Package Pals~~What Melinda Sent~~

I got my package pals gift from Melinda in Australia today!  We got our packages on the same day which I thought was funny!

Vintage trims, a sheepish bag, pincushion and key fob pattern, hand written and drawn by Melinda…very sweet touch

and some maps of Australia with notes written by Melinda showing me where she lived…she is a nurse like me and so I was interested in seeing where she had worked on King Island.

This package was packed full of things…

like this sweet owl and flower necklace.

and this really cool vintage ship trim ribbon.  Very cool!

A sweet owl fridge magnet and a tiny, tiny purse with a tiny embroideried lady on a button on the side, trimmed in pearls and very sweet! 

This package was stuffed full of sweet things!

I just kept pulling little things out…

Sweet little fabric pouch…

and look at the tiny little embroideried rose on the tag of the pouch!

Then we have a tiny water color of violets in a planter…Melinda did this herself. I am looking for a tiny frame for it now.

but this is on the back of the painting…I like it too, but have to choose which one to frame!

And a paper bag full of vintage embroidery transfers.  I love these dancing sailors, how great would they look dancing across a white flour sack towel?

And..then there’s this…

Hmmm, it’s a book with handles, or is it??

No, it’s a silk lined purse!

with a pocket…

So very cute!

There was also a pearl wrap bracelet which I wore to work today.

And the whole gift was wrapped in the vintage fabric you see in the background here!  What a wonderful package pal gift!  I am so glad I decided to sign up for the international partner!

Thanks Melinda for such a thoughtful package!!  You clearly poured your heart into preparing it for me…I love all the personal touches!

I love the whole Package Pal concept!  Thanks to Jamie at C.R.A.F.T. and Julia at Stars and Sunshine for organizing all this!

You can see what I sent to Melinda here!

 

Package Pals~~What I sent~~

This is the first time my package pal didn’t have a blog or pinterest board or some way for me to get to know her…luckily Melinda sent me pictures and told me a lot about herself. She lives in Australia and is a nurse like me and seems we both like vintage and we had an instant connection. So I had an idea of what she liked…I hoped anyway!  So I made her a flower pin from felted/fulled wool.

Melinda has this thing for caravans…so I whipped up a pillow with a hopefully recognizeable caravan.  I almost decided to keep it myself but decided to send it off to Australia!

Actually I had fun making it…thought it turned out pretty cute!

I sent it with the flower pin,

some wool felt from my stash,

and a pink bunting made from a vintage sheet. 

I love the whole Package Pal concept!  Thanks to Jamie at C.R.A.F.T. and Julia at Stars and Sunshine for organizing all this!

The funny thing is that Melinda and I both got our packages in the mail the same day!  How unlikely is that??  I am working on a second post for the package Melinda made for me!  It was too awesome to include in the same post!

Fabric Organizer Basket

I saw that Jenn over at A Jennuine Life had made one of these for a package pal exchange.  I loved hers and so went over to Noodlehead and bought that pattern. 

Jenn is a much more professional seamstress than me, not that I am not proud of my finished product…what’s that you say?  It looks like the center divider is crooked, NO, that can’t be!!  Note to self—use matching thread instead of contrasting thread…that way when you stitch all willy-nilly it won’t be as obvious!

I used scraps I had at home…the pattern was fairly easy to use.  It comes with full sized pattern pieces that you just cut out and tape together, so there is no enlarging and all that stuff. 

The basket is a nice size, holds enough but isn’t too large!  I am going to use it to hold yarn and crochet hooks and such.

I might be linking up to these great parties…

A thrifted and made-over wooden box

I wanted to show you the end result before I showed you this…

I found this Christmas box at the thrift store…a big fifty cents!  About the only thing it had going for it was that it is all wood and put together well, so it’s sturdy!  I sanded it down a bit, and it took about four days, seems like I sanded off 12-13 layers of paint!

I had been saving a card I got from my package pal Michelle with the cutest owl she had made on the front!  I cut that puppy out and added it to one side of the box, three of the sides I added this…

Yup, a vintage dictionary page with my sister Sarah’s last name on that page…

and her first name on another side…Sarah—Hebrew for Princess!

And on the last side I painted on chalkboard paint.  I painted the inside because you can see so much of it, it’s a few shades lighter than the outside, because I was trying to use up some paint that I had already.

Isn’t that owl cute??  I filled the box with some craft supplies, some washi tape, some stitch markers I made like earrings.

I gave it to Sarah this past weekend with another gift I made which I will post about soon!

I will be linking to these great parties!

October Package Pals—What I Sent!

I participated for the fourth time in the Package Pals gift exchange hosted by Jamie at C.R.A.F.T.!   I was matched with Michelle and this is what I sent her…hopefully it arrived by 10/31/12.  I was a bit late with it as I had been on vacation for a few weeks…

I hope you like it Michelle!

Thanks to Jamie for hosting Package Pals!  I love to participate!