Well, it's a snow day around here and I thought I'd take a little time out from shoveling and post the gifts that I made for Christmas.  I've been out once to shovel and will try and make three or four rounds throughout the day to keep up with the snowfall.  Blick..... I'm already bushed!

 

First up is a "tool box" made out of two Altoid tins.  I saw this on Pinterest and thought that it was a clever idea.  You just spray paint the parts, connect them with tiny nuts and bolts, then add a handle.  Although this was an easy project, it had it's problems.  The biggest problem was in opening the tins after painting.  That extra layer, actually two layers of paint, made it very tough to open.  And when you do get it open, it takes off some of the paint.  To do it over again, I would only paint the tops and that would leave the bottoms as purchased and they would open and close easily.

 

 

 

 

They do look cute sitting around on a shelf.

 

I added a little shelf liner, just like a real tool box.

 

I'll be making more of these using other types of tins but taking into consideration the extra bulk of the paint.

 

Next up is a zippered bag that will be used to carry a GPS.  My friend loves Yoda and now carries his GPS inside of his glove.  It was time for a better way to store it.  Although I didn't quilt it, it's heavily padded with batting.

 

 

The other side.

 

Inside.

 

I'm actually planning on making a second bag as I wasn't happy with the end project.  I followed some instructions and didn't like the overall look.  Now that I've made one, I can make my corrections.  That's what I get for waiting until the week of Christmas to make some of these things..... there was no time for fixing or redoing!

 

Here's a little tote bag.  Again, I followed the instructions, but found that there were things that I would change.  In this case, the pockets are very narrow and hard to reach into the bottom.

 

 

 

Inside.

 

This shot shows one of the pockets holding a pen which gives you an idea of how narrow the pockets are.  There are six pockets, three on each side.  I liked the bag overall but will make it bigger next time.

 

 

Here's another tote bag.  This is for a friend who lives in Austin and needs market bags for shopping.  They no longer give out plastic bags in the shops, so cloth bags are very useful.

 

 

I just made two identical bags for her.

 

My label.

 

And lastly, here are some pins that I made for some quilting friends.  I've had the fabric for quite a while and decided that it would make a cute pin with a little fussy cutting.

 

 

Well, it's about time for round two in my winter wonderland of shoveling!  Hope you are all snug and safe!