Making Christmas Presents

This year, mostly in an attempt to save money, but also in an effort to limit commercialism, I decided that the gifts I gave my kids would be homemade.  I also limited myself to only using the supplies I had on hand.  No buying expensive fabric! 

Luckily, my kids are only 2 and 5, so their expectations for Christmas gifts are pretty low.  Santa will still be bringing non-homemade presents, or at least the kind he makes in his workshop (ahem Amazon.com).  I just finished the presents today, and thought that I'd share.

For my two year old, I made little placemats for the play kitchen.  She is always getting my fabric napkins, laying them out, and setting out an elaborate meal, so I thought that her own set of placemats were in order.

 



 

I cut up an existing piece of pre-quilted fabric intended to be bound into a baby quilt.  It had sweet little "blocks" just the right size for mini-placemats.  The fabric is a stiff polyester, I think salvaged from my mother-in-law's stash.  It was too stiff and scratchy to be used for wrapping a baby in, but perfect for making little placemats.  After cutting rectangles, I bound the edges in bias tape (my first attempt at machine sewn binding), and called it good.  I think my daughter is going to love these.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For my five year old, I made an apron.  I had made her one when she was two using this awesome pattern, but it is a bit small for her.  Besides, the little sister needs to wear an apron too.  Since I last made the apron, the pattern has been updated to give a size for 5 - 8 year olds.  Perfect!  I used pink fabric from my eternal source (see here and here), and embellished with some retro Strawberry Shortcake pieces.  I think this fabric originally came from our Grandmother, Mary Frances, but it came to me via Carlee.  I am also sure that the new apron will be well-loved too.

 

 

 

 

What about you?  Are you making anything for Christmas?  What will it be?  Do share!  I am thinking of making one more small thing for each, but haven't decided what yet.  Any suggestions?

 



 

 

Sugar 'Igloo'

Last week Kid 1 (age 4) came home from preschool with a really cool project to finish at home.  The started making igloos out of sugar cubes and royal icing, and my son the builder, was really into the project.  We do a lot of building at my house, with lego, Lincoln logs, and other materials, and this was right up his alley.

He got a few rows up, and then needed some help.  I kept going long after he had given up, and I hoped that I would be able to create a rounded top.  It didn't work out, so I ended up with more of a teepee than anything else, but it was still fun for all of us.

I think this would be a great winter activity to keep little (and big) hands busy in the long a dreary months of January and February.  And cheap too, since sugar cubes are inexpensive and it's easy to make a batch of super strong royal icing.

Now that I'm looking at my pictures, it just occurred to me that you could use something like a balloon or a crumpled up ball of foil to stuff inside the igloo that would support the dome while your icing is hardening.  If you try this, please let me know if this works.  We still have a lot of winter ahead of us (in fact, it hardly feels like it has begun), and we would all be up for a repeat.

Handmade Gifts this Christmas

I'm still recovering from my awesome, but too short Christmas holidays.

While most of the gifts given and received were the store bought variety, there were a few great handmade presents that I wanted to tell you about. 

Gingerbread Playdough

I found the gingerbread playdough recipe here.  This stuff smells so amazing.  We made a few batches and divided it up into little baggies to give to cousins and special friends.

Pancake Mix

My husband's aunt gave us a pancake mix that contains wheat, oats, barley, rye and brown flour.  Yum!  We had it for supper the other day.

Baby Doll and Clothes

Because my older daughter loves her baby doll so much, I thought that it was time for my younger daughter to have a baby doll of her own.  We already had so many baby dolls at our house, so I thought it would be silly to buy another one.  Instead, I had my older one choose one of her babies to give to her little sister.  We completed the gift by making a little pyjama dress for the doll recycled from a shirt with a hole in it.

Puzzle Set

My brother and his wife gave our girls a fun little set of puzzles on popsicle sticks.  The pictures are all church themed, so it will be a great quiet toy to play with in church.

Quilted Purse

My mother-in-law made my daughter and some of her same aged cousins little quilted purses.  This gift is adored.  My daughter carries it around the house, and reorganizes her purse constantly.  

Toy Bag

I gave my daughter a set of see and spell letters.  The set is great, but the container it came in does not hold all of the pieces very well.  To keep everything together, I whipped up a little bag similar in design to my advent bags.

There were, of course, a lot of non-handmade presents given too.  (Like the awesome laminator that I got.  Anyone need something plasticized?)  I think, though, that handmade gifts really have a special touch.  What were some of the great handmade presents that made it into your Christmas?

Merry (late) Christmas

I'm just popping in to say that we had a lovely Christmas.  We attended Christmas parties, exchanged gifts, ate our weight in goodies, and tried to remember the true meaning of Christmas at the same time.  We also got a new camera, and Mr. Carlee and I have been having lots of fun playing with it.  We found the tutorial for making the lights look like stars here.   

