Homemade Christmas

Years ago, even before we were married, Bob and I decided that Christmas was way too commercialized. We decided then to start making each other homemade gifts at Christmas and a tradition was born. Fast forward a few years and we have Ollie. We very quickly we realize that our kids are a priority and making each other something was not so we decided just to do homemade gifts for the kids and do a  house project together for ourselves. It's been a really fun tradition. We make one homemade gift for each child and we help them make ornaments for each grandparent and aunt/uncle set.

This year, I really felt like I knew what to make the boys. they are at an age where what they like is apparent. So we set off to make Dawson a kitchen, Ollie, creature power suits and Nora, a dress. It ended up more like. My Father-in_law made Dawson, a kitchen. Bob and I made Ollie creature power suits and my mom made Nora a dress. Yeah we helped but they did most of the work.

I found a free entertainment stand on craigslist (I love craigslist). Bob and his dad picked it up and the rest is history. Jim (Bob's dad) is a carpenter/handyman. He has lots of scrap pieces of this and that so he happened to have countertop, wood and the necessary hardware. We had an old sink. He put together an amazing kitchen complete with a stove top (can lids), a sink, and an oven with a drawer like a real one. Dawson and Ollie have both loved it! My mom made them matching aprons to use as they cook. Darling!

Ollie has been obsessed with Wild Kratts for at least a good 6 months now. Because of this obsession, he has learned to tell time (mostly hours) so he knows when it is on and can remind me. One day on pinterest, I saw some creature power suits. Light bulb moment here folks. So i set off to make them. I quickly discovered that making an actual vest shape out of a t-shirt was dumb. Instead, I just cut the sleeves off and forgot the V. I used "wonder under" to secure the design to the shirt before I sewed it on. I discovered this through trail and error. Sewing a circle is hard especially is it moves on you. Bob redrew the creature power disks using Illustrator then printed them onto iron on sheets. He found an old pair of Khaki shorts that he ironed them onto and then cut additional circles to make them more sturdy. He sewed the velcro onto one circle and then sewed that circle onto the one with the design. I hand sewed the spots onto the gloves. We were pleased with the result and the kids rarely take them off.

For Nora, I really wanted to make a little dress. My mom was willing to help me and she had some leftover fabric from her quilt so we set to work. I did cut the pattern and sew some of it together but unfortunately her machine started acting funny and I couldn't finish it while there for Thanksgiving. Being the good daughter that I am, I left it there for her (-;  She did a marvelous job finishing it up and Nora looks darling in it.

The ornaments we made this year were a pinterest project. I'm sure you saw them. The darling little hand prints that you transform into snowmen. Haha. So easy right? Tell that to my 2 year old. Have you ever tried having a two year old gently grasp a round object while having paint on their hand and then let it go? It took a while but I did manage to teach him to catch & release! I put all three kids on each Christmas ornament. I made less than usual because of the difficulty and a few people who normally would get them, didn't. Sorry!