Little Christmas Gifts

I wonder if people would have liked to join my class and I at Christmas lunch today?????

Our tradition is that the week after classes officially end, we go out to lunch and everyone brings a small container of nice things for CQ. We specify that they have to all fit into a matchbox or a film canister - although there is a tendency now to decorate the outside of them a little.

They all go into a bag, and everyone gets one back from someone else - no expensive gift-giving that way, but lots of fun.

And I also like to make a little box of goodies up for each student too. So here I was, at the start:

I had already bought the boxes at The Warehouse (a cheap chain - four boxes for $2. I have a stockpile of them). They had been painted with folk art paint, an angel cut from Christmas paper at the top, and varnished. At this point I was filling them, and my matchbox.

This is how the tops looked.

This was the last of my wrapping paper, and it got me thinking. Computer printouts always bleed when I glue them, but one colour photocopy from my Angel book could go a long way. And I could colour-photocopy the box my old jigsaw came in.... that would make stunning box tops. (Slight diversion - I have copied a photo of a Ferret onto a mouse-pad for my beloved for Christmas - please don't ask why. Imagine good photos of some CQs on a mousepad. Ai Yi Yi - Officeworks, for those in Australia, $9.95)

Meanwhile, to resume normal programming ....

So, we have just had a rather lovely lunch, and I meant to photograph all the containers before they were opened, but in the excitement of the moment, I forgot. So, here are just a couple:

This one has braid wrapped around the film canister, and then was put in a little baggie made from wire-edged ribbon.

This one has been opened, so the packaging is not perfect.

And this is what was inside one container. All sorts of things turn up in them. The silver decoration was on top of the film canister, not inside. So it becomes a bit of a challenge to see how much you can fit in.

And they are really good fun.

So, we got to talk about the class having an exhibition next year, with weekend workshops ......

I am so glad Joan, one of the students, has agreed to take them on while I am having to deal with other matters - too nice a group to let go off and disperse.