Hand-Made Gifts

In addition to clothing, I've been having fun making gifts again. Last Saturday was the birthday of a dear friend of mine from the office. So I surprised her last week at work with this sweet little flower pincushion and card.

I made the card using the same pattern that I used with the buttons on this version, but I made fabric yo-yos this time to use instead of the buttons. You can see that I used the same fabrics for the card that I used for the pincushion.

She was thrilled with the gift and said that she'd actually use this pincushion, whereas the hen pincushion that I made her last year is more of a decorative item for her sewing room. (I'll have to post a photo of that pincushion some time. I thought that I had done that already, but that must have been pre-digital camera.)

This friend loves to do crafts, too, and has recently been busy making simple baby quilts for future babies...We have a number of young women in our ministry who are newlyweds, and we're expecting to eventually receive a few birth announcements.

It's a really joy to work at a place where we can really participate in the major life events of our colleagues. In the past five years, my husband and I have had the pleasure of attending weddings and showers (both bridal and baby showers), and we've share in the sorrow of the grief of funerals as well...That makes me think of my Fighter Verse this week, about rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep. God is so good to give us such fellowship in the workplace.

The Valentine I made for my Sweetheart

It's well past Valentine's Day now, but I did want to post this Valentine that I made and gave to my husband this year. I made it with fabric from my stash ironed on with double-sided fusible web. I want to make more of these soon, maybe with different variations on this theme...like maybe the little boy holding a fishing rod and maybe the little girl holding a bouquet of flowers. I love the Sunbonnet Sue quilt patterns, and I need to make a Sunbonnet Sue quilt someday. But until then, it's fun to play with the design with smaller-scale projects like this.

Handmade greeting cards

I love to make my own greeting cards. I don't do it all the time. We have a long list of people we try to remember for birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine's Day, Christmas, and sometimes also Easter, Passover, and Hanukkah. But when I can find time to make my own cards, it's very satisfying.

Last week, I had an unexpected request for handmade cards, so I was really thankful to find a downloadable PDF online at this website for these cards with buttons from my stash at home. All I had to do was print the PDF onto a sheet of cardstock and use my hot glue gun to attach the buttons. Super easy, and super cute, I think.

I made them for a young woman from the Ukraine who has been interning for our ministry for the past six months. She's been a huge blessing to all of us, and I had the privilege of spending more time with her than many in the office because she was staying for much of her time here with a family in our part of the Twin Cities. So we commuted together to and from the office, and I had the joy of learning more about her life in that country, her family, her faith story, and even learned a few Russian words.

I'll miss Olya now that her time with us has ended, but I'm hoping that we can stay in touch via email, at least, and I find it so encouraging to remember that she's not only our friend, but also our sister in Christ. If we never see her again in this world, we'll see her someday in heaven...What a gift God has given us to have family in Christ all over the world, from every tribe, and tongue, and nation. Praise the Lord!