Christmas Presents 2009

These are the Christmas presents I made for my side of the family. I wanted to give them gift cards to restaurants because they are all chow hounds and don't need any more tchochke cluttering up their homes. However, I wasn't sure which restaurants would be appropriate, so I decided green cash always works. That seemed so impersonal so I thought up this cheesecake card and Eat Me® moneyholder.

The inside of the cheesecake card says:

Nobody wants an ugly sweater in the wrong size, another doo-dad to sit around the house and collect dust, or (heaven forbid) any form of underwear for Christmas. Everybody likes to eat but the Post Office smooshes cheesecakes, so the "Eat Me" card was our solution. Let the feasting begin! (OK, so maybe you can feast in January.)

Merry Christmas,

Love,
Hubby & Speck

All the parts were individually hand-cut, hand-drawn, and hand-painted. (I was really sick of drawing cheesecake by the time I was finished.)

The only thing that didn't start out life as a piece of watercolor paper is the purple envelope. Purple is Christmassy, isn't it???

I started these at 11:30 p.m. on December 22 - NOT a good idea to wait to the last minute. I had the whole concept planned in my head for over a month, but procrastination got the better of me.

I worked all night, finished up at 6:00 a.m. Dec. 23, and headed for the Post Office as soon as it opened. The P.O. said the three to be delivered in Arkansas should arrive the next day, Christmas Eve. The one to the Left Coast might make it by Valentine's Day.

I drew the big bow on the purple envelope to convey to the recipients that this part was their present...like a box wrapped with a bow...so they would wait until Christmas Day to open it. Nobody got the concept and opened them as soon as they arrived. Sigh.

I guess I should have drawn a "Do Not Open 'Til Christmas!" sticker on the purple envelope too.


===============================================

Footnote:
The Left Coast one finally was delivered so I can post this now on January 23, 2010.