I've been doing lots of baby snuggling, and trying to get into the swing of having three kids.  Sewing, blogging, laundry, house cleaning, cooking, and leaving the house, are all taking a backseat right now as I try to get things figured out around here.  Lucky for me, my mother-in-law came to stay for the first week, and Mr. Carlee is working from home (and not full-time yet) this week.  I am slowly feeling like a normal person again, although it's going to be awhile before my jeans fit (sigh).  Baby's are worth it though, right?  Especially a baby as sweet as my new little girl. 

Salt Dough Ornaments

One of the things that I remember most about going to my Grandmother Mary Frances' house, is making salt dough.  Salt dough is an awesome and cheap way to keep kids (and grandkids) entertained.  As a kid, the fact that my grandma baked our creations and let us take them home made me feel so special. 

This is the first time that I have made salt dough as an adult.  I know that it is a classic activity, so I guess it was about time.  My kid #1 and I decided to make ornaments for her friends and preschool classmates.

We rolled the dough flat, and used cookie cutters for the shapes.  She decided on star shape for her preschool friends, and that pig is for herself.

Once the dough was cooked and cooled, we painted the ornaments with tempera paints. 

We tied a length of string through each - and ta-da!  Our salt dough ornaments are finished.

Here is how to make your own:

Easy Salt Dough

1 c. salt
1c. flour
1/2 c. water

1. Mix together.  Add more water if needed.
2. Make shapes and bake on foil or parchment lined cookie sheet at 225 for 2 or more hours.

Felt Stockings

When Kid 1 was a baby, my husband and I collaborated on a project together, and made him a felt Christmas stocking.  Mr. Carlee is a fairly good artist, and at Christmas time he has these silly characters that he draws on cards or other things.  For the stocking we wanted to do something original, so Mr. Carlee drew a little character and letters for his name for me to applique, and I did the rest.  Kid 1 got the Humpty Dumpty elf.

Please don't look too closely at my handiwork, because it really has improved a lot over the last 4 years.  Now that you aren't looking for imperfections, it's cute, eh?

When Kid 2 was born we set at it again to come up with a little character to grace his stocking.  Many of you know this, but he had a pretty rough time for the first few months of life (you can read more about that here), and we truly believe that he's a miracle.  An angel seemed fitting.

This year, our baby could be making an appearance at any moment.  I'm due on Thursday, and I hope she will decided to arrive sometime between now and Christmas Eve.  I wanted to have something ready for her, but since we haven't decided on a name yet, I've only done part of her stocking.   

In the past I've used the 100% wool felt from Joanns, but when I went to buy some more for the stocking, I learned they don't carry it anymore.  I know you can order this kind of thing online, but I hate paying shipping, and I wanted to start work on it as soon as possible (remember, I'm running out of time).  So of course, I turned to my favourite thrift store for supplies.



I picked up a red wool coat for half price, and cut it up.



I was hoping to find something that was a tad heavier, but this was the best I could find that was half price, the right colour, and a solid piece in the back.

After I cut it all up, I washed it in my washing machine with hot water and let it felt up a bit.  I actually ran it through my washer and dryer twice to felt it as much as possible (to make it thicker and stop it from fraying).

The wool is really soft and nice to hold, and it's been fun to work on this fat little reindeer.  For the pieces, I traced my husbands sketch for each felt piece.  I redrew the antlers as carefully as I could with a piece of thin sharpened soap (THE best thing for marking on fabric), and added a few little things to make things looked balanced.   

My favourite touch is the harness with tiny gold jingle bells.  I like to add a little texture to their stockings because I think it gives it a little something extra. 

I wouldn't consider myself to be an embroiderer, but I do know how to do a few basic stitches.  I mostly use a basic back stitch, a running stitch, and my fanciest move is the french knot I use for eyes.  And that is all I can do, but luckily it is enough for what I'm interested in doing.

 

Although I still have the name to (decide on and) applique, I'm feeling pretty good with myself that I have her stocking mostly finished.  I guess this means I'm ready for you to be born now little one!

Real Gingerbread Houses

Last year my family all got together for Christmas in a rented cabin in Upstate New York.  We had 11 adults and 5 little kids squeezed together.  It was so much fun - probably my favourite Christmas to date.  Some of the highlights of our week was the amazing food that we all cooked, and the fact that we were all actually together.  At the end of the week, when everyone was asked what they liked best about our Christmas, I think the unanimous answer was Gingerbread Houses.

Growing up, I think I remember putting together a gingerbread house from a kit or graham crackers here and there, but it was never the highlight of my Christmas.  When I married Mr. Emily however, I inherited the tradition of complex and labour intensive gingerbread houses done "the real way."  Let me tell you, it is a lot of work, but it is so much fun to make the shapes, build the houses, and decorate them in elaborate ways.  Gingerbread house building is not just for kids.

Last year, my family made a camping scene (complete with outhouse), an A-frame house (which the kids were allowed to COVER with candies) and a traditional house with a picket fence.  It was a really fun activity to do together as a family. 

Click through for the recipes for the dough, icing, and melted sugar glue (which holds the houses together better than icing ever could).