i've finished my mittens for the holiday ornament swap! i didn't manage to mail them today because while i was sitting in my car packaging them up in the post office parking lot i ran out of packing tape. they'll go out tomorrow.

one extra is shown in the picture that didn't go out in the swap, i must have counted wrong. i ended up making fifteen instead of just the nine i'm sending out. one went to my coworker but i'm not sure yet where the extras will go.
these tiny mittens are made out of the scraps of old sweaters that i felted to use for other (secret) christmas projects. two of my fingers fit perfectly inside of each mitten, in case you're wondering how big they are. the buttons are all from my nana's collection, which i still keep in the small boxes of drawers she had them in. they're still organized by color the way that she kept them. i've also supplemented hers with some buttons from a button jar i scored at a local yard sale last spring. since i have my nana's sewing box the hand sewing was done with her needles. all of the lace and trims came out of a huge bag that i found at saver's a couple of months ago. i bought only one of two bags and at the time i wondered what i would do with all of that lace, but now i'm thankful to have purchased it. most of the embroidery floss came from saver's too, but that's a little harder to keep track of. i'm sure all of the thread i used was thrifted (most of it is on wooden spools) but i can't remember where specific thread came from. some of it is coats and clark, which i always get a kick out of using since it used to be made locally in warren, RI.
i'm so excited about these ornaments! it's so fun to finish a christmas project so early. it's quite a relief, actually, since i'm travelling three times between now and december. texas for work, maryland for thanksgiving and chicago for fun.
i can't wait to start getting ornaments in return.
now i really need to get cracking on christmas present crafts.