Bookmark - Handmade Gift

I made this by hand for my 14 year old niece. It is part of her 8th grade graduation gift. She's a bookworm, so I made this bookmark, bought her a Prince Caspian book and will give her some money to buy herself whatever else she wants.

I cross-stitched the skull and crossbones on 14 count cloth. I chose pinks, grays and blacks because I've seen her wear these colors a lot. I chose the skull and crossbones because she's 14 and all the kids seem to be wearing shirts and carrying purses with them on it.

I tried to find black lace to trim it in but didn't have any luck, so I searched Michael's and Jo-Ann's and came up with the hot pink bandana to use as a backing for it. I cut out a piece of stiff plastic from an old report cover at work. I taped the cross-stitch fabric to that and I then cut out a piece of bandana big enough to fold around the edges slightly and hand stitched it all around to make the bookmark.

I know the hand stitching looks sloppy; I don't have a sewing machine, but I think it adds to the overall “punkness” of the design.

Home Sweet Home - Cross-Stitch

My daughter just bought her first house. She's 22 yrs old so that is quite an accomplishment. I decided to make her a special house warming gift from the heart.

I drove by her house...before she moved in, and took a photo of it. I did some editing, such as cropping, borders, etc. I then ordered an 8x10 print on Kodak Lustre paper.

I found a black metal frame and I bought a green mat. (I was trying to make it match her couch.)

I then created a "Home Sweet Home" cross-stitch pattern in colors again to match her couch. I hand stitched this, cut it to fit on the bottom of the green mat, then matted and framed the print to give to her.

I believe she was pleasantly surprised.

(If anyone would like the pattern, I have it in an Excel spreadsheet or I can make a pdf file, let me know and give me your email address...I will gladly send it to you.)