I'm feeling a little discombobulated by still not being caught up from Christmas. So, today, I'll just round that out a little by showing you the last of my Christmas gifts I made.
I'll start with the gifts I made for my neighbors. This year, I was so busy, I just couldn't afford the time to do a lot of Christmas baking. There were no Christmas cookies or candies made at my house. Instead, I decided a couple of mini loaves of bread would make a nice gift. We started by making some of these Triple Chocolate Quick Breads, which I blogged about previously. You can find the recipe over at Donna's blog, Sugar, Spice, and Southern Life. It is soooo good, and pretty easy to make!
I coupled it with this Cranberry Orange/Lemon Loaf. Wow, is this good bread! My friend Adrienne gave me the recipe. She also gave me permission to share it here! You lucky dogs, you! Get out a pencil or hit "Print." Yer gonna want to save this recipe, too. Here it is (you'll see some of my comments in parentheses):
I wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them in these little 6"x6" boxes I picked up at the grocery store. They barely fit!
Stick on a bow and a tag, and you are ready to go. This was pretty quick and easy. It made a nice presentation, too.
- I met a neighbor (Pam) who lives a couple houses up from us earlier this summer. (We all live on about 5 acres each here, so we all don't run into each other much.) So, I brought them some bread. Pam said, "Well, isn't that just the sweetest thing! Just like old times, when neighbors actually did this!" Made me feel good.
- We took a box to the grumpy old man across the street. We were a little nervous, because he's been grumpier than ever this year. When we first knocked on the door, he was grumpy...."Who is it?!" I told him who it was and why we were there, and his voice softened. The next day, Papa Pea's phone rang. It was him. Papa Pea was nervous, because the last time he stopped over, the man called him up the next day and hollered at him. Instead, this time, he left a nice voicemail that said, "I just wanted to call and say thank you for the Christmas bread. It was really delicious. It was very nice of you to give me a Christmas gift. No one else does that. Merry Christmas." Maybe we're making progress! ;-)
I also made more earbud pouches. I blogged about the pattern and did a pattern review here. These were for family members.
I made this one for my sister, to go with the iPad purse I gave her a while back. I fussy cut the fabric for it. Fun!
I made this one for myself, with my precious Lucy's Crab Shack fabric.
And some of my favorite fabric inside. I use this all the time and love it.
These were for a young niece and for Sweet Pea. For nieces and nephews, I tucked a little cash inside. :-)
This was for my nephew. He's a basketball fanatic. When Sweet Pea saw this one, she wanted one of these, too. LOL.
I like the "all-star" fabric I put inside of these.
I made this one for my mom, to match the tote bag I gave her a while back. This is such a great pattern for using up scraps. You only need about four 5" squares of fabric.
A nice surprise inside this one as well. :-)
This was a Label Crew project one month from Sweetwater. It's a fun little sewing jar made with Sweetwater fabric, Mama Said Sew. I gave it to my SIL, SisLH. Hope she liked it.
The lid is a pincushion, and there is a little needle book. And there are three pouches for pins, buttons, and other goodies. Fun. Get the labels here. Get the pattern here.
Throughout this photo shoot, Spidey kept getting in the way. He kept checking out all the Christmas gifts....
...and even chewing on some! LOL. He's a fun cat. He's getting pretty big. He dwarfs his mother, and he's not even a year old yet! (I was photographing these pouches, but I remembered I already showed them to you a long time ago.)
Okay, that about rounds out Christmas this year, I think. Now, I can move on to some of my other backlogged photos! haha!
Until next time,
Such neat gifts!! I love the story with your neighbors. That just makes my heart swell! I still have to try making those earbud pouches. Hopefully some day soon!
Posted by: Cindy | January 14, 2013 at 09:53 PM
Can I be your neighbor? :) I love the sewing jar! That measuring tape ribbon is adorable.
Posted by: Melissa | January 14, 2013 at 09:54 PM
Love the stories of your neighbors and the breads. Wish I had a bite right now!
Your gifts are all wonderful. I don't know how you accomplish all that you do!
Hugs,
Donna
Posted by: Donna | January 14, 2013 at 10:14 PM
Those are all wonderful gifts, and I'm so glad your neighbor is warming up. I love how your cat was helping. You know ours do that all the time. And you are so busy! I don't know how you found the time to even do those things . . .
