Homemade Gifts

It's always a miracle of sorts that I get my homemade gifts done in time for Christmas with everything else that is going on the month of December. But I love doing it and I just can't bring myself to not do it.

First up, Elder Ririe's package. I made him "snowman soup," otherwise known as hot chocolate. I found this cute little poem to go with it.



I also made him some Peppermint Cookies and Cream Popcorn. It was so dang good that I had to make it again later in the month just because.



Diana requested that I get her for our family gift exchange, so I could make her this beach towel dress. It was simple enough - although very time consuming with all the rows I had to sew. I didn't get it done in time to give it to her when we did the exchange at Thanksgiving, but I did get it to her before Christmas.



I made all our nephews (and Corbyn and Peyton) a reusable Sunday coloring book with coloring pages from the Friend. I downloaded the images from lds.org, cropped them so they were all similar, printed them out as 5x7s, cut them out, laminated them, and bound them all together. I also made a little drawstring bag to store the markers in.



I made this critter blanket for Peyton. It was by far the most difficult project I took on. It wasn't time consuming - I got it done in one evening, but it definitely wasn't a beginner project. The tutorial I used had some very good tips, but it also left out a few steps. It was easy enough to figure out what to do in those spots, so that wasn't the hugest deal. Anyway, I love how it turned out and I'm glad I made it. But I won't be making another one very soon!



I made this elephant for Charlotte's nursery. I knew Mariah was decorating the nursery in purple/gray with zoo animals, so when I saw this elephant at the Wood Connection, I knew I had to make it for her. It was a super easy project - it only took me a half hour or so to put it together. It also happened to be one of my favorite gifts I made. A total win/win!



Finally I made this plaque (or sign... I don't know what to call it) for all our family and close friends. It is pretty embarrasing how easy it was to make, but it had to be for me to make 13 of them! I found the printable here, had them printed out at Costco, painted the edges of the boards (from Wood Connection), and glued the prints to the boards.



And that's the 2012 version of homemade Christmas gift giving! Stay tuned to see what 2013 brings. I already have some things in mind...