Ruffled Flower Headband

I just finished revising our Ruffled Flower pattern for The Cloth Parcel, and I just had to share!  I love how this pattern turned out.  We added an elastic headband option to the pattern, along with instructions for using regular cotton material.  Originally, this pattern was written for using denim material, like in our Scarf and Ruffled Flower craft kit.  I thought it could use a little update, since it was one of our very first patterns written just about a year ago.  In the last year, we have learned quite a bit about how we like our patterns to be laid out, taking product photos, and how to write things to be a little more readable.

I am so pleased with how this pattern turned out!  These flowers are the perfect embellishment for every little girl.  The headbands make the sweetest little baby shower gifts, stocking stuffers, and the pins work for ladies of all ages.

 

Curvy Pleated Pouch & New Mom Hospital Survival Kit

I discovered this curvy pleated pouch tutorial on Pinterest from Charm Stitch months ago, but I only thought to make some a couple of weeks ago for Christmas gifts.  I made two, and they both turned out super cute, although I didn't get any photos of the second one.  I would have made another one for myself, but I ran out of zippers (and time).  I loved that I was able to use some of my cute fabric scraps for these, too.

My sister-in-law is pregnant and due with her first baby soon, and I had her name for the gift exchange, so I thought it might be fun to do a little "Hospital Survival Kit" to go inside the pouch.  It's kind of hard to tell in these first pictures, but these pouches end up as a pretty good sized clutch, so there is a bit of room in there.  Having had two kids myself, I was able to think of a few little luxuries that are nice to have in the hospital.  Here's what I included:

Socks, lip balm, mints, and nail polish may seem like silly things to send, but when you are sitting in a hospital room wearing an ugly gown and not quite feeling yourself, it's the little things that cheer you up and make you feel like a normal person again.  Lip balm is great for when you aren't allowed to eat anything, mints for when you can't get up and brush your teeth, nail polish for if you get some downtime, and socks are the only clothes of your own you can wear all the time.

I had so much fun putting this together, that I may have to start taking these to baby showers.  Hopefully I get around to making one for myself, as I'll be wanting it come March!

ETA: You can buy this Cabbage Rose fabric by Heather Bailey online from The Cloth Parcel!

Molten Cake Neighbor Gifts

For our neighbor gifts this year, we decided to go with a fun treat that didn't necessarily have to be eaten right away.  Let's be honest, there's a huge overload of sugary treats this time of year, so why not give something that can be saved until all the festivities die down?  For this quick and easy gift, all you need is a box of cake mix, a recipe card, and a piece of festive ribbon.  I also added some cute Christmas cards that I was able to get on a deal last month.

I included the recipe for a family favorite-- single serving molten chocolate cake.  I would totally give you a printable for the recipe, but my computer did an auto-update before I had a chance to save the file.  Here's the recipe, though:

Single Serving Molten Chocolate Cake
 1/2 cup chocolate cake mix
1/3 cup water
Hot fudge
Chocolate or white chocolate chips
Whipped topping or ice cream
 
In a microwave safe, cereal size bowl, stir cake mix and water together for one minute.  Top with five generous teaspoons of hot fudge and sprinkle on some chocolate or white chocolate chips.  Microwave 95 seconds.  Top with ice cream or whipped topping.  

The best part about this recipe is that you can really do any variation you can think of with the chocolate chips and toppings.  Hot fudge is a must if you are going for the molten cake taste.  Since baking supplies are generally on sale this time of year, you should be able to make these for a pretty reasonable price.  I was able to get the cake mixes for about a dollar at Winco, but I think it's a really great gift for that cost.

Good luck to any last-minute gifters!  We were able to finish all our shopping today, and boy does it feel great.