Handmade Christmas

Every year I continue to be amazed at the beautiful gifts we create.  We want to share them, but even more we want to remember them and therefore I record them here. 

* Aria sewed a tool belt out of brown corduroy and batik patterned material for Elias, our woodworker.                *Elias and Aria teamed up to put together a cook book for Ben, filled with some favorite recipes and some new to try in a material covered binder. 

* Likewise Ben and Elias teamed up to  sew a mattress, comforter and pillow for Aria's special doll.  

*We all freezer stenciled Chris a t-shirt with a bull fighter, to mark our summer trip to spain

*I sewed a quilt for Elias using a good amount of jean from all the pants he wore through in the past year. I was thrilled with the results

*For shai I made a pair of wings for him to sing and dance around in- they turned out a little big needing a bit of modifying

*a embroidered camp blanket for Aria

*a water bottle holder for Elias from Ben

There were others, but these were our highlights.

Play Sets

This year I decided to make each of the kids a play set as one of their Christmas gifts from us. This was an easy decision for the two younger kids, numerous ideas came quickly to mind for what the play sets could be. The decision for my youngest and oldest became all the more easier when a friend happened to post two different tutorials , at two different times, with play sets I knew they would love.
For Shai, a dinosaur play mat. This included a set of small dinosaurs, a quilted mat with patches for rocks, water and meadow. I also included a cave, volcano and tree that is similar to the ones in the tutorial. It was perfect. Except, apparently dinosaurs don't like having their pictures taken. Who wants to argue with a dinosaur?

The idea of a play mat for an almost eleven year old might be pushing it for some, but Elias' imagination has always be alive and vivid. With it being a War of 1812 theme, my history buff would love it. I made six British and six American soldiers, with six pegs should he want to make his own Native representatives. There was also a book and a mat with a river, rocks and meadow. Also a hit.

Aria is still very much enjoying fairies, something that steals my own heart. I want to indulge and encourage it as long as it will last. I enjoyed not following a tutorial for this fairy house, embroidering here and there. To reside in the house was a fairy family, felt logs, embroidered sleeping bags and pillows. Very quickly are woodland felted friends came out of hiding to investigate the new additions.

Chris and I collaborated on Ben's set. We carried on the viking theme from his birthday. I made three viking bendy dolls and Chris made a viking ship, complete with oars and shields. The vikings and soldiers were soon trying to battle each other to take over dinosaur island Christmas morning!

Gifts in a Jar

Gift giving traditions with my extended family has gone through lots of changes over the years. There were lots of years ,even as a kid, everyone exchanged a gift. As the families grew we started to draw names, each giving just one gift. There were also few years we each brought a neutral gift that we used played games with for the exchange. The games have been one of the parts of the exchange I have enjoyed the most, they have often been a gift in themselves. There have been lots of games over time; family trivia, the lucky draw, cards, Karaoke (which I loved!), auctions.

This year we decided on something we haven't tried before. First adults picking a name from the adult pool and the kids picking a name from the kid pool. The gifts couldn't cost more than $10, and they could be handmade or up cycled. The catch was the gift was to be put in a jar. A jar for a few reasons. It eliminates wrapping, bags, waste and instead is a re usable container. This twist requires you to be a little bit more creative and think outside your box....or in a jar!

We had a lot of fun with these gifts. We have been in a bit of a gifting slump with this particular exchange the last few years. We don't often see most of these family members any other time of the year, new partners come and therefore don't know them all extremely well to think of a personal gift. These new requirements breathed enough life into for us. We felt really successful in creating gifts we are joy filled in giving and that are also personal.

So since there are six of us, there were six gifts to give. I thought I would share what we did.

For my 3 yo nephew who loves super heroes we made some super hero accessories. We had recently made him a cape, so we built on that with wrist bands, a belt and a mask. A cool collection of tattoos topped it up.

My 9 yo cousin is receiving a bag made of jean with some funky embroidery. We covered the outside of the jar with hair accessories and some personal embroidered felt magnets.

Her 16 year old sister we made a hat from a felt sweater and a matching fleece scarf - which I just loved!

My 18 yo cousin is deciding what the next year will hold for her. We though it was fitting to give a flag banner with the word believe on it.

My cousin is also getting a hat made from a felted sweater, and in his jar is also some homemade hot chocolate mix and peppermint candy cane white chocolate bark. Cause really who doesn't like those!

My Aunt was originally getting a very different gift, but I ran into some sewing issues which needed me to walk away. Thankfully I found an even better replacement idea. She has a coffee mug cozy, a beautiful silk scarf with sequins I made and an embroidered broach.

Each of the gifts also have ornaments ; beeswax, salt dough or lavender filled birds and a small sweet treat we made.

I am excited to see the fun everyone else has been having making theirs and even more to see what games we decide on!

Could the key to happiness be a new hat?

Good friends recently gifted this beautiful hat for his birthday and in his favorite colour. It has brought lots of smiles. He wears it to bed, inside, outside, to fencing, to scouts, to co-op. Where ever he is, so is his hat.

Books and Dolls: some of the things my little girl is made of

Trying to think of a gift you are excited to make, give and will be received with enthusiasm can sometimes be tricky. Not for our little girl. It was so much fun to be busy sewing all week (lots of late nights) for her two special dolls. Two very different dollies, a Waldorf doll with purple hair and a Canadian Girl with very fine and defined features. But for sewing needs, their bodies are very similar, making my task even easier.

I made each of them a skirt to match one I made Aria earlier in the summer. They needed a birthday crown for their own birthdays and for attending the birthday festivities. For each of them a set of pj's, a fancy party dress, two skirts, a top, a jacket and a sundress.

Dadda made a whole stack of books for her to fill. Classic books, tiny ones, accordion style, flip books, scrolls, with a new set of markers for creating.

She loved them all. She cherishes that we made them for her.

Magic Happening

Aria awoke on this, her seventh birthday to find a trail of glass jewels to follow. They lead to a scroll inviting her to the woods for a magical surprise. In the woods there was a rope winding around and through the trees for a quite a way. At the end there was a fairy house with a fairy and a sweet dream pillow especially for her.

Birthdays are magical things.

Gifts of the heart

Awe. Pure amazement. How blessed I am, with such truly big hearted kids. Today was my birthday. I love birthdays. To celebrate the gift of each other in our world, I think that is pretty great. So, today was my birthday, and boy did I feel special. My kids worked all week (without suggestion or persuasion) on gifts for me. Elias whittled, sewed a leather handle, burned a design on a beautiful walking stick for me. He knows how much pleasure hiking brings me, something we love to do together. Aria and Ben collected caps, hammered each one flat - about fifty of them- hammered a hole in each with a nail, and strung them into a very groovy necklace. Why? because they know dancing fills me with joy, something we love to do together. And what is better than dancing, then dancing with a beautiful jingle sound? After a picnic, a fire, a fabulous cake Chris made, we danced. Danced barefoot in the grass, freeze dance even. I love birthdays.