Birthday treats

So since I last posted I've had a birthday. They definitely come quicker as you get older. It was a nice day the sun was out, I went for a meal and then watched a film. Also the postman called with an Ebay purchase. A vintage cantilever seeing box. I have been after one if these since I saw my friends and sadly the lid had fallen off my old sewing box. I love it even its history a present from the kids.

So I sat in the morning sun and sorted the box out. Decided I needed a new pincushion as the one I used wouldnt fit in the box.  Years ago my daughter made me a pin cushion at school it was made from a plastic milk bottle  top.  It had stuffed fabric on the top and a hair elastic to fit on the wrist something like these


I found it incredibly useful it wasn't heavy on the wrist. In time the hair band stretched but also the plastic cap base wasn't quite wide enough for all the pins, sometime I would miss and catch my skin. so I thought I would make one but modify it.
So I found a wide plastic bottle top, mine was from a hot chocolate container about 2 1/2" wide and went from there.
The tape around the side is bias which I glued.
I densly stuffed a ball shape with unwashed sheep wool (which I'd read is good for the pins) using a cotton sheeting.
I then laid an old cashmere jumper over top. I wanted to use natural fibres throughout.  To anchor  it all down so it was compressed and so I could sew it to the tape I wound cotton around the whole thing, imagine winding a ball of wool. Then I could stitch it without any pins in, then  cut away the cotton when finished.
The strap was some velvet like furnishing braid which I glued  to the base then covered the base and anchoring the straps with sitches. Press stud to finish

To finish off isn't this a delightful giftbag from my daughter I love it and want to use it, too nice to be thrown away, but dont know how. Any ideas?