New Year’s Family Tradition

SORRY THIS IS A LONG ONE ………….

It’s a family tradition that we busy ourselves in the days after Christmas making small gifts for the people we will be seeing the New Year in with, which is usually very close family, so it’s not too daunting a task.  It all came about 10 years ago when my daughter Lucy, then a teenager,  declared that she didn’t like New Year, as it was an anti-climax and boring.
The planning and plotting starts after Boxing Day (sometimes before)….. in some ways it’s even more exciting and thought provoking than Christmas Day
Featured in this post are the gifts I have made, some ideas you may have seen before  ….. I just hope no one in the family peeps at it before the event…..

I made this bag for Laura (my sons girlfriend) using a Hobbycraft cotton bag, decorated with felt flowers (Sizzix die on BigShot) and button centres.

I knit this scarf for Lucy using two balls of mohair wool that I got from a car boot sale, the massive  button  came from a brilliant button shop in one of the beautiful old arcades in Cardiff.

My sister’s bag is a bit of a cheat as I  got it from Vistaprint as a freebie (you just pay P & P).  All  I did was choose the text – my sister is the world’s best shopper , she never gives up until her quarry is in her bag!  I have added flat back pearl stars, because she is a star and three red jingle bells  on  the handle so that people can hear her coming and get out of her way!!!!!

Lucy and Laura are also going to get a fridge magnet calendar and set of pegs each.

Tom, my son will be getting  a fridge magnet post-it note holder and pen.  A beer mat makes the base.  I have added a very thin piece of magnetic tape to the pen and clip so that the pen stays in place.  I have embellished it with transparent footprint stickers as identifying shoeprints is part of his job.  The magnetic clips were a bargain.  I saw the exact same pack  of 4 in a posh  shop in Manchester at over £5, these were from Home Bargains– 79p – result!

I have recovered a Poundland tin moneybox for my Father In Law and decorated it with odd self adhesive letters to say “Colin’s Pennies”  and gold stars.

This is my husbands gift, a magnetic post-it note holder and  calendar to hang on his filing cabinet.   The self adhesive tiles are from a pack of fishing embellishments I have had for ages that resemble the scales on fish.

This artist palette post-it-note holder is for my Brother In Law’s desk – he is at Uni doing Art.  The palette was from Poundworld and also came with several paintbrushes, two of which I have glued on.  The circles of paint are bazzill paper, cut using a large circle punch.

I am quite impressed with the palette and may get a couple more to use for other ideas.

I’m not sure if this counts, but I treated myself to a beautiful notebook to jot my ideas down and stick pictures of things that inspire me during the year, and I could not resist gluing some beautiful (and quite expensive) flat backed jewels on for extra bling. The picture doesn’t really do it justice!
If it isn’t being to presumptuous, tomorrow, I hope to show you the things that have been made for me.