a very handmade christmas

Every year, I gift handmade items. I love that I have an exceptional network of family and friends that appreciate the effort and thought I put into them. My intentions always far exceed my abilities but this year, circumstances dictated that I produce an inordinate amount of handmade gifts. Almost everyone that we include in our gift giving was the recipient of at least one handmade gift. Thanks to pinterest, I had an infinite supply of ideas. Here is a roundup of what I did this year as well as a link back to the inspiration if there was one.

CLOCKWISE: 1. Ornaments for my adult siblings - I did four sets of these four ornaments (we don't "officially" exchange gifts but I love giving them something small...usually a food item but this year, ornaments) knitted tree pattern 2. Hand cream and sugar scrub for 4 people 3. Handmade journals for my sister (I had a few people ask for a tutorial on these - I'll share one later this week :) 4. Bath salts for my two younger sisters (spaghetti sauce jars with a painted lid and tiny ornament glued to the top.)

CLOCKWISE: 1. Knitted blanket for my dear friend's baby (born last Tuesday!) backed with corduroy...my first time hand sewing fabric to a knitted item - hopefully this will get easier with practice...serious pain in the ass but so worth it! 2. Freezer paper onesie for same baby :) (I saw this quote on an etsy item and LOVED it.) Wish I could link you to it but I've lost the link :( 3. Items inside the fort kit: fort (not shown - I appliqued each of their initials onto the sheets using the same striped fabric as the bags) reinforcements (clothespins,) nourishment (microwave popcorn + cookies,) entertainment (board book,) and shadow puppet maker (flashlight) 4. fort kits for three young nephews - I bought 3 solid flat sheets (in blue, green and orange) and one striped flat sheet. I used the striped sheet to applique initials onto the flat sheets and to make the 3 storage bags.

CLOCKWISE: 1. Rice heating pad for Carlos 2. Pencil rolls for both of my boys and one of my nephews - the tutorial is just for a flat roll with one layer of felt but I did grey felt for the "outside" and cut colored felt, about 1/2" smaller all around, for the inside. I only cut the slits for the pencils on the inside felt and then inserted the pencils and used spray adhesive to secure it to the grey. I prefer this way as there are no slits on the outside of the roll that would catch or snag. 3.Knitted dish clothes and towel for my grandma 4. Knitted chunky scarf for my sister

CLOCKWISE: 1. Hand stenciled coasters for my step-dad. He's a home brewer so I created stencils of the two little men on his home brew beer label to create matching coasters. 2. Our humble little advent calendar (SO wanted to do the Lego version this year for the boys but no bueno) I hand drew a tree out of small paper bags and hung them backwards on the wall. The snowflakes are numbered and each night after dinner, we would flip a bag to "build" the tree. Oh, and of course each bag had hershey kisses for the kids :) 3. Reindeer nose treats for the boys to take to school.

And that was our Christmas this year. A lot of late, late nights but totally worth it.

Next year I start earlier ;)