A Handmade Christmas

Over the years its become a tradition in my family to make, exchange and/or buy handmade Christmas gifts. This year was the first year I went 100% handmade on Christmas gifts to my mom and sisters (only 90% handmade to the rest of the family).  For obvious reasons I cannot divulge further information on that subject at this time so I thought I would share some past Christmas projects and presents that I've made.

What is the basis for most holiday decoration? The Christmas tree! We went miniature this year due to the lack of space with the new baby.  Our 2+ foot tree sits upon our bar stand and is covered with my favorite ornaments I've collected over the years and is topped with a license plate star I made. My license plate ornaments that I now sell started as personal Christmas projects for family members years ago.

Every year I try and accomplish a larger Christmas project for myself. I have made a lot of stockings over the years, usually needlepoint, my favorite. :)  I've also made several quilted wall hangings, some on pre-designed fabric panels and some from scratch like the Santa hanging on the right.

As much as I love jolly ol' Saint Nick I adore a good ol' snowman even more. I have started a small collection of snowman given to me by family members as well as a few I've made or bought myself. The adorable handmade snowman on the left is one of my favorites my little sis gave me two years ago. The one on the right is one I made at a ceramic shop when I was a kid. I managed to move it all over Idaho and 1/2 way across the US without braking it...I'm pretty happy with myself for that!

Several years ago my mom and I saw these festive wine bottle lights at a craft fair and thought they were pretty cool. The next year for Christmas I decided to make them as gifts for everyone. I found these metal leaves at a thrift store, picked up some grapes, lights and accessories and voila!  We loved them so much that the next year we decided to have a family craft night and make these fun lights out of glass blocks.

Last but not least, we can't leave out the dogs! I made Achilles this cute sweater out of yarn scraps from other Christmas projects (cowls and mobius scarves). This year we got the dogs and cat handmade toys from Lizziebees.  At least I can't ruin it for them by telling you. :)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!