a hat that was about her size and crocheted away.

And a side view.. 

And the BEST view - on little Princess Lucia. Her cuteness is overwhelming - you can find more of it here!

Side note: ever since Halloween Alice thinks ALL princesses are Princess Leia.  She has a couple Disney princess PJs and she always calls them Princess Leia. 

handmade gifting: super hero

Niece #1 has been into super hero dress up lately, so I made her a Super Abby costume for Christmas (yes, I realize Christmas was nearly 2 months ago...) .

I made a cape, mask and some shiny finger-less gloves out of some fancy fabrics that I would have loved as a kid. Not fun fabrics to work with, but I think she liked the end product!

Super Abby in action - though I'm not sure who the sidekick is.