My Secret Sister!

The week before camp, Hope got her Secret Sister paper.  She was looking at it, and I walked into Young Women's Group to sit behind her, and I saw the paper.  I didn't mean to snoop, but you tend to notice when you see your name in your own handwriting.  So I new she was my Secret Sister.

I told Deanne, one of our leaders, about it, but I was going to act all surprised when I found out it was Hope.  I didn't mind knowing, though it does spoil the fun a little.

The first day of camp, Angela, our camp director, hung all the Secret Sister Pockets in the pavilion/shelter thing we had for cooking and general gathering.  It was so cool; it was like Christmas stockings all in a row.  A while later, Hope came bouncing out, all bubbly and excited, saying my name, and "Your Secret Sister came!"  I went and looked, and there was the prettiest pack of scrapbook paper!

All week I got cool stuff, and I tried to kind of mention it when Hope  was around.  I would kind of come up behind her sitting in a group, and show somebody my gift, and say, "Look, this is so cool!" and things like that.

On Wednesday night Hope's mom, Jill, came down to stay overnight. She slept in my tent, and Deanne had to leave camp because she had to work on Thursday.  I showed Jill all my Secret Sister stuff.  I said, "It's like she knows my heart." and "I'm pretty sure her mom helped her pick it out."  and "I kind of feel bad for my secret sister because I can't eat sweets, and I know that's hard when you can't give candy and stuff like that." I meant all of it, but I also wanted Jill to hear it because I knew she was the mom who helped pick it out.

On Friday morning, before we broke camp, all the girls were telling each other who their secret sisters were.  I went into our tent, and Deanne gave me this adorable little giraffe pen, and said, with a twinkle in her eye,

"I'm your Secret Sister!"  I said, "No, you're not! I know it's Hope."  I thought she was just trying to play a joke on me because Angela and I had played one on her the night before.

It turns out the joke really was on me!  She and Hope had traded so I would really be surprised.  Deanne, Hope, and Jill told each other everything I said about my secret sister all week.  They had such a good time, and never gave it away!

So it turns out that I was probably the only person at camp who hadn't figured out her Secret Sister by the end of the week!  It's hard to pull off a joke like that and fool me so completely, and it's awesome that they did!

Or did they?  Maybe the final joke was making me believe it was Deanne, and it was really Hope all along!  I guess I'll never know.

Ribboned Heart Clip

I found the cute little clips, with holes in the center, a set of four, in the dollar bins at Target. I got the ribbon there too. I simply wrapped the ribbon around the front, up through the hole in the clip, and  through the buttonholes. I tied a pretty bow and there it is.  This project didn't even require glue.

The other clips are different shapes and colors; this is the only one I decorated because it's for my Secret Sister at girls' camp.

Secret Sister Headbands

I'm off to girls' camp as a leader.  One of our traditions is to do Secret Sister acts. Everyone draws a name and does one small gift a day for their secret friend. In the end, of course, identity is revealed.

My secret sister is a 12-year-old girl who loves pink, brown, blue, and headbands, among other things.  I decided to do a headband a day along with other small gifts.  I picked up a set of plain headbands, took them home, and jazzed them up with hot glue and random decor, mostly things I had on hand from other projects.

The final results:

Blue.  I just used stick-on gems to jazz it up a bit.

Pink and purple: Ribbon Glued on to the sides. I glued an extra little bit around the ends to give a more finished look.

Fluffy Flower--side view and details:
I wrapped it with ribbon first so the glue would stick better between the buttons and the headband.

Elegant Flowers:
I sewed the ribbon on both sides, put it on the headband, and glued the ends closed.  The flowers are glued in uneven layers on the ribbon, then topped by an old gold button.

"Gemstone" Tiara:

For this one, I simply cut a section out of an old necklace and glued it on over a ribbon wrapping.  This necklace used to be my mom's, but thrift stores are also a good place to find that sort of thing.

I wish I had bookmarked all the websites where I got the ideas and instructions, but if you are a crafter, these are pretty easy to figure out.

Have a grand day--with your hair out of your face!

Secret Sister Treasure Box

Girls pick up all sorts of interesting small things at camp, so my first gift to my secret sister will be a treasure box.

I found the box and the foam letters in the dollar bins at Target. The gems and buttons are leftovers from other projects. The flower petals are the centers of all the O's in the letter kit.

It's hard to see the F on the green, but it's in there! And below, one last button, strategically placed for love.

My Two-Hour One-Hour Skirt

 I had seen one-hour skirt tutorials on the internet, and I thought that would be a good project for this piece of fabric. I love the flowers, but it was the end of the bolt, and there wasn't enough for the straight or bias-cut skirt patterns I have.

I simply took the fabric, which was about twice as long as my waist, folded it with the ends together, so the selvage was at the top and bottom, and sewed a seam.

I added a machine-stitched hem and elastic casing at the top, strung the elastic through, and tried it on. Deciding it was about 8 inches too long, I cut off six inches and then re-hemmed it using up two-inches in the hem.  I decided to just go ahead and machine hem it.

No pins needed except while working with the elastic, just a good iron. Press in the hem or casing and head for the machine.

So why two hours?  Well...the thread got caught in the tension thingie on my machine once, and the bobbin thread broke once, and my old eyes couldn't see what size the needle was (I'm going to buy the color-coded ones from now on!) and then I was all done and had to cut off and re-hem the bottom.

And that extra piece?  I am going to use it for a ruffle for a skirt or dress for my grand-daughter! It's already hemmed; I just have to gather it and sew it on!

 This picture shows how full it is; for a thinner skirt, just use less length.

Does the skirt make me look fat?  No, I already am.  I actually got tons of compliments on it!