Ghosts Of Christmas...

So my newly departed ex-husband seems to have only stayed around our house for a week or so, and now appears to have moved on.  I suspect that he wanted to make sure the boys were doing okay and has either crossed over, or is making a mess of his family's house.  They say that that is common with those who have passed on unexpectedly.  Either way, the pictures have stopped falling from the walls and the kids are no longer waking up and interrupting us when Tony and I try to get our snuggle on.  The house still has an uncanny chill to it, but I think I can take care of that with some good old fashioned winterizing.

My last post was about Tony's gift, or rather his off-the-list gift.  Some of you questioned what it was that I received.  That is, aside from a ghost free home and peace of mind.  Well, I'll tell ya.  After a long, car ride conversation regarding my annoyance at Tony's need to just buy stuff  for me and how 80% of the gifts become just things under the tree, I had to eat my words.  And wash them down with a giant glass of humble.  I may have even mumbled the words, You were right.

This year, every gift I got meant something.  A new bathrobe to replace the robe I have worn since I was pregnant with oldest.  New slippers because my feet are always cold.  New silverware, free of scratches from when the boys take the spoons to dig in the yard, or the butter knives to turn screws.  A digital picture frame to display the photos of all our adventures in a constant loop.  A Magic Bullet blender to replace the old blender I have had *cough, cough* for twenty years* since my freshman year of college.  There was even a gift card for the Kindle Fire my parents got me, so I could buy Elisa's book and lose myself in her journals.

So, about mid day I popped on the computer to search for accessories for the Fire.  I must say that if there's one thing I hate, it's that when something is new, the accessories cost a fortune.  And they all tend to look the same.  I found this cover by Kate Spade, and while it's cute, it doesn't have the options I wanted within the cover.  And Hello?  $69?  No thanks.  Anyway, afterwards I dozed off a bit.  I dreamt that I had a cover made of this crazy burgundy print with Hawaiian themed turtles through it. 

(Actual fabric has tie dyed swirls
 and is less pink than this.
 My photography skills are weak my friends.)

Weird I know.  What was even weirder is that when I woke up, the fabric was in my attic already.

About six months before she got sick, my grandmother had given me a bunch of fabric scraps to do something with.  Not being a quilter, and having very little in the way of projects that required scraps, I threw the bag into the attic and forgot all about it.  So there I was, on Christmas day at 10 PM going through the attic and wouldn't you know?  There was just enough fabric for a cover.

Excited, I began to cut out the pieces.  Already 11-ish , assembly would have to wait. I wrapped it all up back in the bag and left it near the couch.  When I went to bed, I had another dream.  This time, the outside cover was leather.  And again,  it was the same leather scraps I had in the attic.  My favorite coat in college, had fallen into disrepair, and I had made into a purse from it a few years back.  I had kept the scraps as something the boys may use for school projects.  And wouldn't you know, there was just enough. And, as luck would have it, the buttons matched up with the pocket flap, which I was able to turn into the clasp.

So I got to work.  Sewing and cutting, pressing and swearing.

The final result looks like this....

The wrinkles have been pressed in for twenty years, so what's left here is the just the marks.  It's a very soft deer skin, almost like a suede (Not Swede, thanks Skippy!).  The inside is where I used her fabric....

I included pockets for my cards and such.  I hate having to carry around four wallets inside my purse.  There's also room and an additional pocket in the fold for a stylus.  Damn my fat fingers!  It's not perfect, but neither am I.  And the best part is, I felt like she was here telling me how to make it.  Like it was her Christmas gift to me.  The entire project came together in less than an hour.  With only one mistake.

Seriously, that never happens.

Not to me anyway.

So there you have it. 

My Christmas gift from the beyond.

Now, if I can only get it back from Tony.

He's loving the Angry Birds.