one of my Hand-made Boxes!

One of my favorite things to do ....(among many!) is to make a box from pieces of cardboard. I am always on the hunt for wonderful papers to use. I am in a bunko group that we have had for 30 years!!!! Sounds long and boring but it is really all about getting together once a month...old friends that have been "friends" for so long. We have a Christmas party every December and exchange gifts. We use the fun method where you choose a gift from the pile and open it. The next person can pick another or "steal" your gift...it gets very serious to say the least. This is the perfect opportunity for me to make a special box! On the top of the box is a gathered fabric flower that my friend Suzanne showed me how to make. SO FUN! Inside the box was one of my glass Snowmen!!!

Little Braided Mats

This year (December 2011) at our annual rug-hooking Christmas party a friend (Carol Lawlor)

showed us some little braided mats using the strips of wool we use in rug hooking. As there are many strips left over after completing a rug or a hooked piece....you soon accumulate quite a stash of random width strips....various colors. I had heard of these little mats and one day tried to make one...not very successfully. Tossed it aside and forgot about it. Carol told us she was going to give a demonstration ....How-To...at the next Guild Meeting. Since I would be gone I was not happy to miss the demo. They were SO cute...looked exactly like a larger braided rug. She said they required LOTS of steaming so the next day or so I attempted again. The braiding went well but hand-lacing them together was very tedious....frustrating! So I attempted to zig-zag on my sewing machine....a very wide zig-zag. It worked beautifully....any distortion was corrected wit heavy steaming. I did back them with a piece of felt..also zig-zagged ....gave them more stability. I have to say "Thank You Carol."...I have now made 6 of them..my favorite one is the one using one of Anita's (our rug hooking teacher) crazy spot dyed pieces with wild colors.