A few of the crafty things the gals at creative savv were up to over the holidays

Over the holiday break, the girls in our house got a bit crafty. Here are three of the things we made.

This is a bracelet that I made for myself. My son had given me a gift card to Jo-Ann's Fabric and Crafts for my birthday last year. I finally used part of it to make something for myself.

The beads come on a string and are a selection that mix and match, but in no particular order. I strung them on stretchy cord, as I've done for other bracelets. (Easy how-to's for beading bracelets, here) I spent about 30 minutes deciding on the pattern I liked best, laying the beads out in a line to get a feel for how they would look. The actual stringing took about 10 minutes.

I receive coupons in the mail from Jo-Ann's several times per year. Well worth signing up to receive them. I used a 50% off coupon for my beads, dropping the price of my bracelet from the retail price of $5.99, to $3 and tax. Similar bracelets sell in the mall for about $12-15.

the bracelet that Julia beaded for me for Christmas

My daughter, Julia, also had the idea to bead me a bracelet. She was with me the day I selected the beads for the one that I made. While in the store, she and I oohed and ahhed over some Swavorski crystal embedded beads.

Unbeknownst to me, Julia got her brother, Chris, to drive her back down to Jo-Ann's, and she bought a couple of packets of these crystal-embedded beads, and some stretchy cord of her own. She beaded this bracelet for me as a Christmas gift. How sweet is that?!

the hat Grace knit for me for Christmas

My other daughter, Grace, (also a crafty one), was with me in Friday Harbor (up in the San Juan Islands) this fall. There was a yarn shop that looked very intriguing. So we popped in for a minute, while the rest of the gang was checking out a toy shop, filled with unusual toys.

my fleece hat

Grace knits very well (the knitting-well gene skipped a generation, my knitting is not so fine). So this is the sort of shop she enjoys. We looked at several examples of hats that the shop owner had knit. I mentioned that I could really use a knit hat. I have a fleece hat that I'd sewn for myself, but it doesn't fit snugly, as a knit hat would.

All this conversation about knit hats gave Grace the idea to do one up for me. She made it as a slouch hat, but I told her that I think it's perfect with the lower edge rolled up two layers, to cover my ears in such cold weather. She did a beautiful job. I can't do designs and patterns like she can.

My daughters also sewed items for each other as Christmas gifts. They are quite the crafty little young ladies. Gee, I wonder where they get their interest in crafting?  ; )