Meet Horace

Spoiler alert: Sara - don't read until your package arrives!




I'd like to introduce a very brief friend of mine, Horace the Hog:



And here is the south end of a north-facing Horace:



Pig tails rock!

Horace was a brief friend because he was sent on his way yesterday to his new home in South Bend, Indiana as part of our Holiday Traditions Exchange hosted by Montessouri by Hand. I had to get his hammy little self in the mail before I claimed him as my own. His pattern is from Wee Wonderfuls, so I could always make another. Maybe Hortense, his sister, in pinks? I really liked the gold and love colors together (from my husband's mom's vintage stash). I didn't make him attached to a little wagon because it seemed too binding. A pig's got to live free to kick up his trotters when the need arises.

The moms and kids in each family are exchanging hand-made ornaments. To celebrate our move out to the sticks, we thought that we'd try a country theme and went with felt for our ornaments.



Brendan made the polka dot one for a fellow-nine-year-old with the craziest color combinations that he could muster. Erin was making one for a two-year-old and was very specific about making a "Christmas scene". She tried several iterations before discovering these buttons. I think she wanted to add glitter, but since these took the better part of three hours to complete, we simply ran out of time. Also, I was afraid the little guy would end up eating/wearing all the glitter if he got to playing with it, so we just tucked in a little padding for extra squishiness. Love how the pinked edging makes the backing part of the design.



Here is our troop ready for mailing.

We were also to include a tutorial on a family tradition (mine was about how we make Potato Chip cookies - powdered sugar coated cookies), a family recipe, some Christmas tunes, or anything else we wanted to add. I tucked in a felt recipe card holder with Christmas Eggnog, Potato Chip Cookies, and Cheese Things recipes. (My country theme is starting to sound like a white-trash Christmas!) We also added a few chocolates and some more crafts to make a package more fun.



Here are the packages ready for packing into their mailing carton.



Erin and Brendan labeled their presents with such care. Love the little drawings.

So off our package goes. We hope it brings all the good cheer of Christmas to our newest friends. Merry Christmas!