blog #434 >> Giving really is better than receiving!

This year I learned that giving really is better than receiving!

Sorry, I've been brief with blogging the past couple of months, but I've literally been spending every spare minute of my day crafting for Christmas. And I couldn't blog about my Christmas crafting because my family and friends read this blog, and I didn't want them to know what I was up to. I was REALLY excited to have everyone open their presents that I've been working on for so long. And I feel like I really rose to occasion, and everything turned out even better than I imagined it would.

So here are my amazing projects!

1. The Bird Skirt I made for my sister just like mine only in blue, red and green. And an Autumn Comfort Candle that my friend Autumn made. She makes the BEST smelly candles, I will never buy anyone else's. Get them here! 2. Hand Painted Egg Carton and Coupon Organizer for my sister-in-law. 3. Polka Dot Skirt for my sister and some of my spare bias tape. 4. Pickled Garlic and Dilly Beans for my brother, because nothing says, "I love you!" like spending over an hour peeling 12 heads of garlic. I got my recipe here. It turned out amazing! 5. Hand bound leather Journal for Trina's husband Dave. 6. Bowl Covers made from oil cloth for all my sisters. These turned into way more of a pain than I thought they would. I ended up sewing them on the machine while pulling the elastic tight with my teeth. It's just amazing I didn't sew over a finger! 7. Tea things and cookie cutters for my mom. The little crocheted circles are drip catchers. 8. Baby Bird Hat for my brother's new baby.

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And these are the He-man dolls I made for my 4-year-old nephew Charlie. He LOVES He-man... and Thomas the Tank Engine. I got the idea here... but I like mine better!

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9. Magnifying Glass Necklace for my grandma. I was going to make one, but I realized it was way cheaper to buy a real vintage one. 10. Homemade Microwave Popcorn for Dad. (It actually works really well!) 11. Fairy house for my niece Maggie. (I'll take more pictures of it later when it's down at the creek.) 12. Felt food for my 2-year-old niece Ada. (First thing she did after she opened it was try to take a bite out of each and every one.) 13. Mushroom Hat and Shoes for 1-year-old Stella. I got the shoe pattern here... sort of and I didn't use a pattern for the hat, but maybe I should have. 14. Maggie's stationary. Since I work at a print shop, I figured I'd better make the most of it and print something cool. These are the personalized note cards I made for Maggie. They're all themed around the letter "M." 15. The Monogrammed Journals I made for my older nephews and I got them these cool survival tools that I saw at Neatorama. 16. And the Mushroom Hat I made for Trina, and I gave her one of these delightful little Cottage Potholders that my sister makes.

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More closeups of the felt food.


And this is the Folding Rocking Chair I fixed up for my mom for Christmas... actually, my dad helped me a lot with it. But I did paint in all the detail and do all the upholstery work on it. I picked up the frame at a barn auction last summer for $2! I was still working on it when I took this picture and hadn't tacked the back cushion on yet, so I might post before and after photos later.

And although I don't have any pictures of the homemade candy I made this year... mostly because it's already eaten. I will post the recipes later on. (I even forgot to take pictures of the Jell-O molds I made for Christmas before we ate them! I'm on a roll this year!) Anyhow... I'll post those ones pretty soon... unless I forget.

Merry Christmas!
T