my creative space

peppermint bark

In my creative space today I’m making peppermint bark gifts, inspired by Amanda’s “elving” post on Monday. What you see in the pic above are all the little edge bits.

Oh my, do they taste amazing. Just as yummy as the big chunks of bark. I have a little container of them hidden in the back of the fridge — my little secret treat. They taste especially yummy with a hot cup of coffee or tea.

What kinds of yummy treats are you making this holiday?

eggs in a basket + a candy strategy

crochet easter egg basket

The surprise eggs were finished with a few days to spare. I even had time to whip up a little basket for them. I just started with no plan in mind. The end result was a little flimsy, but a quick soak in some water followed by liberal amounts of spray starch got it right into shape.

My daughter loved the eggs. This was the first time she ever played along with one of our stories, though. She came running out of her room saying, “Mom crocheted me some yarn eggs!” We told her they were from Peter Cottontail and she’s all, yeah, sure, right, ok. If you ask her, she’ll tell you they’re from him, but she doesn’t sound convinced!

. . . . .

We don’t do a lot of candy at Easter, and this year I didn’t put any in her basket. Instead, I made candy part of our egg hunt. I filled little plastic bags (from the candy section of the craft store) with two chocolate kisses and ten jelly beans. Each bag was tied and labeled with a day of the week and hidden in a plastic egg. She found those special eggs along with the others.

So far this has worked great! She eats the whole bag at once, usually after breakfast, but when they’re gone, she has to wait until the next day for more. I can’t tell you how wonderful the holiday was without a sugar-crashing three-year old. Hope this works next year, too!

stash: Basket yarn and candy bags both from my stash.

sweetheart zipper bag

sweetheart cosmetic bag

This fabric is a little more kitschy than my usual style, but I really love it. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and I wanted to make something fun. I couldn’t bring myself to cut into all of those cute hearts, so I used the entire piece for one big bag.

sweetheart cosmetic bag

Some would say it would be great for cosmetics, but it can easily hold two skeins of yarn and knitting/crochet notions. I used fleece for the interfacing, so it stands up on its own, but it’s still soft. I’m tempted to keep it, but right now I’ve got it up in the shop. (I can’t keep everything I make!)

thrifting: This fabric came from The Grandmother Stash, same as the pink eyelet quilt.