Christmas Gifts

Here's a post I did from last year. I thought you may be able to use some of the gift ideas.  Speaking of gift ideas, I'd better get busy creating.  Christmas is less than two weeks away.  YIKES!!!!

'Tis the season to be busy.  Busy, I have been!  I have played nurse, baked, blogged, shopped, crafted, cooked, cleaned, decorated, wrapped, and played hostess for the past month!  My oldest daughter had her tonsils, adenoids, and a lymph node removed on December 9th.  She did wonderfully!  She's a tough one!  Anyway, that's where the nurse role came on.  The rest, just goes with Christmas.

Jill and I started this blog during the busiest time of the year!  This year was certainly no exception with the two weddings I went to, out of state, at the end of November. Then, the giveaways.  They sounded like a great idea at the time, and we had fun doing them, but wow... that was just another addition to our overflowing plates. No worries.  We've already begun thinking about our giveaways for next Christmas.  Woah... I guess I should let you in on a little secret.  The giveaways will continue throughout the year... just not on a daily basis.  We'll do our best though.  Giveaways are great fun.  I won four puzzles for my girls, on a blog, this Christmas!

Anyway, I wanted to share some of the Christmas gifts, I managed to make this year.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of them all.  Have I mentioned my sleep deprivation?  I am not at my sharpest without sleep. Hopefully, I'll get those folks to send me pics and post them later.

Some of my gifts were copy crafting!

I made a pair of these for my mom and myself.  Notice I made my snowman one block taller.  I liked him better this way!
 http://undermypolkadotumbrella.blogspot.com/2010/11/2x4-snowman.html

Copy crafting at it's best http://undermypolkadotumbrella.blogspot.com/2010/11/photobucket.html

For teacher's gifts I attached clothespins on the back for their gift cards.  Such a cute presentation!

I made 10 of these for friends. You would have thought I would have taken some pictures of the unwrapped gift!

Here's the first one I made for our family.
It's a HowDoesShe craft. http://www.howdoesshe.com/2x4-to-birthday-boardtutorial

Then there's the wreath I copied from Jill.  I added some bells and a ribbon and voila I have the perfect UK wreath for my brother in law, Jim: a huge UK fan. http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2010/12/sparkle-wreath-tutorial.html

Then, there are the coasters.  I made a set for my daughter's teachers, a set for my mom, and a set for my mother in law.  She's retired Navy so I made hers with great Navy scrapbook paper.  I just forgot to take a picture of them!  Grrr... Here's a tutorial Jill did on the coasters.  http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2010/12/gift-idea-inexpensive-coasters-tutorial.html

And then folks, I got creative on my own....

For my daughter's teachers' gifts I put a few handmade items together to come up with:

A tshirt, four kinds of homemade treats, and coasters, all in a decorated, reusable, plastic bin.

Stay tuned for a tutorial on these easy shirts.

We'll do an embellishing with vinyl tutorial soon!

Seven layer bars and Brickle cookies http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2010/12/cookie-swap-recipes-part-1.html and http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2010/12/cookie-swap-recipes-part-2.html

White candy bark and peppermint bark (recipes coming soon).

Then there were photo boards:

These things are so versatile and amazing.  Remember the "We Believe" one I did? http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2010/12/making-photo-board-tutorial.html

I made some changes and a variety of gifts!

Another present for my UK loving brother in law.  Skeeter is his dog.

The glare so takes away from the cuteness of this.  My father in law is retired Navy so I thought this would be a great place for him to put Navy memorabilia.

This one is for my Daddy.

This is for my brother.  My girls will tell you, he is the best Uncle Ever!  They're right!

Here's another "We Believe" for my friend, Amy.



Remember the "Grateful" subway art?

http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2010/11/making-subway-art-tutorial-2.html

I made this for my sweet, sweet, Aunt Esther.

Then there's this calendar creation I came up with. (I'll do a tutorial soon...)

For my Mother-In-Law.  Notice the Navy paper on the date blocks?  She's retired Navy, so fitting.  Then, to keep with the patriotic theme, I did white and red stripes.  It looks "flag-y" to me.

My brother's.  I used the same paper on his numbers that I did on his "We Love Uncle Darren" board. Matchy Matchy!  I also did themed paper for each month. 

My Dad's is sideways.  I still haven't learned how to flip pictures, sorry.

This was a gift to my daughters, from my friend, Lesli.  She got the idea from HowDoesShe.  So cute!http://www.howdoesshe.com/bucket-o%E2%80%99-chalk

Here's the inside of the bucket!

This is the burlap pillow Lesli made me.  I LOVE the font she chose.  Too cute!

As you can see, it's been a busy time for all of us crafty gals.  There's still pictures of my handmade gifts, I didn't post, because I forgot to take them.   Still, I hope you're inspired to get your crafts on!