Shortcut Gift Ideas (Showoff!) #1, #2, and #3

I didn't make a passel of Christmas gifts this year, but I did decorate some pre-made things to make them pretty.

Sometimes, I like to take shortcuts.

Shortcut Idea #1:

I gave my sister-in-law April embellished potholders to pair with kitchen towels and oven mitts.  Exciting, I know!  Her kitchen has a chicken theme, hence proud Chanticleer on the potholder.  I cut him out and appliqued him using the same ultra-professional technique I used for these pillow pieces a few years back.  And if you want to do the same, may I suggest putting a rooster on one potholder and a egg-sitting hen in a nest of hay on the second?   At the last minute, frantically sewing on the rooster, I regretted only thinking of that immediately before we needed to set out.

Shortcut Idea #2:

Buy some pillowcases because you didn't leave time to make some (drive your mother crazy with this unnecessary expense); applique on a few items in lime to match your sis-in-law Sarah's bedroom color scheme.  Even more exciting than the potholders, huh?!  We also gave her a dress and some chocolates, so we're not completely dorky.

Shortcut Idea #3:

I stole the bathmat idea from my friend Rebecca for a Christmas gift last year (as I explain in a post below), and I re-used it this year for my mom-in-law.  A pig on a bathmat?  Yes, a pig on a bathmat.  They're cute, dang it!  Her bathroom is black and coral, and she likes pigs, so there you have it.

Oink.