Finally the wedding gift is complete!
Four place mats, two pot holders, and some flowers. Appliqued flowers and a small amount of hand quilting on the plain side of these mats added just the touch I was looking for.
It is difficult for me to discard anything that seems whole and usable. Below is an example.
...PACKING PAPER...
I am thrilled whenever I receive a package that is stuffed with 'newsprint' weight paper instead of the Styrofoam peanuts that seem so prevalent. I actually think the paper has a beauty to it and I simply can not throw it away. So I smooth it out, fold it up, and store it for future use. Sometimes it is used to wrap rugs, sometimes it is drawing paper for the grandchildren or sometimes it is used just as a wrap.
Perhaps I got carried away, some people would say I am prone that way, but I decided to continue the theme of a reclaimed wedding gift, with reclaimed wrap. My initial thought was to use actual day lilies and some chives to press between the paper, hoping that the color would transfer. Well, the chives transferred beautifully while the lilies became mush. So on to the next idea which was to paint flowers on the paper. Keeping the paper on the very wrinkled side, I used water colors to make flowers like those on the mats. Using colored pencils I enhanced the flowers and added a few other touches that helped it match the fabric.
Some handmade fabric flowers to place on the package seemed appropriate. Not exactly knowing what I was doing, I fashioned the wool flowers below. Actually, I really like these and have decided that this is something I will make more of.
If the newly weds receive a fraction of the joy I got out of creating this gift, perhaps there is something to even 'recycling' joy!
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