Gnomes

I've been having fun putting together a couple of gifts for a friend that likes gnomes. First is a simple wooden box that is embellished with a cross stitch gnome on the lid.

The box is a Hand Made Modern wooden box from Target, and the gnome pattern comes from the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's Woodland Sampler (you have to decrease the height of the gnome hat to make it fit).  I started with cross stitch thread but wasn't getting the coverage I wanted, and then changed to use sock yarn from my stash.

I think it turned out pretty cute. Turns out that I wasn't the only one - Naomi asked if I would make a box for her too. For her box I opted for a simple initial in colours that match her room.

This is a simple, quick and easy project. There are some fiddly elements - dealing with the lid as you stitch and tucking in the end of each threads But otherwise it's a straightforward make, with a cute result.

The other project is a storage basket made from the adorable Heather Ross gnome fabric, together with some Michael Miller polka dots.

The pattern is a modified version of the popular, free pattern: One Hour Basket from Hearts and Bees. My modifications were to make it larger:

• I cut 4 pieces of fabric that were 17 x 21 inches
• The square cutouts for each corner were 3.5 inches
• I folded over approx 3 inches of the polka dot fabric at the top of the basket and top stitched across the top and bottom of this polka dot band

The storage basket is quite floppy - which could be a result of the larger size. But if I were to do this again, I'd probably use a stiffer interfacing. However, with enough yarn stashed inside, it stands up quite nicely :)

Hope that you are having a fabulous weekend.
Love,
Sam
xxx