Monstrous presents

I'm not much on giving Christmas presents to my friends.

(Christmas. Remember that? Seems like forever ago.)

Right before the holiday I'm always so busy trying to tie up loose ends for my students and get my house ready to head back home for vacation. There's just no time to buy presents and hardly any to make something for everyone.

But I think a gift this time of year is an important indication of your feelings about someone. So I take the wonderful time I have off work between Christmas and New Year's and I try to make something special for my friends.

I call them New Year's gifts, and I try to always do something that points them ahead in the next year. For 2008, all of my friends got Drawer Monsters.

Drawer Monsters are animal-shaped sachets that go in your lingerie or T-shirt drawers. (Submitted photo)

Not quite a stuffed animal, not just a sachet, these little treats were a hit with the whole crew and should last throughout the long days of 2008.

Drawer Monsters, in their simplest form, are sachets shaped like animals that go in your lingerie or T-shirt drawers. They're filled with scented rice so they keep your clothes smelling fresh and are a reminder each time you open your drawers that someone cares about you.

To make

Another key to my New Year's gifts is that I like to reuse some of the fabrics and supplies that I've purchased in the last year. It's a little gift to me to get some extra space in my workroom.

For my Drawer Monsters, I used old neckties and some cotton fabric my mom had stuffed in a closet.

After opening up the neckties and ironing them flat, I pinned the pattern (right) to the fabric and started cutting. If you make yours the same size you should be able to fit the pattern on your necktie three times.

Now, each piece cut from the necktie needs to be pinned to a matching fabric (outer sides together). Trim around the shape of the necktie piece so that you have the two sides of your Drawer Monster.

To give your Monster a little personality, pick out some buttons or other accouterments to sew on the right side of the necktie fabric to serve as a face. Some of mine are eyes only, a few got noses and/or mouths, and a couple even got star badges or hearts. When you've got your face on, pin the pieces outer-sides together and get ready for your Drawer Monster to take shape.

Starting on the left foot, sew down the inside of the leg and around the rest of the shape until you make it to the top, inside of the right leg. Sewing this way should leave a hole open at the bottom of the shape between the legs.

To turn this little pocket into a sachet, you'll need to fix up some smell-em-good to go inside. A couple of drops of essence oil (found at craft stores in the floral section) in 12 ounces of rice should be enough to keep your sachets smelling great for a long time. I used green tea for some of mine and rose for others. You could also use sandalwood, tea tree or another floral scent.

Once you've dropped the oil in and stirred the rice around, turn your Drawer Monster right side out and use a funnel to pour in the rice. I like to fill my Drawer Monsters about three-quarters full of rice so they can move around, but you could fill it tight. It's your preference.

Now all you've got to do is sew up the hole and pick the perfect home for your little monster.

Vanessa Cook is a former copy editor for the Southeast Missourian who dabbles in decorating. See more of her columns online at myspace.com/nifty_thrifty.