Whimsical Woodland Mug Rug Swap

 

I recently participated in the "Whimsical Woodland Mug Rug Swap" which was hosted by So Charming.

 

We were asked to create a mug rug for our swap partner and to include a few extra little goodies.  Unlike other swaps this one had a spending cap of USD10 (approximately AUD12 - AUD15) retail on the extras and all extras had to follow the theme of the swap.  I loved this idea.  I loved that we had a limit to stick to which meant that we had to be creative! 

 

All photos on Instagram were posted with the hashtags #whimsicalwoodlandmugrug  & #jensstitches  There are some amazing photos in this feed so please check them out when you have time to do so. 

 

Our partners are secret so we do not know who is making for us - at least we won't know until our parcel arrives.  And who we make for may not be the same person who is making for us.  Our dispatch deadline was 25 January for international posting, or 2 February for domestic parcels.

 

My swap partner was Louisa Watts @loubeelou76 who lives in Western Australia.  I was told that Louisa likes pink, green, and autumn colours.  Her favourite woodland creatures are: fox, squirrel, hedgehog & owl. 

 

This is Louisa's inspiration mosaic

Louisa's parcel of awesomeness:

  

This is what I sent to Louisa.

 

Louisa's mug rug was 3 owls sitting on a branch, and there is a 4th owl who is about to land on the right hand side.  I also made her a zippered pouch and a key fob.  All of the fabrics used were from my stash.  I only had to purchase the ribbon, a zip and I buy the key fob hardware in bulk.

The back of the mug rug

This year I am printing labels for all my swaps.

I included some stickers

A lovely hedgehog card made by my friend Libby at Willow Fox Designs.

 

I didn't know if Louisa was a tea or coffee drinker so I included both.

I also included some washi tape and a rogue charm square that I found lurking in my fabric stash.

I used the left over ribbon from the key fob & the zipper bag to wrap part of her present.

 

Louisa's gifts were wrapped in woodland themed wrapping paper.

This has been one of my favourite swaps so far this year.  I really liked the idea of having a spending cap because it forced us to be creative.  Instead of just buying "stuff" to fluff up the parcel, how could we best invest our money and make something wonderful for our partner.  It's amazing what you can make with ribbon, zips and fabric!

I love stalking my partners - purely to find out enough about them to personalise their gifts, and of course to check if and when the parcels arrive.  It gave me so much pleasure to read Louisa's comments when she received her parcel:

At the time of writing this post I am yet to receive my own Whimsical Woodlands Mug Rug parcel but when I do I will write a separate post about it.  I have no idea who my partner is but there are so many gorgeous creations posted on Instagram under this swap's hashtags!

The Hoot has a home!

I received word that the little Hoot has reached his new home (see previous post) and I am happy to see that he coordinates with his new surroundings perfectly!

I gave a hoot!

When someone does something super wonderful for you, do you give a hoot? (To "give a hoot" is an idiom which means "to care about") Well, I do, and in this particular case, to say "thank you", I decided that I would give a Hoot!

It started with some eyes. I cut out two large blue circles & two smaller black circles from felt; and sewed them together with yellow embroidery floss using a blanket stitch.

And a Hoot's not a Hoot if it doesn't have footsies & flappers, so I cut those out of yellow felt & I blanket stitched around the edges with blue embroidery floss.

After I had attached the eyes, beak, flappers & footsies to the Hoot's body, I then machine sewed all the bits together leaving a small opening to stuff it.

This is my stuffing of choice - "Hobby Fill" from Spotlight. 

Please excuse the X-rated shot, but a Hoot's gotta get stuffed, and this was where his stuffing hole was...

And when my Hoot was stuffed I then sewed close his stuffing hole (the Hoot was gently anaesthetized first).

So there we have it, my finished Hoot:

 

Why don't you show someone special that you give a hoot by giving them a Hoot too!

This little Hoot is on his way to his new home. And no, I'm not going to spoil the surprise by telling you where he's going. Not yet anyway...

 

Would you like to make your own Hoot? 

Click here for Spotlight's "You're a Hoot Owl Cushion" Pattern.