Dear daughter thought it would be fun if she and I shared a (not so) secret Santa swap this year. She put a mailbox outside her room. When the flag is up, someone has a secret Santa message or gift. I have gotten some delightful treasures and some Christmas poems that will be cherished. My gifts to her have been fun — the Five Crowns card game (inspired by Bumblebeans), some fun new erasers and a Shinzi Katoh pen, etc. These are all things I was planning to give her for Christmas anyway but it has been even more fun to dole them out slowly kind of like an uplanned advent calendar. Had she gotten them on Christmas, they would have been mixed up in the jumble of the day’s gifts. This way, we can take the time to enjoy each one individually.
One thing that arrived in the secret Santa mailbox last week was a single cloth napkin (inspired by Lily). I’ve been meaning to do this. I even bought a rolled hem foot (apparently I need a class to use this thing). But I saw this great narrow rolled hem tutorial last week and said, bah, I don’t need no stinkin’ rolled hem foot! Zip, zip, zip, narrow hems on napkins. I made some more today:
The cloth napkin made dear daughter SO happy — not just the cute fabric but that I was trying to be “greener.” I also picked up some more re-usable snack and lunch box containers today so I can stop using so many loathsome plastic bags. I’m getting there.
Did you see Jan’s post about Keiko Goke? And, yes, the rumors of her fabric availability are true! GORGEOUS!
































