Thursday, November 05, 2009

A Handcrafted Christmas: Gratitude Wrap

This week, I'm sharing what I'll be giving our nursery helpers at church as a thank you gift right around Christmas!

I've had this (click this link for all instruction details) idea bookmarked for ages and, my friend Grace and I each made one of these last spring at her house. But, I've since made a few more and discovered a simpler way of finishing the edges!

You'll see the wrap in the middle has very skinny binding on it - not a good idea. Next, I made the one on the left with homemade binding - much better, but still a lot of effort.

Finally, I tried the Christmas one. I sewed the pieces together with the right sides facing leaving an opening for turning it right side out. After turning it and pressing, it was easy to sew up the opening and top stitch. Much easier!

In the next few days, I will show what I did to the little mini composition book to make it look cute! I think these are great gifts! And, you can practically make them from fabric scraps you already have!

Homemade notecards fill the middle pocket and cute holiday labels fill the third one. The possibilities for personalizing these are endless! And, Emily has already had her eye on it! I'll have to make one for her when she learns the art of writing notes and thank you's!

The Christmas one has a snowflake ornament and Let it Snow tag tied on for fun and as a special treat for its recipient!

20 comments:

Joy Cometh in the Morning said...

You are so thoughtful! I will never forget the notecards that you gave me for teaching Emily at VBS! I had never gotten a gift for teaching VBS! The nursery workers will be so excited to get a gift from you!

Cheryl said...

Morning Monica!
I had Amanda's project bookmarked for ages too and finally made one. I love to quilt and enjoyed doing the binding. LOL, not everyone does, but I do enjoy it. I love your use of fabrics. Especially that toile one and I am loving that let it snow tag. Very cute. I plan on making a few of these for friends as well. I have all the supplies already. Thanks for sharing your ideas.
How sweet of your daughter to want one. You know, there are lots of free printables on line. In fact I just saw one the other day for kids thank yous. They are peprinted where she would just have to write in her name and a few words. I will look for the link for you.
Have a blessed day.

Primrose Hill said...

Those are adorable! Your blog is such a delight!

tina b said...

Monica - thank you SO much for this idea! I am amazed at how God is providing wonderful and frugal gift ideas for us this year, just when we need it!

I will be making these for my cousins and friends for Christmas. I really appreciate your blog and your willingness to share these ideas!! :)

Sharon said...

Those are great Monica! Thanks for always sharing such wonderful ideas. Have a blessed day in HIM :)

Sharon

LynnMarie said...

What a great gift for them! You are so clever.

Aubrey said...

I love these! I made a few for Christmas last year. Both of my in-laws use them frequently, since they travel a lot and are always writing thank you notes. I made one for my father-in-law out of some very manly corduroy fabric, and made it only a bi-fold instead of a trifold. But they both turned out really nicely. I think next time I'll not use binding since I have a hard time getting it to look neat.

Wendi said...

Cute! I am sure the nursery/sunday school crew is always excited to see you come with your goodies.

Nancy at EmbroideryIt.com said...

That is such a cute idea. Thanks for sharing.
Blessings,
Nancy

Elise said...

That is such a cute idea!! That I may be able to fit in!!
Elise

Debbie Fisher (debbiedee) said...

What a wonderful gift you are giving!

Joani said...

Does your nursery have the same people working each week? If not do you just give it to the nursery worker working that day or to all of them? Our nursery has several different people rotating thru over the month so I'm not sure if I should try to catch all of them or just those on the given day.

Lisar said...

Thanks for the link...these are just gorgeous....and I like that fact that you were able to adapt it to make it even easier to make. I will certainly be making some of these for gifts.

Simple Home said...

If I'm understanding right, you made the last one without binding, just turned and topstitched it instead? I like that. They all turned out nice. Thanks for the great ideas!
Blessings,
Marcia

Tim, Allyson, and kids said...

These are so cute! I might have to add them to my Christmas crafts list.

I thought you might be interested in the I Spy Quilt Kit GIVEAWAY on our blog.

http://a-heart4home.blogspot.com/2009/10/i-spy-kit-giveaway.html#comments

Allyson

Anonymous said...

How pretty these are and what a sweet gift for your helpers. For a super quick variety of this craft I have used ready-made fabric tablemats from the thrift store or 70% off-table at the interior store. Just turn up the lower section the required depth and stitch through at the sides and at intervals to make the pockets suited to whatever you want to put inside. I have made several this way... for a writing pad, envelopes and pen, for coloring pencils (that rolls rather than folds)and to keep my purse tidy with pockets for wallet, phone, notebook, lipstick, pen etc. You just need to think a little about the width required. Gill.

Gottjoy! said...

These are so beautiful. Something I think my children can help me make for Christmas. With the season of life I am experiencing right now, it is taking effort for me to prepare for the holidays, but I know I need to for my children. Thank you for posting something that I think I can tackle.
Blessings...

angie said...

Did you get this idea from Amanda's blog or book. I was thinking that I saw it in her first book, but can't locate it. This may be just the motivation I need to learn to sew. I love these wraps, for myself and for gifts.

Anonymous said...

Have you given any thought to making some of these to sell? Thanks to you, I love to make my own notecards, but I don't sew. :(
Angie

Monica Wilkinson said...

Hi Angie,

I'm not permitted to sell any of the gratitude wraps made from Amanda's pattern. She has written right on the pattern to not sell any made from it. Thanks for asking!

Monica