Homemade presents are the best to get and give:

My sister is having a birthday, she does that every year in fact...and she is not the easiest person to find a gift for. She always seems to have everything she needs and wants and her tastes in many things is quite different than mine (she likes loud and bright, I like muted earth tones). The past few years, I've made a concerted effort to buy gifts that I think she might like (instead of ones I do). But this year, I was having trouble finding anything.

I went out shopping with my friend JJ. It seemed that everything I found was MADE IN CHINA and we are determined to avoid buying Chinese goods which can be extremely challenging these days. I found something I thought my sister might like...it involved an American flag and red white and blue. Unfortunately, the label said "Made in C...." Well, we just couldn't stomach the idea of an American flag motif made in China, so back it went onto the display.

My sister didn't get the Made in China item, she got a handmade set...two potholders made from recycled sweaters, 2 knit dishcloths, and a knitted scrubbie. It took me 3 days to make this little gift, but it is truly one of a kind, especially since I'm unlikely to knit dishcloths or a scrubbie for anyone else, they take too dang long to make and the scrubbie was really hard on my hands. Happy Birthday, Sis! And thanks to Deb and Amber for the patterns!

Oh and you may have noticed these kitchen goodies aren't loud or bright, but they match her kitchen!