day 8 of 12: christmas gift bag decorations

you may have got the idea that i really love the whole christmas decoration thing?

well yes i do ... i've really enjoyed getting out all our decorations & the tree this year

as last christmas they were all packed away in storage awaiting their time to be moved into our new home ... its been a great fun finding new 'places' for them all, as the last time i packed them away, 

we seriously thought that we were going to move to atlanta, ga, usa ... 

that fell through ... & with hind-sight, our lives are the better for it!!
we decided we were up for a new adventure in life ... well i did & it took a bit of coaxing but Craig finally agreed to sell our house & buy somewhere new ...
this time last year we were elated & were looking forward to moving in ...
we love where we are ... even another o/s offer wasn't enough of a carrot!!
be to christmas ...

the one decoration that i have not got myself into gear to make

is a christmas stocking for each of us
we even have a real fire place & mantel on which they can hang ...
... i'll get there one day

i have however managed some gift bags with the
clear intention that they be used by the owners for future christmas' etc
... i made the ones below for the local cousins last christmas
& for the international cousins a slightly biased aussie themed christmas print ... 
pictured above ... the handle section kind of folds up to use as a bag
but looks kind of cute with the top folded down too ...

 these bags have wonky stars as their patchwork center panel
both bags are lined properly to see out the test of time & childhood!!!
i did make Oscar a koala bag too ...
& he does have a giant draw string bag made of the same santa etc fabric from the other one that i made in a hurry for his 1st christmas ... its fits lots of loot so i'm sure in the years ahead he'll probably prefer to put that out rather than a neat little stocking anyway!!!