Mermaid Altoid Tin, Bridal Shower Card & Garden Square

Not sure if I've become slightly addicted to covering Altoid tins with cross stitch.  But I've just done yet another one.  This will be a little summer gift for a friend.  The design is the Snowflower Diaries Little Mermaid, done in DMC on 36 count HDF light blue linen.  I made a few mods to get it to fit in the space, but it seemed bare in spots so I added the sequins.  They are just glued on so I don't know how well they will hold up. But no big deal.

The crocheted goldfish on the inside lid is one I did a few years ago in variegated blues.   It is one of the motifs from Chinami Horiba.  Many of her patterns are now on Ravelry.  This time, the gold variegated thread I found at my local variety store seemed just perfect.  I think I didn't dry the tin well when I first rinsed it out and there were some rust spots on the inside.  That's why I added the inside sequins and covered the sides completely.

Looks cuter in real life as always.  Now I have to come up with interesting summer-themed contents.  Lip balm is always good, but I'm hoping I can think of something else.  Any ideas out there?

 I attended a bridal shower yesterday for one of my cousins who is getting married this summer.  The shower was at the townhouse of a friend of the bride's mother.  It was an elegant four story townhouse with an elevator!  Good thing because the stairs between floors were super-steep and waxed hardwood.    It was a beautiful Spring Day and a lovely afternoon.  I stitched up the JBW Umbrella for the gift card using DMC color variations on Lugana.  It went pretty much un-noticed among all the loot she got.  The highlight was a book, "Danny's Favorites",  created by the groom's mother.  It included all the recipes his mother makes for him that he loves, with photos of Danny accompanying each recipe, often eating the result.  What a treasure.  I think she used a recipe book template on Shutterfly.

Finally, when I saw the freebie Earth Day sampler, "The Earth Laughs in Flowers",  from Beth Twist of Heartstring Samplery, I fell in love with it.  Part of my new prim appreciation I guess.  World Of Charity Stitching is doing a quilt with the theme, "In a Garden", and I knew this would a perfect addition.  Stitched on Lugana, it was just the right size.   I don't think I've ever complete a design so quickly!