Free Christmas gift pattern number 3...

 

With finances tight for many families and singles these days, creating small gifts which can fit inside a card, whether for Christmas or birthdays, means we can still reach out with love to family and friends near or far. 

The three little gifts included in this one pattern today can be sewn using small scraps of fabric, and embellished with beads, lace, ribbons, tiny buttons - the small bits and bobs we save because they are pretty and we hope to use them one day. 

Inside this free pattern you will find not just embroidery instructions, but tutorials for making the sweet gifts. The lavender sachet below can be kept under a pillow, in an underwear or nightgown drawer, or hung as I have done from a coat hanger in the closet. 

The bookmark is a lovely gift to send to an avid reader, and could even be gifted inside a book. Are there some lovely books on your shelf which you will no longer need or read? Consider regifting them with a pretty bookmark, or perhaps you could sew a pretty cover for the book using one of the little embroidery motifs in this pattern set? 

For many years I would gift Blossom one of my vintage novels every Christmas, and she was thrilled to receive the beautiful works of Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott and other favourite authors which I had read with her during our homeschooling years. Now they sit on her own shelves, awaiting the day when she can begin reading them to her own daughters. Perhaps you can do something similar with treasured books to be handed down?

The gift card is such a cute way to dress up a wrapped present, but is also lovely just as it is because it can be used as another bookmark. 

One of my projects for 2024 is to make a box of these kind of gift cards, using small fabric pieces such as vintage or recycled linen, lovely cottons, sweet satins and old lace. I'll also make some of the lavender sachets and the bookmarks, because there's nothing more satisfying than to have pretty handmade, useful, gifts on hand to send away in a card. 

Oh, and I'll also be making cards, something I have planned for the longest of times, but which has not been followed through on thus far.

Use the link below to download the free pattern.

DOWNLOAD We Three Gifts pattern

If you missed the first two free 2023 Christmas gift patterns they are HERE and HERE

Not a lot has been happening here at home. There's been no rain other than the hour we received a week ago, so the garden is a bit worse for wear. My roses easily scorch on the tips of their petals if I don't pick them first thing in the morning, when still at the budding stage, yet they smell divine and grace my desk with beauty and dignity. 

Blossom bought me a bunch of sunshine yellow chrysanthemums last weekend and they are still as fresh as ever! That's what I enjoy about mums - they last and last, decorating your home with their presence for weeks. 

As we need to stay indoors more at this time of year due to the intense heat and humidity, once the housework is done I settle down for a bit of reading and a cuppa. I have all three of Rhonda Hetzel's books, and have read them a few times each, but this little one is brilliant for a condensed read and I have highlighted and made notes all through it - adding more each time I read it. 

If you haven't got her two large volumes, or don't have finances for them, then let me assure you that this small book is simply marvellous for learning of her journey to a simpler life, the success and freedom she and her husband found, as well as the challenges along the way. Its available here on Amazon Australia

It's also available here on Amazon US and I just checked and the Kindle version is only $2.99 at the moment. 

I am NOT an amazon affiliate, just really love her books and think this little one is a great place to start. 

Molly-dog is now one year old, and has become our little shadow, no matter where we are. The funny thing about pugs is that they don't look happy, and yet I have found them to be very happy dogs. Molly loves her toys but her favourite is a piece of checked fabric which I tied with a knot in the centre. She was getting into mischief in my sewing room, you see, pouncing on any bits of fabric I dropped...so I thought, "Aha, you are fabric lover too are you, Missy? Then you shall have your own." Since she got her own large piece she has not touched mine. Yay. 

Many of our sunflowers have gone to seed now, which has brought even more birds to the garden. A gorgeous pair of red-winged parrots visit each afternoon to feast, and they are joy to behold! 

The cockatoos prefer to eat from the bird feeder, as do the rainbow lorikeets, but these parrots swing back and forth on the sunflowers and have dinner there instead. 

I have been doing some more crochet edging, but mostly for my older daughters. I'm sending them new crochet-edged tea towels for Christmas (they live in other states far from us) as they both prefer something handmade for gifts. I bought tea towels on sale at Bed, Bath & Table yesterday, in a mix of styles as both girls (and Blossom too) have very different preferences. These are a few I'm working on today...

I finished this blue one last night. It only takes an hour and keeps my hands occupied while we listen to a sermon, or teaching on various subjects like gardening in the tropics or health related seminars.

I always match the cotton yarn with the print of the tea towel, and leave a few pairs on the table at a time so that even if I only have twenty minutes or so of free time (while dinner is cooking perhaps) I can pick one up and make a start for later in the evening.

This is the new runner I'm working on for the top of a chest of drawers in our bedroom. I'll get back to it once all the girl's gifts are made. It's more of the Cath Kidston cotton duck fabric I have had on hand for years. 

Today is Charlie David's 3rd birthday!!

