Self-Indulgence

What a "me" day I had today.  I managed to pack a lot into today, mostly things that I love doing.  First off, I wrapped and mailed a beautiful package.

Some of you might remember that last year I wrote about how much I love using kraft paper and twine to wrap packages especially when topped with a little woodland-inspired clip which you can make yourself.  When I found myself needing to wrap a round can I wished for some kraft tissue paper.  My wish came true at Paper Source and I picked up several packages this week at my local store.  The tissue paper is simply gathered around the can, tied with twine and topped off with the clip which can be used as a Christmas tree ornament.  I finished off the package with a mist of gold glitter spray which gives it a nice sheen.  Never underestimate the impact of a beautifully wrapped gift.  (Humming "brown paper packages, tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things.")

I also spent time today working in my sewing room and finishing all of the Christmas presents for the teachers on my list.  I'll be posting those in a couple of days.

When I stopped and asked myself what I wanted to do with a day where I had nothing particular on the calendar, the answer was to work on stitching my Alabama Chanin dress.  I have not been making much time for that, so today I spent an hour this morning and an hour this evening stitching, both times at a local coffee shop while my children were otherwise occupied.  I have nearly finished the first of six panels; I'll post some pics when I do.

Today was all about indulging myself, filling the hours with things I love to do but don't have as much time for as I'd like to have.  The feeling was good (tinged with just a little bit of guilt, but not too much).  What have you been doing recently that feels indulgent?  Leave a comment.

Mini photo albums

I was trying to think of a small gift for my son’s two teachers and came across acrylic photo albums at the craft store.  These albums consisted of five 4” acrylic circles held together with a metal ring.  I first cut circles slightly smaller than the acrylic pages from decorative paper, punched a hole with a hole punch and glued them onto the pages, front and back.  My original plan was to make some tiny kanzashi flowers to put on the cover but once they were made I couldn’t get them to look the way I wanted without a lot of extra fussing that I did not have time for.  Instead I decided to use some purchased self-stick embellishments from the craft store.  I added some stickers that read “photos” on the cover and was finished.  With some extra time some of the pages could be pre-embellished.  The recipient can add their own pictures to the album and end up with a small, portable brag book.  One of these would make a great gift for a grandparent.   I am already planning to make several more of these.  I saw these flowers the other day and fell in love with them, particularly the ones called Gallery Roses (toward the bottom of the page).  I think the creative possibilities are limitless.

I teach the crafts each year at my church’s Vacation Bible School.  Each year one of the crafts is a picture frame into which I insert a picture of the child’s class.  While trying to come up with ideas for this years’ crafts I came across some acrylic frames at Oriental Trading Company.  Since I had just been working with one of these albums I was struck with the idea to let each child make one page and attach the class picture to this page.  My plan is to provide paper circles, markers, stickers and the like for each child to decorate the page as they wish and then attach the picture as well as a hanging ribbon through the top hole.  These albums are 6” circles, slightly larger than the ones I have been working with.  I’ve ordered several extra for my own use and will post pictures in the future when I get those albums created.