Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Handcrafted Holiday ~ the homemade gifts of 2011

These are the gifts we gave out this year from our little workshop.  I couldn’t show them on here early because quite a few of the people that got them read this blog.  It was hard not to share the ideas, but as it stands, I am already filing things away for next year and if you are too these may be perfect for filing away and making early for your own loved ones!

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This one was a collaboration between Alex and I.  I used dried craft moss as the base which is glued to the bottom with clear dry glue and then I put in the tiny cranes Alex made.  It was kind of like a ship in a bottle… I needed skewers and glue dots, etc.  It was so worth it though!   I think they are beautiful and would gladly put a set on my tree… after the baby wouldn’t smash them.  Perhaps I’ll make some and put them away for next year.  I am also excited about new paper options for the cranes.  We tried several things and the ones that worked the best were plain paper.  I since have gotten some really pretty origami paper and am going to try to make some from that too.  (The ornaments I got from the craft store.  They had glass and plastic.  We used both depending on who was receiving the gift.)

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Next gift was a work with Logan. He wanted to give everyone popcorn.

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So I made popcorn toppings in ranch, cinnamon sugar, and pizza flavors.  Then added in organic multicolored popcorn and a jar filled with dark chocolate M&M’s and two movie tickets for the theater. 

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We used some of the left over topping last night while watching Kung Fu Panda 2… it was quite awesome!  (The movie was good too.) 

Logan obviously wanted to give me something similar…. I know this because a week before Christmas we had this conversation:

“Hey mama.  We got you a present. 

I can’t tell you what it is. 

I can just give you a little hint…

It pops popcorn.” 

(Good thing he didn’t give me a BIG hint, huh?  Gotta love 4 year olds!)

This was the gift for the grandparents this year.

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I am pretty sure that since you saw my holiday card and my banner that you saw this one coming.  I still think it turned out lovely!  It took a while to find a 4 opening picture frame… so just in case you would like to make one of your own, save yourself some time and go to Michael’s for the frame.  It’s the place that has them. Smile I am still seriously enjoying the one that is up next to my new mantel

These were for Luke from me. 

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Two have plastic bags that crinkle inside for some added fun.  They are all nice wool felt too… so lovely to feel (and taste, I'm sure).  Pattern from this post on The Purl Bee.  I decided to blanket stitch the ends instead of turn them because the felt fabric choice is super thick and hard to turn.  I think it added a cute touch of handcrafted to them.

My last minute Handcrafted Holiday project was this:

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These stockings I sewed by hand during my college lectures before I got married (although Don and I were engaged, so his and mine were made to match on purpose). I made 5 because I just had the time and that was how many different kinds of fabrics there were. I didn’t think we would have 3 kids, much less 4. So when we had Logan I naturally thought that because we filled all the stockings meant we must be done having kids (I know… it sounds silly… but why else would I make 5 stockings when, at the time, I only had 1 child??)

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Last year when I was pregnant with Luke I was SURE that bringing person #6 into our family meant I would have to make all new stockings. (See how me being sure about something is so accurate?)  Cyan vetoed that idea by reminding me that we have technically used those stockings since 2 years before she was born and we couldn’t possibly stop this year “just cuz we had Luke.”  Sigh… so the hunt was on for matching fabric. 

I asked everyone I know and my friend Heather just so happened to have some IN HER STASH!  She said she must have had it for 10 years or more.  Yep, that sounds just about right.  Talk about magical!  So the day before Christmas as everyone else was rushing to get gifts wrapped or braving the mall, I was wearing a thimble and sewing away on Luke’s stocking. I even found the same felt in my stash… somehow it survived the fabric purges that came along with all the moves and everything else and I was able to put the same color holly and berries on the stocking with it.  Even though it is not really my style anymore, I feel like it is a cute addition to our Christmas décor and now Luke can be added in on the “timeless” tradition.  (Thank you, Cyan!  Winking smile ) Can you tell it was made 13 years after the others? 

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I loved working with my kids on these projects!  They are getting good at the handcrafted holiday thing and it made me very hopeful for their handmade gifts in the future!

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4 comments

Laura said...

I love the stockings

anordinarylife said...

I would love recipes for the popcorn seasonings! Any chance you would share?

Val in the Rose Garden said...

Of course! I had meant to link them on here. The cinnamon sugar was simply superfine sugar (found in the baking isle) and siagon cinnamon (Costco bulk and super strong). The ranch is from this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/ranch-style-popcorn-seasoning/

The pizza (Italian) recipe was from here: http://www.marthastewart.com/315089/flavored-popcorn?center=0&gallery=274416&slide=202334

Enjoy!!

Val in the Rose Garden said...

(I used freeze dried (shelf stable) parm for the pizza one in mine. I wasn't sure how long people would wait to eat them.)

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