Christmas in July & a Giveaway!

I hosted a Christmas In July Handmade Gift Exchange this week and it was lots of fun. I figured people have more time on their hands to make something creative in the summer. What I didn't figure was that SO many people would be out of town. 13 of my 16 "no" rsvps were out of town. Anyhoo, we had a good time and I'll share a few pics with you.

I decorated with snowflakes and candy.
I made these chocolate lollipops out of white chocolate and snowflake molds and gave them as party favors.I cut snowflakes from patterns in my Snowflakes for All Seasons book and hung them on the front door. I also put a little trio of Christmas trees on the porch.
I thought these white chocolate melted snowmen were very appropriate for Christmas in July in Texas. I found the idea in my Family Fun magazine earlier this year.
I crocheted this scarf (to go along with a winter theme) for my handmade gift. I wasn't happy with how it turned out so I included a note that I'd make the recipient another one. I just didn't have time to start another one this week.
I also crocheted this little flower and used it instead of a gift tag.
Now for the gifts! Melanie received the scarf I made and wore it while she played the guitar and sang for us. This is one seriously multi-talented woman.
Ginger received crocheted hot pads and homemade caramel popcorn from Heather.
Heather received this really cool tin and decoupaged letters from April. The letters are magnetic and she included enough letters to spell "home," "noel," and "love." It was beautiful.
April received yummy homemade banana bread from Jeni who used her mother-in-law's famous recipe. It's the best I've tasted.
Jeni received a jar of homemade blackberry jam from Ginger from the blackberries that grow in my grandmother's backyard. Yum!
I received a recipe box and two cute little recipe booklets that were full of hand-stamped recipe cards from Melanie. She is a Stampin' Up demonstrator and everything she makes is beautiful. She posted better pictures of it here. She also included these little hand stamped tags that say, "from the kitchen of" that I can use on gifts.
Last but not least, I pulled down these Christmas glasses from the attic to use since they are festive. Do you recognize them? Do you know where they are from? You'd laugh if you did. If you know where they are from, leave me a comment and I'll mail a little Christmas treat to the first person who gets it right.