Handmade Christmas Gifts | 2014

This year I was able to make quite a few Christmas gifts, even with school. I wasn't able to accomplish everything on my list, like Courtney's Christmas sweater, I'm sill happy with the things I did make. They were fun to make and seemed to go over well.

I decided to make Courtney, Marissa, and my Mom Wide Open Zippered Pouches for Christmas, but first I had to pick out fabric. Typically, this is the hardest part of a project for me. Sad, but true! Then comes cutting the fabric, which is almost as bad since I have to pull the cutting mat out and cut fabric on the floor. Oh well!

The pouches come together pretty quickly and very easily, which I appreciate. It's pretty hard to mess up this pattern. The sizing is easy to manipulate, making them very customizable.

I love adding a little leather pull to the zipper. It finishes off the bag nicely.

Because I made a Wide Open Zippered Pouch for Heather for her birthday in November, I decided to make something else for her. I love love love having pouches and bags for every little thing, so I thought she might enjoy a drawstring bag. I used this tutorial which I've used before and enjoyed...also pretty hard to mess up.

The point of the pouches were to add a little something to glass travel cups I was also putting together. I bought glass straws and lids from Simply Straws, paired them with pint and a half jars, and crocheted a cozy.

I made the cozy by crocheting a circle (in a spiral) and then when it was slightly smaller than the base of the jar, single crocheting around and around until it was tall enough. I finished each one off with a simple scalloped border.

They were a useful and hopefully fun gift!