A Nice Hot Cuppa

The other day, I came across a tutorial at Gingham Cherry for a teacup pincushion. (If you've never heard of Gingham Cherry, go NOW. She's got the sweetest tutorials and she's just so talented!) I had seen tutorials for this project before, but had always passed them by. Until now!

I made a (rather successful) thrifting run this week. (More on that later!) On a shelf, surrounded by dishes from various decades, was one lonely little teacup. The thin gilt strip around the rim was coming off in places, there are stains inside that tell of years of tea and time spent in a cozy tea hutch, but the beautiful painted scene on the front drew me in. (The price wasn't bad either - $1.00, plus 50% off!) The picture makes me think of pirates...and a story I read, but I can't think of what it is right now. Riddlemaster, perhaps?

This morning, I gathered my materials and got to work. I knew just who needed this treat, but it's a present so I'm not saying a word. I mean, Riddlemaster is one of her favorite books!

I sat down with my teacup, a bit of stuffing, a circle of cotton, some tacky glue and some embroidery floss. I love the idea of personalized gifts, so I started by embroidering the recipient's etsy shop name on the cotton. (She sells the sweetest custom jewelry and jeweled pins for boutonnieres, etc.) Once that was finished, it was pretty simple to run a gathering stitch around the edge, fill my pouch with stuffing, cinch it shut and glue it inside the cup.

Voila!
(I'd really love to tell you who it's for, but like I said - it's a surprise! Do you think they'll like it?)