Homemade Hit 2010

Everyone should switch to giving homemade gifts! There's a sense of satisfaction that comes upon completion of the gift. The person receiving the gift is always appreciative. Sometimes you might even save money creating your own gifts rather than shopping.

Here's what my hubs and I created this year...

1.  I made my mom and dad a portrait of their wedding photo out of fabric. I was really pleased with the direction of this project until the very end when I added the faces. I might have to redo this with better faces (and using felt instead of flannel) at a later time.

2.  David made Grandma some portraits of the family to hang on her magnetic closet door wall. It was fun watching her open the gift and figure out who each person was!

3.  I made my brother a Grinch stocking to hang up in his new house. He definitely needs some Christmas decorations for next year.

4.  For one of our close friends, David and I decorated a small storage cabinet from Hobby Lobby with portraits of some of our friends. We were so pleased with our finished project that we were almost sad to give it up! I filled the drawers with some little office-school supplies for our friend's student teaching desk the next couple of semesters.

Yes, homemade gifts take more time and planning. Yes, homemade gifts sometimes take more thought and definitely require some creativity. I think family and friends appreciate them all the more, though. Give it a try!

Happy creating!

Christmas Card... Check!

Hooray! I finally designed our Christmas card for this year. Here's a peek at the fun I was having...

Instead of cutting out several little elves, I decided to mass produce them. Our family and friends won't be receiving these layered little elves but flat, 2D, just-as-cute ones! They should begin arriving just in time for Christmas.

I like it!








So much to do this time of year...
So little time...


I'm proud of myself for completing half of one of my parents gifts today also, the easy half of course. I really hope they'll like it. It is a gift idea inspired by a now-artist that I then-hung out with in high school. Of course I'll post a picture when I'm done (or after Christmas perhaps).

Twelve Days to Christmas

Christmas is almost here yet again. My, how fast the year has gone!

Our Christmas tree is up. A pile of presents has begun. There's actually more gifts there than you see. I have a trick up my sleeve this year... we'll see how the family enjoys it.

Some presents we haven't even started yet! The countdown is on. We better get to work!

The Christmas cards haven't been made yet either. Hopefully I get them sent this next weekend... otherwise they'll turn into New Year's cards like a couple years ago.

Don't worry... I'll be getting rid of the background.
Pets and husbands can be difficult when taking a picture sometimes!

That's ok, right? It's the thought that counts!