Quick, Easy, and Cheap Gift

Want to make a gift that looks like you spent all day on it? Of course you do. Here's something EJ showed me that take about five minutes to make.

Take three fabrics you like or are for some holiday, like Thanks Giving or Christmas.

Pick one for the center and two for the surrounding. Cut 4 inch squares. You'll need nine total, one center and four each surrounding. Sew them in a nine patch square. Fold the square in half long ways. Then sew each side on the short side so you have fold at the bottom, open at the top and stitches at both ends.

Now, here's the hard part....

Grasp the unsewn edge in your fingers and pull apart so you have a sort of paper boat ot hat shape. Sew from the outside along the open edge in towards the center about a quarter of the way in so you create a pocket.

Take a seven inch square of InsulBright, fold it in half and insert into the pocket, pushing the corners of the insulation into the corners of the shape. it'll flatten itself out as you do this.

Then you can sew up the seam you at left with by hand or machine as you see fit.

You should be left with a square seven inches on a side and made on point. And it'll look like you spent all day fussy cutting to get the shape just!

To finish, add a cloth or plastic ring and this will make a great hotpad. You can also do this in 5 inch squares, adjust the size of the InsulBright accordingly.