Homemade Christmas

I made (or helped the kids make) lots of presents this year. 

Now that the holiday is over, I'll show you what I did.

I saw a Living Social or Groupon deal for framed artwork of letters found in nature.  I couldn't really see spending as much as they charged, but figured that I could make my own.  So I did.  It was fun going on a hunt in my yard looking for letters.  (sorry, the picture isn't very good...)

I found a boxed "build a birdfeeder" kit at the thrift store for $1-$2, and let the girls build it for HH.  Then all three kids painted it  (I helped).  I love how it turned out : )

Dave brought home some scrap cuts of wood, so I painted them in a rainbow of shades and put numbers on one side and dots on the other for Moose.

Rainbow hairclip for Chickadee.  (idea from pinterest)

Chick's preschool made these felt bird ornaments as gifts for their Mama.  They are scented with peppermint stuffing, and each child drew on the side and then stitched up the edges.  I was actually the teacher that time, but Chick just told me not to look while she was working on it : )

I found a big bag of these wooden beads, and my aunt was getting rid of the storage container, so I just designed some sequence cards and laminated them for a simple sequence kit for Chick.  I don't know how she likes it...we haven't had a chance to play with it yet.  She likes that kind of activity, though, so I think it'll be fun.....

Another thing I saw on pinterest was a button necklace.  I tweaked it a little (added extra buttons on jump rings between the stitched ones), and used it as one of our exchange gifts for the big family exchange game at my brother's Christmas Eve party.

More buttons.  more pinterest ideas.  We did a monogrammed button D for my aunt. 

She hung it above her sewing area and it looks really cute : )

Peg family for my SIL's family.

 My awesome visiting teachers have an annual craft night for the December visiting teaching. 

This year we made cute sock snowmen.  (the order of them is: Chick, Moose, Me, HH, and Monkey)

Something that I saw on a blog somewhere or other, was a build-a-fort kit.

I loved the idea, and figured that since we had a family with 4 boys for the Christmas exchange gift it was a perfect time to make one. 

My favorite touches: the ribbon in the centers of the sheets says "experience the adventure,"  and I like the custom-designed label for the outside of the bag. 

I was going to do a freezer paper stencil for it, but was running out of time, so instead I printed the outlines onto the fabric and then hand painted inside the lines. 

Also included in the gift was headlamps for each boy.

I told my other SIL about it, who also has lots of boys & whose name we have for next year's exchange, and she requested the same gift.  Chick will be getting a kit for her birthday, as well.

(notice that our peg family is a work in process).

I did also make a bracelet for Monkey, but she left it in the car, and it's cold and rainy, so maybe I'll take a picture some other time.

Also I made flannel jammie pants for Moose and HH.  They're matching, and my guys look super handsome and comfy in them : )  I was going to do nightgowns for the girls too, but ran out of time...maybe for Easter.

I think that's it.  I was super productive in the last few weeks. 

This week I am a slug, but at least I'm starting to blog again!!