My Homemade Christmas

This year I handmade many of my Christmas gifts. I'm pretty excited with how they turned out and wanted to share them on the blog. However, I couldn't very well post any of them before the recipients opened their presents. So, now that the holiday is over, I can do a little bragging and show off my handiwork. The wreath above was not a gift, but it was handmade. I make a wreath with fresh-cut greens every year. I think this was one of my better ones, although I don't think the photo shows it off.

Gunnar got a pillow made from two pairs of favorite outgrown pajamas. Each side of the pillow is a different fabric.

I made jewelry for some little girls in my life: my niece, Cassie, Adah, and Holly got bracelets; Maggie got a necklace.

I made two bibs for my nephew Braden, who turned 1 a week before Christmas. The photo didn't turn out, but take my word that the button on the Monopoly railroad bib is a big silver button that says "conductor" on it.

I love Mod Podge. I've made lots of cool projects with it before, and I had a lot of fun this Christmas creating some neat decoupage gifts with magazines and Mod Podge. Gunnar got a clipboard. Adah, Maggie, and I made our own about a year and a half ago. Mine hangs on the back of the pantry and holds our meal calendar and grocery list. The girls use theirs as lap desks in the car and other places, so I thought it was time for Gunnar to have his own. Damon and I flipped through magazines to find things that Gunnar loves. This is really an expression of Gunnar at age 3:

My other two Mod Podge collages were on journals. The first was for my sister-in-law Joette, and the second was for my mom. They are both journalists (I guess that's not the right word-- they aren't reporters; they keep journals.) as well as journalphiles (now that word I just made up--they love notebooks and journals). This time Adah and Maggie helped flip through the magazines to choose pictures that they thought their aunt and Nana would like. These were really fun to make.

Now, I can't give you the bottom line price on these gifts since some of the recipients will be reading this. But, you can see that many supplies were to be found cheaply or I already had on hand, so this route definitely helped our Christmas budget. They all took a little time, but they were simple and enjoyable to make, especially because each one was so personal, and that's really why I did it.