VALENTINE´S DAY GIFT TIP

  Valentine´s Day is practically just around the corner, and it´s time to start thinking about how to show love and appreciation for that special someone (or yourself!).
  I´ll be darned if these brand new aromatherapy earrings I made don´t do the trick, along with some sensual ylang-ylang essential oil! You can get them from my little shop Nelland Boutique for only 20 e/pair.

Sweet pink hearts are for the younger generation of lovely women.

And these beautiful classic red ones for the more experienced chicks.

  Love is the greatest power in the world, so let´s celebrate it to the fullest!
  Have a love-filled and most romantic upcoming Valentine´s Day! 

LAST MINUTE PRESENTS

  Last winter my son lost all but two pairs of his winter gloves. The same seems to continue this year, and I´m pretty upset about it truth be told. In the fall, when it begun to get cold, I bought him a pair of good quality gloves. He wore them twice, and on the third day he came home without them. He´d lost them already (I do not want to think anyone at school had stolen them...).

  This Christmas I´m happy to give him this gift, self made my mommy:
 

Four pairs of dark blue fleece mittens.

The fleece I use is thick, warm, and keeps the wind and snow out. As opposed to knitted mittens, fleece beats them clearly in wearability. And that´s what counts most in kids´ clothes.

In addition to being extremely great to wear, they´re also ridiculously easy to make. Simply draw the outline of your kid´s hand on paper, add 1/2 inch seam allowance (except to the tip of middle finger), and cut out of fleece. Then sew , right sides together, with a regular straight stitch as close to the edge as you can. Turn right side out and you´re done!

  In the fall and spring, when it´s still muddy and dirty, but chilly already, I like to place these fleece mittens inside the rubbery rain gloves to keep the little hands warm. After coming back inside it is so neat to pull the two gloves apart and they´ll dry easily and won´t stink at all!

PARKOUR OUTFIT FOR A BOY

  My son was very specific with his Christmas present wish: a black sweatshirt with white text saying "parkour" on the chest. He´s done some parkouring since the fall, and is all into the sport with his friends.
 Here´s what I made him:

Dark grey, not black, because it suits his very fair hair and pale face better, and because it shows dirt less. =) But he gets pants to go with the shirt. The designs are loose and will give him well room to do all sorts of leaps and jumps. 

I found these masking letters in the craft store, and tried this technique for the first time. Me like! And not far from the original request.

I used black accents here and there to give contrast, and to get closer to his wish.

    Happy and energetic X-mas my love!

JUST BECAUSE I LOVE YOU- GIFTS

  Isn´t it enough occasion, loving somebody, to give them a present? I sure think so. Love is the most valuable gift of all, and it can´t be bought, but in second comes time and effort put on making others happy.

  Yesterday I spent every bit of my "spare" time to make these little gifts to the three most important people in my life:

To keep my family warm; gloves and a beanie. Earlier I drew the outline of my kids´ hands on a piece of  paper to make the pattern for these gloves. My husband, on the other hand, has such "warm blood" in his vains, that he rarely wears gloves, so I opted for a beanie for him.

I had a scrap piece of thick, black fleece stashed away to make these (I hope it does not make it all sound flat now! In my opinion it only adds to the value of things if they are made of recycled material!). The designs are simple and plain (just like my love =) and thus easy to wear. This button is the only detail. Especially with men, simplicity goes a long way (and I´m not referring to their emotional capacity now... =).

  For no special reason, just because I love you!

POLKA DOT PRESENTS

  Happy birthday to the greatest Mom in the world - mine!

 She wished I get her a t-shirt for present. A t-shirt that I thought would suit her and her style. She is in her fifties, but her weakness is everything girly and fairytale-like cuteness. Often I wish she would tone down and streamline her style a bit, to bring it to the 21st century. =) But that´s just my opinion, and more than anything I´m so happy that she does have a style overall (not a quality that can be taken for granted...).

  My mom also sews occasionally for herself. Her most recent creation is a navy blue skirt with two white stripes running across the hemline. I decided to make a t-shirt to suit her new skirt. Like this:

Polka dots and puff sleeves are perfect for her! Like me, my Mother is also a pear-shape, and I know this model fits her body well.

My daughter is lucky, she got yet another "leftover dress"! When I gave my Mom the present, my daughter was already wearing her dress. What a surprise it was to my Mom to find that they could now wear matching outfits. She became a little emotional even. I love her!

This dress is an awesome wear at our summer cabin.

Contrast stitching brightens the garments up and makes them look more finished up.

I had just enough of this zig zag string in my stash to make it run all the way around the hem.

The puffed sleeves add volume to the shoulders balancing out the lower half. A huge feminine bottom runs in our family on my Mom´s side like a curse. We do our best to cope with it...

  In the present I gave to my Mom, was also a sepia-colored photograph of her and my kids hugging each other. They all had perfectly happy smiles on their faces and pure love just oozed from them. (Great, now I´m getting emotional... I´ve become such a cry baby after having my kids!   =)