DZ Doodles Christmastime Projects and Fun-Freebie Count Down

Hello, fellow doodle friends!
I'm excited to share with you my favorite doodles as we count down to Christmas Day. For the next eleven days, a Christmas Fun-Freebie Design will be listed for that day only, an old or a new design, either on this post or a new post. Simply click on image to enlarge, right click your mouse on enlarged image and in drop down menu "SAVE AS..." to your digi folder.

 

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Pizzazzerie's Candy Cane Topiary is just simply a gorgeous idea for decorating and their site will show you the how-to to recreate the project using simple and inexpensive items!

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Cookie-in-a-jar (a quick little gift) at Things For Boys make great gifts, party favours, teacher's gifts and are perfect for the school fete. The recipe won a KitchenAid mixer and has become Abby's 'go to' cookie recipe! She's even included a downloadable PDF file to recreate the labels with recipe to print out!

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Katrina Kennedy's 365 is about your life. It is about capturing, documenting, and preserving all that is important to us. People come to this project for so many different reasons, with so many different motivations. Join us as we explore all the options available, are inspired by each others techniques, and learn to make this fit who we each are.

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NAOMI TABATHA Was born 1963, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. After working at two toy manufacturers, she began working freelance as a 3D figure illustrator. Her original stuffed toys have graced countless magazine, book, and CD covers. She also creates baby goods and writes columns in women’s magazines on making cute stuff. An Aquarius with blood type B, her love of making things by hand is part of the eco-friendly lifestyle she tries to lead.

All you need is a needle, thread, and some brightly colored felt to bring these new friends to life! The badges in the book are a delight and would make awesome rewards for children when they achieve a goal. Many of the patterns are full sized or you can scan the patterns and enlarge the image in a computer photo editing program or have them photocopied larger if that is what you need. The pictures are so darling and the instructions are clear. I think you will love this book! It is clear and exact from its pictures to its instructions. This book includes 86 easy-to-make toys and accessories in felt. 32 pages are devoted to full-color pages of photographs of the toys and accessories, with the emphasis on cute animal characters. All toys and accessories have a Japanese cute sensibility, and are reminiscent in style of the type of character goods that were popular in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s when the author was a child. The remaining 32 pages give easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions for each project. Patterns for every project are included. All projects are hand sewn and are made with just felt and needle and thread. The instructions are simple enough to be followed by anyone from about age 10 upwards, and there is an explanatory page of basic stitches used in the book. Until recently, sewing was an everyday activity in most households. But somewhere along the way we stopped making and started buying. It seems to me that most people have forgotten how to make things, which is a shame, because there’s nothing to compare with the sense of accomplishment that comes from creating something yourself, or the happy smile on a loved one’s face when they receive a homemade gift you’ve spent hours making. I hope I can convey to you the warmth that comes from making something yourself with love and care. All the toys and accessories in this book are made of felt and they can all be made by hand. If you think a project looks too challenging, just give it a try anyway and start sewing. As long as you take it one careful stitch at a time, you shouldn’t have any problems, even if you’re a beginner. Don’t worry about making mistakes! Just have a go. I’m sure your creations will become your best friends. Welcome to the cute and colorful world of handmade toys.

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This is the year end of the Samplers offered by Red Brolly to stitch for Christmas, for yourself or gift-giving. Bronwyn Hayes has included the pattern and instructions in two different ways for you to download. I'm thinking, for the stitchy-person in your life, of creating a kit with a printed fabric piece of the image, DMC thread assortment, needle package, and mounting board/frame with glass piece! Include an embroidery book of stitches too!

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During all this Christmas-holiday hoopla you may be in need of a 'good drink' to sit back with and enjoy all that you have created. The Skinny Drink of The Month by Bethenny Frankel may be the perfect pick-me-up! This coffee drink is part hot chocolate, part cappuccino - but at only 43 calories a mug, it has way fewer calories than either! JUST COMBINE: 10-tablespoons ground coffee, 1-teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/4-teaspoon ground nutmeg in a coffee filter. Brew with 6-cups water in a coffeemaker. Then mix 1/2-cup steamed or heated soy milk (Silk brand is the best), 3-tablespoons agave nectar, and 1/8-teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder. Pour coffee into 6-mugs and top with soy milk mixture. So good!

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Here's a way to 'eat your way' through a Yoga pose ... with a Yoga Pose Cookie Cutter Set by Patti Paige. And what a fun gift to give, anytime of the year, to that Yoga fan! Baked Ideas has a huge assortment of cookie cutters and ideas that will have you creating all sorts of cookies in the coming year!

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HEART IN HAND SNOWFLAKE by Extreme Cards is a traditional motif, representing the Shaker belief "hands to work, hearts to God." This snowflake is for machine cutting with assorted cutting files, however, if you're very patient you could try the download PDF file to hand cut it using an Xacto/craft knife.

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Crafts 'n Coffee's Father Christmas + Mother Nature = one dozen beautifully natural Christmas decorations are holiday decorating ideas that use natural materials such as this Au Naturel Birdseed Wreath!

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I love Yuletide Log's! Here's a Stuffed Buche de Noel created with felt fabric including a 2-part How-To Instruction by Erika Kerin at Craftstylish that you can probably whip now or for next year's Christmas decor!

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Dizzy Designs Homemade
Santa Sleigh

I'll be back with more ideas ASAP!

Happy Crafting, Diane :0)