Each year, during Advent, our family preps for Christmas in the usual ways: tree, lights, ornaments, ect. But each of my children also work hard on handmade gifts for each other and mom and dad, and I also usually try to do a little hand-making myself. This year, even though (or maybe because of?)
my husband traveled for work, we managed to make quite a few gifts.
Fritter (age 10) made:
 |
| Fritter does quite a bit of work with leather. We got him a starter kit a few years ago, and then Grandma got him more tools and stain this year for his birthday. These are simple bookmarks, but they are really the best. Plus, you can't beat the smell of leather every time you open a book. |
 |
| This is a little drum for Teddy, it has a few beans in it, so it also makes a great shaky toy. And the noise isn't terrible. |
 |
| Perler bead play kitchen food, including mint Oreo cookies for Sunflower. |
 |
| Fritter put together this little tool box for Froggy from a kit, and then spray painted it. Mom and Dad contributed to the gift with a set of screwdrivers. These may or may not have been used to disassemble part of the play kitchen yesterday when we weren't looking. |
 |
| This little mailbox was part of a kit also for Ladybug. Dad attached it to the play house outside and the kids have been busy sending letters to each other. |
Ladybug (age 8) made:
 |
| This wreath was made by both Ladybug and Sunflower for Mom and Dad. It colors up my bedroom door nicely. |
 |
| I had been hinting all Advent that I really needed a matchbox. I have one nice one for our prayer table, but nothing for the candles on the dining table. We found this tin in our Celestial Seasonings Tea, and Ladybug snatched it. |
 |
| Much better than the ugly box I had. |
 |
| This stuffed duck is for Teddy and has a plastic Easter egg with a few beans stuffed inside it to give it a gentle rattle sound. |
 |
| Ladybug made five of these airplanes for Froggy. Note to self: Glue first, then paint. |
 |
| This might be one of my favorite things made this year. I saw this made elsewhere online, and passed on the idea to Ladybug and she took over. Five little fairies in a flower bed for Sunflower. |
 |
| This is a Perler bead maze for Fritter. Once it was ironed, we glued it into an empty CD case, added a small bead, and glued the case shut. This is Dad's favorite handmade item this year. |
Sunflower (age 5) made:
 |
| Froggy is really into magnets, so Sunflower made him this little craft, and Mom and Dad contributed the magnet. Froggy has been running around testing everything to see if its "Magnets". |
 |
| I know one of these pipe cleaner creations is a spider...I don't really know what the others are, but Sunflower made them for Fritter and he seems to like them. :) |
 |
| Sunflower sewed and stuffed this little bear for Teddy. She really did a great job. |
 |
| She made this little drawstring bag (with Mom's help) and made "story rocks" for Ladybug. |
And I made:
 |
| I find it hard to buy presents for the baby of the family. So this year I made him a little rattle, again with the egg and bean shaky inside. |
 |
| These blankets are simple to make, but so satisfying and are probably the coziest blankets ever. This one is for Ladybug. I love the material. |
 |
| And this is Fritter's. Both Sunflower and Froggy were given blankets a couple of years ago. I made these ones a bit longer for the bigger kids. |
The best part about all of this handmade stuff, is most of the materials came from our home. Very few purchases were made. Also, these end up being almost everyone's favorite gifts (even if I do find myself repairing some of them).
Merry Christmas from our family to yours!
