Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Christmas at the Eleventh Hour

Not that I wait til the last minute or anything, but it looks like I've only bought one (1) Christmas present so far. No sense waiting til the last minute, I always say.
But luckily while I was taking a break from quilting another one of Charmaine's gynormous quilts, I found a mess of these mug rug patterns over at Beaquilter.
Bea's designed them all in EQ7 and, if you have the software, she's willing to share the project file with you! And even if you don't, you can use any favorite block and adapt it to make your own mug rug design. They are so quick and easy, I might just be giving these to everyone on my list. Don't know how it'll go over with the 2-7yr old crowd.
And while we're talking about being unprepared for Christmas (cuz 364 days advance notice is never enough), raise your hand if you've ever run out of gift tags at 11:59pm Christmas Eve! Be honest... I've used scrapbook alphabet stickers stuck directly onto the package, a rectangle of wrapping paper folded in half and written on (but the 'pages' don't lay flat - they curl into each other unless you iron them. And yes, I did), brown paper grocery bags cut with my pinking blade rotary cutter, magic marker directly onto the wrapping paper...very classy. Then one year I designed some gift tags in EQ and printed those out, even though they weren't Christmas-themed. They're available Here. Maybe if I can find a few minutes I'll put together some Christmas ones before...well...Christmas. 2012, more likely.
BUT! Look what else I found!
Gift tags designed by Jim Shore! They're free (yay!) downloadable, and already formatted for stick on labels. Or you could print them on cardstock, cut 'em out, punch a hole in the corner and tie them to your packages. Check 'em out on his website, Here
Break-time's over - back to quilting!

7 comments:

AnnieLiz said...

Kewl! Thanks for the great ideas. I'm gonna see if I can use the Jim Shore labels for place cards. As for the 11th-hour gift tag dilemmas, no, that's never happened to me. Ever. Really. No, REALLY.

Okay ... maybe once. Or annually. :-p~

Merry Christmas!

Diane said...

Lies...

Deb and Mandy said...

Can't wait to see all your mug rugs!

Tom said...

Congratulations on your new blog and on getting all your Christmas gifts taken care of. You are an inspiration to me. :-)

Diane said...

You're so funny, Tom!
So far, I still have that one lonely present bought (not even wrapped) and several ideas for mug rugs. But that's as far as it's gotten...
They say it's the thought that counts - I hope so, cuz that's all I've got!
Wishing you a Merry Christmas -
D.

Reeze Hanson said...

Diane, I love the mug rug and labels. You find the coolest stuff. I can't wait to see Cabin Too. Hope you are posting pics as you go along. Merry Christmas sweetie. Love ya bunches.

Carla said...

Thanks for sharing the Jim Shore Christmas Tag site. I too saw Bea's EQ Mug rugs.. Wonder if maybe I can make 1 or 2 before next Christmas.........hmmmmm