Crafty Advent Calendars

Yep! My commitment to making every Christmas present this year is blissfully expressed in these first 2 items. I love crafting when I have the time to let my seamstress juices flow....ew, that sounds gross. How about: When I put on my sewing cap.....less gross but it still sounds like I sit up straight, don't swear and am always polite. Definitely not me. A.ny.way. When I rock out my pile of fabric scraps, this is what I love to do. These two are going to my dear niece and nephew who lost their Mama this fall. A lot of the 'ornaments' are jewelry from her collection. I LOVE the idea of creating an heirloom and using all those random jewels that are willing to volunteer themselves to a lifetime of marking the end of the year in a sweet homemade version of an old ritual.

For an actual class in making these charming things...visit my pals Kathie Sever and Bernadette Noll over at http://futurecraftcollective.com/blog.

The Beginning...

A daily photo.  Stuff that moves me.  I made this calendar for my kids to celebrate the year's end.  Every day of December they opened a pocket and found a trinket.  The surprises inside came from the jewelry boxes of my youth, a charm from the necklace my parents had given me at 6 or an old ski team pin from my father's hat, glass buttons from my grandmother's sewing chest.  I can't think of a better use for all those precious little items.  And we get to revisit them every year.  Goodbye 2007.  Hello 2008!