But I am going to ask you to pray for him as he has been ill for a few days - dreadfully high fever, vomiting etc. It has gone through all of Blossom's children, plus Ross (and it was his first week on his new job), but little Charlie got it last of all. So we shan't see him today as he needs rest and healing. Your prayers would be the best birthday gift. ((thank you))

Did I ever tell you that the 'David' in his name was for King David? Blossom always knew that if she had a son she'd want him to be a man after God's own heart and that she would have David in his name so that she could teach him all about his namesake and how God was able to use him. 

(Charlie David pretending to be Nana at her desk - :-)

How are YOU?? What's been happening in your life this past week? Is there anything you need prayer for? Just ask. xxx

My love and prayers go out for all of you who read along, knowing that our God hears them and acts on your behalf because He loves you so much. His answers may not always be what we wanted, they may not come as swiftly as we'd hoped, and for a while we might think He is deaf to our needs...but no, He is our Father and He always answers prayers in the way that is best for us because He is outside of time and knows the beginning from the end. So, we must have faith, hold fast to hope, always choosing to live according to God's Word, and remembering we were bought at a great price by the blood of His Son.

We have a cyclone on the way, and the Bureau of Meteorology expect it to hit somewhere around our region on Wednesday if it follows their predicted trajectory, however, having lived in this cyclone region for more than fourteen years now, I know that cyclones can change their track at any time, so it may move further north, go south, or decide to make landfall here. For the next few days we'll just watch and prepare 'in case' it comes close to home. Thanks for all the emails asking me about it's proximity to us. I'll update on Monday when I share the fourth free pattern. 

God bless you all!

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Crochet edging, family and work...

 THANK YOU so much for all the prayers for our menfolk. I am thrilled to tell you that both our men are now employed, and most grateful. 

Blossom's hubby and mine have both lost a considerable percentage of their previous incomes with these new jobs, but as we know, the Lord provides where there is need, and we PRAISE Him with full hearts for three reasons - work for our menfolk to do; income to pay rent/mortgage and put food on the table; and a biggie...more opportunities to learn ways to live on less. My husband broke a bone in his hand whilst working in the garden, and that came just as he began the new job so he could not take any time off. Fortunately, he's still able to do the work, and we're hopeful for a swift healing. 

Blossom is back to home-schooling, and her heart overflows with delight at this. After experiencing the public school system, she and Ross decided it was not the right place for their children. Cully May is already enrolled in the local Christian school for next year so they may continue with that plan for her, but Rafaella and Charlie (who is on the autistc spectrum) will be home-schooled. So as you can see, there are changes and challenges afoot within our family, but we are a happy bunch, and always there for each other, so with the Lord by our side we shall continue to grow in His Word and His ways. 

This time of year in the tropics of Northern Australia always is my worst season for migraines, the barometric kind that simply cannot be stemmed. I'm quite used to them after a lifetime of chronic migraines. There are many triggers that I can keep under control by avoidance (if possible) such as certain foods, tiredness, bright lights, certain chemicals etc...but the barometric (weather) related migraines cannot be avoided at all. Anyhow, I accept them, and always look for ways to function in the midst of them.

This year I have discovered that gentle crochet edging is incredibly calming and so I spend my down-time each day or in the evenings, with this very simple and pretty craft. I began with a couple of small circular projects with fabric and cotton 5ply yarn, more as a practice than anything, and when I realised how relaxing it was to make them I began on larger projects using cotton drill on the front and fabric on the back.

Hubby and I took a lovely day trip to Taylors Beach and Lucinda last week before he started his job, and I completed this green table topper in the car on the way home (I get very tired on the trips home unless I have something to stitch, or crochet). 

Next I made a slightly larger topper with some floral linen I bought back in 2014 and red cotton yarn crochet edging, but forgot to take a photo. The following project was made with some of my vintage stash of Cath Kidston cotton drill...

...and it now graces my desk. Honest, this makes me smile every time I sit down at the computer! 

Yesterday I completed another runner using more of my my Cath Kidston stash, and a pink cotton crochet edging. This was made to cover the side table I use beside the couch, which holds my bible, iPad and whatever craft project I am currently working on. I chose fabric which blended with the turquoise of the side table, and it looks so pretty now.

Something else I made to enhance the home décor this season, was to frame some lovely cards I had purchased a while back. They have been sitting and waiting until I found just the right frames, and the other day I found some at the local cheap shop for $5 each, and they framed the cards beautifully. 

I think these type of framed cards would make lovely gifts for this time of year, don't you? The cards were purchased in a pack of twelve from Koorong last year. The frames were purchased locally at the Reject Shop

I have added a few new patterns to my Etsy Shop that you may like to stitch. The October Stitchery Club set is now retired, but two of the single patterns in it are available, as well as another newbie you may not have seen. You can check them out HERE.

How are YOU? Do you need prayer? Do you have some praises to share? Perhaps you're working on gentle crafts too? I'd love to know, and so would others. 

Bless you heaps, dear ones, and may the favour of the Lord be upon you in all you do, say and need. To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Hugs

Don't miss out on any Elefantz news or free patterns. 

Subscribe to my blog posts HERE and receive them direct to your email inbox.  

Or sign up HERE for my free newsletter which often has extra benefits, freebies & tutorials!