Co-Worker Gifts

Gift Ideas for Co-workers
By Jamie

     Every year at Christmas time i like to give my co-works a little holiday prezzie to say thank you for all there hard work, But there is 10 of them and i am not made of money.lol. Last year i put together hot chocolate and a candy cane in a nice little package with a note that says wishing you a warm and cozy Christmas.
     This year i can't decide on what i want to make, so i rounded up a few great ideas (from amazing bloggers) i found on my favorite place to explore....Pinterest. :-) I have the links attached so you can check out the original bloggers and find even more great gift ideas.

From 'How She Does It': A pack of sugar cookie dough with the caption: We could all use a little extra 'dough' this Christmas.

Grinch Pills

From the 'Dating Divas': Twizz the season to be jolly

My manager LOVES soup...so maybe this for her.  A big mug with  some instant soup with the tag 'have a Souper Christmas' From the Dating Divas

Now all i have to do is decide on which one i'm making.....hhhmmm

Did you know that there is only 25 days until Christmas day!! yikes. 

If you guys have any other really cute gift ideas for co-works leave me some comments below. I always need ideas. 

Have a great night, and make sure you are ahead of the game and get your holiday shopping done now..before the malls get even crazier!

Busy Bees

Post By Jamie

Hey, so it has been quite some time since myself (jamie) or my sister amber have actually posted anything on this blog. We have been rather busy, and i have always forgotten to take pictures of the few craft projects i actually get round to making. 

Amber has been better than me, she has started her own blog that covers everything she loves, she shares her inspirations, recipes, tutorials, fashion, beauty and thoughts. And if you haven't  checked it out yet, you probably should skip on over there right now and have a read.

Click this link to take you there, have fun: http://amberameliawpg.blogspot.ca/

You may be wondering why we have been so busy, Well many things have happened. Amber and her fiance Rich have moved into my basement. They are getting married next summer...Yay!! and they need to save up as much money as possible  For the wedding, and for there dream house. So pumped for there wedding!! I am the maid of honor. 

        And about 8 weeks ago our mum (sally) had a black out and fell down the stairs in her house. Luckily my dad was home and was able to call an ambulance right away. She was in alot of pain. Turns out she shattered her hip and had to have a full hip and joint replacement OUCH and she broke her right elbow, Double OUCH! She was in hospital for a full 2 weeks and just had her cast removed 3 days ago. She is still in alot of pain. 

If anybody has broken their elbow before and has any tips, advice or stories please share with us, as my mum would love to be able to hear from other people who have gone through the same experience. 

        I have also signed up for distance education. I have decided to take the institute of booking course at red river. I have 9 courses to complete in total until i can get my certificate. I am only on #1 & 2 out of 9. Word 2007 (super easy), and financial accounting 1 (which i am strangely enough really enjoying).

But we are going to really make an effort from now on, to keep the blogging up. Well at least Amber will for sure. lol

Easy Minky Blanket

 Hey Guys,

    Today i am doing a minky blanket tutorial, i saw these cozy soft looking blankets on my browsing of pinterest, a daily addiction of mine!! anyways i saw these blankets and was determined to make one for a friend of ours who is expecting a baby in December.  Now i am new to the sewing world so i have been keeping to easy usually squared items such as pillows, so my next step was a blanket...my mom warned me that sewing a minky was not a pleasant experience as the fabric is very slippery and likes to move alot...so i made and did every precaution i could think of, i pinned every centimeter it felt like, and then pre stitched all the edges so when i did my final machine run fingers crossed everything goes smoothing.

First your going to choose your fabric, so as you know i went with the minky for one side in a cream color, and for the opposite sides i did an owl print fleece...i figured as this little bundle of joy is being born mid December it can be pretty cold here in Winnipeg so at least it will have this blanket to cozy up to.

Next you want to measure out your fabric, i did a 42 inch square but by the time you take into account your seam allowance my blanket probably ended up being around 38 inches (being new to sewing i'm not good at doing small seam allowances so half the time my project is actually like 5+ inches smaller than its original measurement so i always take into account of cutting my pieces just a little bit bigger.

  

  Next up is the long process of pinning, remember to pin right sides together!!! now as you can see i did a lot of pins just to be on the safe side...if you are a more confident sewer than you could probably get away with less pins but as i had never dealt with minky i really really wanted to be on the safe side...after i pinned i then proceeded to sew around all the edges but remember to leave a gap so you can turn in the right side round again.

Next up, get that machine out...sorry for my messy sewing area, we just moved and i have yet to completely sort though and put everything away.

Then just sew away...i did it slowly, make sure you take your time try not to rush it certainly if your new!!! I would sew until i hit a pin then take about 5 out then sew till i hit the next pin then take another 5 out and so on so on until you are all done...remember to leave a gap one one side i think i left about a 5 inch gap on one side to turn the blanket the ride side.

Look at all those pins it felt like it went on forever!!!

Next up once you've finished sewing, before you turn it the right side, your going to cut the corner so you can a nice pointed corner on the finished project.

It should look something like this...make sure not to cut over your stitches!!!

Then all you need to do is sew up the opening that was left and your all done!!!! You could also sew around the edges to add a little extra support that i may still do...but thats about it...easy peasy if you take your time at the prepping stage!!!

   hope you enjoyed and go give it a go...i am in love with the finished blanket, i don't want to give it away!!

xoxo amber