Lookie What I Made!

Everyone is always telling me how awesome I am.  Well, not exactly everyone and not always.  Once or twice someone has mentioned that I'm amazing.  It may or may not have been laced with sarcasm.  Sometimes I surprise myself.

The end of preschool was approaching and Augie Dawgs came to me and asked, "What should I get TOF's teacher?"  I told her I'd get back to her.  So for a few weeks I scratched my head and wondered, what kind of gift would stand out and really wow TOF's teacher?  I scoured the crafty blog posts and visited with my good friend Google.  I was completely at a loss.  Then the light bulb went off!  Mrs. K is a photographer.  I know photographers.  I'll ask them.  And so I did.  I was at a blogging event with the lovely Sabrina and I asked her what she thought might make a nice gift for a teacher who also happens to be a photographer.

Sabrina suggested that I check on Etsy for a camera strap cover.  She said they had some very nice ones and that I could get one in Mrs. K's favorite colors.  So I was off to Etsy to check them out.  Oy, the choices.  They were all beautiful!  The problem is, I'm cheap frugal.  The nicest covers were almost $30.  It wasn't that $30 was too much to spend on someone who helped TOF grow so much in the past year, it was that to me, the gift didn't look like something that cost that much.  Does that make sense?

I kept looking.

I even sneakily emailed Mrs. K to ask where she gets her pictures printed.  Thinking that perhaps we could purchase a gift certificate for her.  She answered, but wouldn't divulge her secret as to where she gets her professional stuff developed.  Man this is one tough cookie!  I kept looking.  And Googling.  And then I found this.  A step by step tutorial for making a camera strap cover.  I read and reread.  It was easy peasy.  I could do this!

The three of us set out to Hobby Lobby where TOF chose the fabric in Mrs. K's favorite color.  I picked  some brown minky fabric for the underside, so that it would be softer on her neck.  He kept referring to the strap cover as a scarf.  He was so excited.  "I just know Mrs. K is going to love her scarf."  He sat along side me as I crafted the strips of fabric into what was beginning to resemble a camera strap cover.  He stood far away from the iron that he understood was too hot for him to use as I pressed open the seam and applied the interfacing.  It was all beginning to come together and looking nicely if I do say so myself.  I trimmed the seams and turned it right side out.  I felt accomplished.

And then I started to worry.  What if she hates it?  What if she already has a favorite camera strap cover?  What if it doesn't fit?  Or worse, what if she sews?  Really really well.  And notices that maybe there is a flaw?  Because I'm crazy like that.  I worry.

Tuesday, TOF took his gift to school and I worried more.  I was ready to send another email to let Mrs. K know that if it didn't fit, I'd gladly make another.

Today, this was in his backpack when he came home, along with the sweetest note expressing how much she loved her new camera strap.  And I exhaled.  

Sometimes I surprise myself.