Macedonian Hillbilly: Christmas Projects & Rings

As I blogged before, there were a lot of projects that I was working on and needless to say, I didn't take pictures of a lot of them. That's one thing I want to change in 2012. Projects that I make need to be photographed. I think it helps a person see that they've accomplished something! Plus, it's fun to see people's comments and helps give my readers some inspiration to try something new :) OK, so I think I've shown you a few of the things that I made so here are a couple of the others:

This one was definitely one of my most favorites. This was the project that I had worked so hard on for many months. I made it for my mom. She bought me a sewing machine and it sat in my bedroom for two years before I had the courage to use it. Not saying it to brag...well, yea I am...I hand stiched just about the whole things. Guess I really didn't need the machine after all! I used the machine sewing the squares together and doing the binding but n the actual quilting my sewing machine kept bird's nesting and it was easier to actually hand stitched than get frustrated and quite. I wanted tears out of my mom but got nothin! At least my dad cried when I gave him a sneak peak the week before Christmas. At least one of my parents is sensitive like how I am! All in all, this was a hard project and one that I will keep reminding my mom of! I told my co-workers that she better have this thing attached to her hip at all time because of the time that was spent on it! Of course I'm joking...kind of! LOL

This was another fun gift that I made! This is my sister in law, Amy, and she's fun and crafty like I am. When I saw this idea on Pinterest, I immediately thought of her. I have fallen in love with buttons recently and knew I wanted to do this project for her. It was actually a piece of cake. I printed out the letter S at work on card stock in black ink. Used glue dots to attach the buttons (color: black, gray and white) and got a frame at Michael's to finish it off. She loved it along with a necklace I made for her. I didn't get a pic of her necklace, earrings, and bracelet but it was one of my favorites that I've made. I love the pendant and again, wanted to keep it for myself but gladly handed off to her.

This is a shirt that I designed for my dad. My dad is a hard one to buy for so when I thought of things that described my dad, this is one of the things that came to mind. My dad owns his own company and he has a few phrases that he ALWAYS says...from the time my brother and I were little to present day, he has always used this phrases. Price, Quality, Time...You can pick two but you can't have all three. When he saw it he let out a big laugh and yes...I think I did see a tear in his eye (MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!). He says it's one of my favorites! It leaves me so proud thinking that all the hard work I put into a meaningful gift was not wasted!

This is my mother in law who got the family gift that I already shared with you. I loved this gift. It was personal and quite easy to make. I think I already shared with you how I made it. Thanks to my friend Aubre for stopping at AAA to pick up the maps for me. You are a gem for helping me when I was in a bind! My MIL loved it! No tears were shed but "family" was passed around and everyone wanted a piece of the goodness!

Recently, I've been making my own jewelry because it's so much cheaper than buying it somewhere. Ever since I was in Nashville at Christmas and saw my sister in laws ring, I've wanted to start making rings of my own. Hers didn't look hard to make so I embarked on the ring making journey. Needless to say, I'm addicted and I'm not sure why I didn't do rings before this. Here are a few of my new creations :