Handmade Holiday Gifts

When christmas is over I often tell myself Don't make your gifts by hand next year.. it takes foreeeever!! But then a year goes by and I forget what I told myself a year back. Often I also want to explore new ways to create gifts... like painting porcelain, I've never tried that before.

To Robert I bought some cups but I also wanted to try and paint some myself. So I bought a simple white teapot in IKEA that I thought fitted a good amount (1,7 liter) and simple white cups in a different store. I didn't use a porcelain-pen because the black was out of stock until january, so I bought a little jar with color in panduro. It can be tricky to paint correctly with a brush so I mainly used a very thin iron-wire that I dipped in the color. Then you let it try for 24 hours and afterwards you leave it in the oven for 35 minutes at 150°. It's tempting to buy vintage porcelain to paint.... but remember that old porcelain isn't as good at handling oven or microwave. I don't think you have to bake the color if you draw with porcelain pencils though... but then it doesn't really stand the dishwasher.

To Roberts sister I made a little purse from curtain fabric and an old purple velvet skirt. I painted the outside with a textile pencil... I had to borrow one from Robert though, because the ones they sell in panduro really suck. I normally use jars with color for this too... but it takes forever to draw with an iron-wire and it doesn't get very precise.

For Roberts father I painted a jar with glass color and filled it up with good night tea. His mum got an apron that I sewed from a tulip fabric I bought a long time ago and an old red linen curtain. The name's painted with a textile pen.

In January I'll celebrate christmas with my family, and I have hardly started on those gifts yet...määh.

I hope you had a wonderful christmas!