Elmo/Cookie Monster Reversible Hat

My dear friend Jess's daughter just had her SECOND BIRTHDAY!!! YAY!! And since her daughter loves Elmo (and Cookie) and my daughter loves Cookie (and Elmo), I decided to make them matching reversible hats.  Somehow, knowing they have the same hat seems to somehow span the miles and miles between them.

Here's the pattern I used, and then I just cut out my own appliques. 

 Jess's daughter reading her letter "from Bunny."

 I love how this is a picture of both girls.

 Hmmm...

 Um...

 All those pictures come to me courtesy of Jess, and I can take no credit for taking them (or for the little girl in them)

Here's some of my pictures:

 Testing the hat out to make sure the size is right.

 The completed hats!

 Woah! Two elmos!

 Isn't she just a little doll? My daughter is just so strikingly beautiful! But honestly, even if she weren't beautiful, she'd still be strikingly beautiful to me. 

 STATIC!!!

You can even tie the braids if you want to keep the hat on! However, Bunny LOVES this hat and sometimes wears it just because, so keeping it on is no problem.  This is a milestone for us because it's the FIRST hat she keeps on voluntarily!

I know I'm obsessive, but I think I'm going to make an Ernie/Bert reversible hat when I get a break in my crafting/Etsy schedule! :-D

Handmade Presents: Earrings and Christmas Card Gift boxes

A very easy present to make if you have the right tools, is jewelry.  With a couple of needle nosed pliers and cutters especially sized for jewelry plus some beads, hooks, and wires, you can easily make a very nice looking pair of earrings!  I dabble in amateur jewelry along with sewing, knitting, and other crafting, so I have a lot of jewelry making supplies.  Since jewelry is easy to make, I decided I'd make some for aunts, cousins, and my step-mother-in-law

And because I didn't want to spend money on boxes, I made my own boxes out of old Christmas cards (which you can make yourself if you follow this link).

 Mostly, I just made the earrings based on the colors I had and then decided which relative would like that set, but for my sister-in-law...

...I made special Steelers colored earrings because she's obsessed.  It was hard for me to do since I'm an Eagles fan, but love breaks through football boundaries.