Crafty Christmas
December 26th, 2009 by Ashley
Now that the frantic rush to finish everything is over, I thought I would share for your inspiration, and for my reference, all of my homemade creations for this Christmas.
First, with the help of my mother-in-law, I made my own fresh wreath for the second time.
Last year I was very concerned with having a tidy and trim looking wreath.
This year I was feeling much more relaxed…
As you can tell my wreath had a much more “wild” appearance this time. But I kind of liked it. Very unique!
Next, my fabulous stocking stuffer #1, inspired by this informative post. I pulled out the pinking shears and some leftover pieces of cute fabric and made each girl their own set of rags for curling.
We’re trying them out for the first time tonight, so I’ll report back to you on whether we end up with little Shirley Temples or Bozo the clown.
Stocking Stuffer #2 was brought to mind out of pure necessity, but I made them following this tutorial.
I could make a hundred of these. They were so simple, and I have so many ideas for cute decor on them. So far my girls think they’re great as headbands to wear around the house. I’m excited to have some time this next week to get outside and show them what they are really for.
If I had seen the tutorial sooner than the day before Christmas Eve, these definitely would have been stocking stuffer #3. I’m keeping them in mind for next year. 
One of my big projects this year was tutus for my girls and also my nieces. I’ve seen them several places online; these are the directions I followed. They were super easy, although they do take a little time. A couple of friends and I got together and worked on them so that made the time pass quickly. My only advice: FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS about making the elastic shorter than you think. It stretches A TON.
My girls loved them. I’m sure I’ll be making more of these in the future.
Next, I made personalized bath towels. I’m sure there’s some instructions on ways to do this somewhere, but I just kind of made up my own. I sewed decorative ribbon onto the towels, then used chalk to write the girls’ initials for a pattern, and embroidered them. Pretty quick, not too hard, and I’m hoping it will help cut back on laundry a bit.
Finally, the “big” project for this year. The main gift our girls were getting for Christmas this year was Calico Critter families. (these are very popular in our house)
I thought it would be really great if they all had homes. Then I saw this tutorial. Perfect match.
I was a little intimidated by the instructions, but they really were not that hard. It was fun being able to personalize the colors for each girl, and they love that they’re small enough to carry around wherever we go.
I’m pretty sure there will be more of these in my future as well. Though they took a bit of time, I thought it was fun (mostly). I know they aren’t quite as glamorous as this, but I think they’re comparable and I would say these only cost me about $8 each to make. So they’re a bargain too!
That’s it! There would be more, but I was on the verge of a breakdown trying to finish all of this in time, so I had to force myself not to add anything else.
And, because I don’t want you thinking I’m wonderwoman, let me just clarify that my house has not been clean in over a month, my kids have watched way too much tv in the last week and a half, and there is an enormous pile of craft supplies and fabric occupying one whole side of my bedroom because I didn’t bother to clean up after any of the projects. I just kept shoving it all towards the wall and moving on to the next thing.
So, I’m really glad that my girls were thrilled with all of their gifts, because I’m going to be cleaning for at least a week before I come even close to catching up.
Posted in Homemade
WoW! Such great gifts! You are very talented! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!!!
Comment by Angela — December 29, 2009 @ 8:54 am
Wow! All these projects are awesome! The little houses are adorable
And the tutu is great! What lucky girls!
Comment by Jolyn — December 29, 2009 @ 2:17 pm