Gift Bags for the Retreat

It’s a bit of a tradition when you go to a cross stitch or quilting retreat that you might bring goodies for other people in attendance. Some people go all out and get something for everyone. Some people give goodies to their tablemates or bunkmates only. What you do or if you participate is completely up to you. There are no rules and no one really minds one way or the other. But it’s a heads-up for you to know if you are going to a retreat.

What people bring and share runs the gamut. Some people might gift a small baggie with some chocolates. At the retreat in July, Janet gifted us fabric strawberries she made. We were gifted a retreat survival pack with tissues and a band-aide along with other goodies. Kathryn gave us nice Blue-Q bags. Another made project bags for us. Some people give out floss tags or needle bling or counting pins or a zipper pull. It can be anything but it’s meant to not be expensive.

For the retreat in July and the retreat I went to in August, Kelli and I put together a cross-stitch kit. It was really not expensive and I think a cute gift that was a little different.

You might remember a bit ago that I made this project…It’s a little shoe with a cross-stitch piece in it.

The design is called Cinderella’s Slipper by Blackbird Designs. The pattern is a freebie and can be found in the file section of the Fans of Blackbird Designs Facebook group.

To make it, you need these shoes…

well, the shoes come in a pack of 24. UGH. I wanted to make the piece but what was I going to do with 23 other clear plastic shoes….why make cross stitch kits for attendees of course!! That’s what we did.

In the end, they looked like this when they were all finished.

What you need to stitch it is included.

Kelli was a great help in making the outside tags with thread. You can see a big stack of cards on the kitchen island that she is working on.

The front of the card is a picture of my finished shoe. The back of the card looks like this. Kelli printed these. I cut them to size and laminated them. Kelli and I punched the holes.

The top hole is for attaching it to the bag. The bottom five holes are for attaching the needed floss.

While Kelli was working on cutting and attaching floss, I was starting to make bags.

Each bag got a shoe, a chart, and fabric.

We used these bags…they were available and inexpensive. They would probably took good with a clear bag as well.

We got the floss on the tags and tied them to the bags…Here is a look again at how they turned out finished.

Here is the box of kits all ready to go and be handed out.

In the end, we figured that the bags cost about $2.50 per kit…that’s including the printing and laminating supplies. They were pretty labor-intensive and putzy to make though. I was pretty content with the cost and how they turned out. I sure was glad Kelli was willing to help me.