Fun Gifts to Make and Share....

With summer comes fun and parties for all occasions.  There are many ways to enjoy hobbies while marking an occasion and I do this often while creating hostess gifts. My own hobbies consist of taking photos, creating scrap book layouts, sewing and embroidery which all work together to make gift giving fun. I stumble with my knitting which I find more challenging but it is getting easier. Have you ever noticed that when your skills get better that your enjoyment of a hobby increases?

Happily, I have taken a break of trying to use up all the red, black and white fabric to play with summertime colors. Directions & more are featured in this month's newsletter so subscribe now if you haven't done so already.

I have a fabulously creative friend who brings long tapered candlesticks wrapped delightfully in a carefully folded newspaper with raffia and flowers as part of the bow.  The presentation is awesome and the gift is immediately useful.

If it is a baby shower, I make a photo tree with Baby Socks hanging from the branches instead of photos.  What else would you expect me to give when I am so addicted to the Sock Easy.

Another fun hostess gift is a photo frame and in the frame is an artful card with the words: "picture to follow".  After the event, a picture is sent to the hostess, that was taken during the get together. 

A monogrammed guest towel is always enjoyed or perhaps something more sassy than a monogram!

Consider taking the party invitation and creating a scrap page of the occasion and putting it into a shadow box with space to add a picture or two after the party.  

While on the topic of parties, have you ever gone to a wine glass painting party?  My girlfriend, Stevie, and  I arranged one last week at Lola's and had such fun with 10  girlfriends. Some painted scenery (some apparently are real artists) while others did dots, and smaller motifs.  But all that required too much talent and concentration for my skills so I went back to kindergarten and painted a face!  I saw several scattered around the store and thought why not give it a try.  The store served appetizers and wine so we were all feeling relaxed and having fun.  We paid $20 each and it was well worth it.  Here's the website of the event maker:  www.winedesigns.com

It's time for me to go through all the digital elements I created and remove the duplicates.  Thank you to gransworkroom for the Deduper software which I am about to use in 2 minutes. ~ Cookie