Posted by: Shelly | January 14, 2013 at 10:32 PM
Those were the nicest little gifts, Stephanie!!! You did a lot, what do mean you didn't do this much this year??!!! Looks like some baking and sewing went in! You are awesome! Those were all thoughtful gifts from the heart. I LOVE the stories you told about your neighbors. True meaning of Christmas. :-)
Posted by: Linda | January 15, 2013 at 12:28 AM
Wow, you were busy over the holidays. What wonderful gifts. These are one you know will be enjoyed! I'm going to get those recipes and try some now. I don't know what is wrong with my blog, but I don't think it updates like it should. I never saw your blog about those pouches. They are darling. Great posts, great stories.
Posted by: Caroll | January 15, 2013 at 07:59 AM
Those breads look delicious. And your earbud pouches look perfectly round. How did you do that? Mine look a little off...
Posted by: Jana | January 15, 2013 at 09:01 AM
I stayed home the whole break and didn't do much baking either. Your bread looks delicious! And you know I love those pouches. I've been meaning to make a couple more for my gift stash.
Posted by: Lynn | January 15, 2013 at 09:35 AM
That bread looks wonderful! I'm a sucker for anything orange/cranberry flavored, so I'm definitely going to try out that recipe.
Neighbor reactions to Christmas gifts are often surprising -- I wish more people did that these days. I think it would bring communities closer!
Posted by: Kate | January 15, 2013 at 09:41 AM
Wow -- looks like you had a great Christmas with your projects. I MUST make me an earbud pouch or two -- mine are always tangled or lost. Yours are all adorable!
Posted by: Thimbleanna | January 15, 2013 at 09:57 AM
I actually enjoyed seeing the little pouches again. Maybe the pictures are different - but at any rate - it was fun. What a great idea to get the boxes from the store. It makes the gift so cool looking. Baking bread is a easy and so sweet to give. I do hope your grumpy neighbor gets nicer. I've lived next to grumps and crazies before, not so fun. One nice thing is you are teaching Sweet Pea how to deal with people.
Posted by: Linda in Calif. | January 15, 2013 at 10:43 AM
These are really wonderful Christmas gifts! I love the mix of bread and other handmade goodies that are so practical. I didn't have time to bake or make anything for anyone, and barely got a few cards sent out, so I envy all that you got done even when you said you were so busy during Christmas. I love that story about your grumpy neighbor, who probably isn't so grumpy after all. Just lonely and doesn't want to be bothered. Good for you!
Posted by: terriaw | January 15, 2013 at 12:31 PM
What a great neighbor you are and you're teaching Sweet Pea by your actions - I love to hear stories of people who still do exactly what you do - you're always thinking of others. I ordered a bunch of zippers from Zipit the other day and they just came in so now I can make some of the little ear bud pouches - thanks for the inspiration - they are so cute. Thanks, also, for the link to Zipit!
Posted by: Deb | January 15, 2013 at 01:26 PM
You know the saying....if you want something done, ask a busy person to do it! You are amazing with all this Christmas baking!! Wow! You put me to shame...I didn't do that for my neighbors this year, and I should have! I'll have to try that bread recipe--sounds yummy for sure! I also LOVE LOVE LOVE the story of the grumpy neighbor. You probably made his Christmas!!
Posted by: Deb | January 16, 2013 at 12:33 AM
Awesome! I am going to try the cranberry/orange bread! And am so glad that you made the curmudgeon across the road happy!
Posted by: Maggie Szafranski | January 16, 2013 at 08:08 AM
You made the grumpy old man's day. I love all your Christmas gifts. You do such a great job. Hope your New Year is going good. Hugs
Posted by: Cathy B | January 16, 2013 at 10:39 AM
Ahhh - found the comment button - whew! Thought I'd lost you! Yummmmm-o on these breads! And these little pouches are absolutely darling.
Posted by: kathy olkowski | January 18, 2013 at 09:45 AM
Wonderful gifts! Love the story of your grumpy neighbor's response to the gift of bread. THANK YOU for including the recipe--my mouth watered just reading it.
Posted by: jenclair | January 19, 2013 at 10:13 AM
These are totally cute, especially in little sets! I'm so glad you posted again about them, because I kind of forgot about them. Now I'm putting them at the top of my Want to Make list!
Posted by: Amy DeCesare | January 19, 2013 at 07:21 PM
Spectacular gifts and such a sweet neighbor you are!! I'm sure you made a difference in his day :-D Really nice!!
Posted by: Michele | January 19, 2013 at 07:40 PM