Christmas Craftiness 2011

I wanted to wait until after Christmas to post what I've made/purchased for the amazing people in my life.

I just love the gift tags made from tag rims and scrapbook paper. I used stick on letters for some of the names and I hand wrote the others. Then, I "laminated" them with packaging tape.

All the gentlemen in my family are extremely gifted. They either draw or write and they all have creative tendencies (I guess it's in the genes!). I put together mini sketchbooks for them so they can be creative while they are out and about. I used those ever so handy rub-on letters to spell out the words: idea, draw, notes, sketch, and create on the covers (which is just painted cardboard).

For the ladies, I assembled these adorable button brooches and hairpins. Cute!

As far as bought gifts go, I went the Fair Trade route. I wanted to give gifts that were either hand made or impacted the rest of the world in some way. I stumbled upon STOP Start Cambodia which is a program by Hagar International. They focus on stopping human trafficking by educating women and teaching them to sew. These women make various products from recycled rice and feed bags. STOP Start supports these women and their families until they can financially support themselves. I bought these wallets from them. Not only are they handmade and enviornmentally friendly, they come in lots of different colors.

I also bought a couple of beatiful scarves from FashionABLE which is a part of The Mocha Club's Women at Risk project. These scarves are handmade in Ethiopia and provide women with a trade so they don't have to resort to prostitution to support their families. FashionABLe has loads of different scarfs in various colors. I wanted to purchase all of them, but I eventually settled on the Etanesh style.

I hope you all had an elegantly crafty Christmas!