Christmas in July

If you're like me and you love Christmas,

you are going to love what's coming up this month!

First off, we'll have fun with the

Across The Pond Sew Along.

Susie has selected the theme for

this month, and it is

"Christmas in July!"

{I can hardly wait to see what Susie and Amanda are dreaming up.}

Also, I invite you to join the blog hop over at

The Crafty Quilter,

as Julie hosts a new Christmas project

every day between July 12 and 19.

{I'll have something new and special to share, too!}

Here is the schedule for The Crafty Quilter blog hop:

July 12:  Amy - Amy Made That 

July 13:  Amanda - The Patchsmith

July 14;  Elaine - Summercrafter

July 15:  Sarah - Sarah Rose Quilts

July 15 - Patricia - Quilting Lines

July 17:  Sheri - Sunshine in the Attic

July 18:  Julie - The Crafty Quilter

July 19:  Wrap Up and prizes

Now, if you've been reading my blog all year,

you already know that I've been making

at least one Christmas-y project

each month, all year long.

{Nothing like waiting until June 29th to start this month's project!}

I decided to make some Holiday Gift Tags,

using the free patterns and tutorials

from Pretty by Hand and Nana Company blogs.

{I've had my eye on these beauties for such a long time!}

Photo from Nana Company blog

I had all the stuff on hand,

and just needed to collect everything and print the templates.

This is a really quick and fun project.

I was able to stitch up the basic tags very quickly.

I used some Pellon Decor-Bond

for the fusible interfacing.

It was easy to trace the pattern and cut out the shapes.

I added a bit of trim before I stitched the layers together.

The top-stitching helped to define

the curves on the fancy shapes.

{TIP:  I shortened my stitch length juuuuust a tad to 2.0.}

I used a Darice kit for making little teeny eyelets.

How easy!

Here's the reverse side...also very pretty.

Hmm...don't you think they still needed

a little something "extra"?

I got my little buttons out,

to see if any of those would work.

 Oooooh.  That's much better!

Then I had a couple of bright ideas.

I made this little folded hexagon,

and added that pretty red button.

I made the tiniest yo-yo

and added another button

I'd saved from a favorite dress.

I can't wait to make some more!

Maybe I'll just add a sticker on the back

with the "to" and "from" names.

{See the comments below for BETTER ideas!!!}

I would love to be able to use these over and over

through the years.

All in all, not a bad finish, for the end of June.

Come back often in July for more great Christmas ideas!