Handmade Christmas Gifts Round-Up 2012

Now that Christmas has come and gone, and all the gifts have been opened, I am looking back at my goal of having a 100% handmade Christmas and feeling very fulfilled. While I did not accomplish it (is 100% really a realistic goal?! Haha!), I came very close. And I had so much fun this holiday season. Since I didn't share much on the blog before Christmas (you never know who might read it and I sure hate to ruin surprises!), I wanted to post my favorite projects from this year - to cherish and remember, and maybe to inspire you for a gift-giving occasion in the future!

Waldorf Doll
This was by far the most time consuming of my projects. I've been working on my first handmade Waldorf doll for months. A few hours here, a couple hours there. I got design input from Dmitri (it needed long hair and had to be a girl). I primarily followed this tutorial here. And I used this hair tutorial.  I added a belly button on my own! And I knitted the little scarf. Hopefully she will have some more clothes soon. = ) And she will definitely be getting her own blog post with more details.

Dmitri with his doll and matching scarfs (more fox scarf photos below)

Kool-aid Dyed Playsilks
I ordered silk scarves from Dharma Trading Co. for about $5 a piece, and then dyed them with koolaid. There are a lot of tutorials online. I looked at several, but they generally followed the same concepts. I boiled them on the stove since I don't have a microwave (some use microwaves, some use stoves). I was really happy with how they turned out, and I must admit, it was super fun trying different colors of koolaid. I want to make more...the littles seem to like them too!!

Maps of France Tile Coasters
I made the coasters for about $3 using tiles from Lowe's, cardstock, and Modge Podge. I printed the cardstock with antique maps of France that I found via google, cut them to size, applied them with modge podge, and then sealed them using 6 layers of modge podge (I applied a layer about every 20 minutes, and then allowed them to dry completely). Pretty simple, and I love how they turned out. I want a set for myself!

Fabric Baby Book
This gift is for my newest niece, and was very time-consuming, but very rewarding. The fabric book features photos of all of her family (at least, immediate family, grandparents, and cousins). I printed photos using printable cotton fabric, sewed them onto pages, and then sewed the pages together with cotton batting in the middle. It is about 8 x 8. I was inspired by Soule Mama. But I mostly winged it, since I couldn't find a good tutorial. I will probably post more details in a separate post.

Felt Fox Applique Scarf
 I knitted this little scarf (my first completed knitting project!) for Dmitri using 100% alpaca. I then cut out pieces from 100% wool felt, glued them together, and then sewed them onto the scarf by hand. I found a little fox ornament made of felt, and used it as inspiration for cutting the pieces.

It was very fulfilling making each of these gifts, and I am so glad that I challenged myself to a handmade Christmas. I am looking forward to trying new things next year (soap-making?!), and improving my knitting skills so that I can give more knitted gifts. But one thing is for sure- creating leaves me feeling incredibly happy, and I should live always creating, in some way or another.

Happy Holidays!

Our Christmas 2012

Our Christmas travels haven't gone at all how we planned, but the smiles on our little ones faces and being surrounded by family have redeemed our holiday - and have made it a very merry Christmas.

Here's a glimpse into our Christmas morning...and I have a new toy of my own that I got to play with (can you tell?!) A very happy mama.

 Cousins - Dmitri (3 1/2), Amelia (2), Damon (21 months)

 Damon enjoyed his blue lollipop from his stocking.

 Dmitri, ready for presents (Red overalls from Jacadi - $3 at a consignment sale. love.)

 Opening his Waldorf doll.

 Damon is quite pleased with his book "Gallop".

 Still trying to figure out this opening gifts thing. Maybe using teeth will help.

 A baby!

 A silly photo of me with my sweet boys.

 Girl or boy?!

 20 weeks pregnant on Christmas morning.

 David & I - Merry Christmas, darling.

Photos taken with my new Nikon D7000 and 35 mm f/1.8. Oh such fun.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a lovely holiday. I feel very thankful.
Did you give or get anything especially cool? I'll have a post soon of some of my favorite handmade gifts - and a couple non-handmade ones too!

Christmas Photo & Year in Review 2012

Because I have been camera-less the last few months, I used this photo that I took in October for our holiday photo. It's not what I had planned for my holiday photo, but I do love how it captures Dmitri & Damon.

Now, a little side-note about printing photos. I was ordering a couple holiday gifts from a popular photo site, and I went ahead and ordered the prints from them while I was at it (they were "on sale"). Well, I received them, and the quality was terrible. The colors were muted, the details were blurred, and I was generally very disappointed in how they turned out. So much so, that I definitely didn't want to send them out. (I worked hard to capture a good photo of my boys, why would I want to send out a bad copy?!) I needed to order some other prints for another holiday project, so I re-ordered the prints from my absolute favorite site- Mpix.com . A side-by-side comparison is pretty unbelievable. I will not make this mistake again, just order from the best to begin with!

This is absolutely not sponsored by any company, just sharing my experience. For someone who is picky about photo quality, Mpix is where it is at.

And then, I also made our little "Year in Review" Christmas letter. I'm sure you've seen them on Pinterest. I made my own using Microsoft Word. It was a lot of fun, and I like the non-traditional take on Christmas letters.

Do you send out holiday cards or letters? How do you like to do it?

Holiday Bucket List: Update

Brown paper packages tied up with string....re-using materials around the house? Yes, indeed, my favorite thing.

 Dmitri's Gingerbread House

 We had a gingerbread house decorating party with Dmitri's friends. It was so cute and fun, and so worth the effort.

I hung a wreath - and made a burlap bow to update it a bit (for free using scraps I had).

We watched a Christmas movie: A Charlie Brown Christmas
I haven't seen it in years; and I thought it would be a classic choice. (Especially since Dmitri really enjoyed the Athens Christmas parade that was Charlie Brown-themed.) Uh, let me just say, I don't think that was intended for children. I'm not really sure what age-range it was created for, but I will definitely choose something else next time! I would have enjoyed it if I had watched it by myself. Not so much with a three-year-old. What are your favorite holiday movies for watching with little ones?

I'll post our Christmas photo & letter at the beginning of next week, so I don't ruin it for anyone receiving a hard copy. ; )

Caroline’s Holiday Bucket List

-Make homemade hot cocoa (and it was so easy and delicious, we have made it twice this week!)

-Brown paper packages tied up with string (I think I might try reusing paper grocery bags).

-Make a felt ball garland

-Watch a Christmas movie with the family

-Make a snowman pizza (Damon will love picking the olives off. His favorite!)

-Apple. Cider.

-Hang a star in the window

-Make a Christmas card book for the kids to look through aswe receive cards

-Mail Christmas cards to friends and family

-Hang a holiday wreath

-See Christmas lights!

-Make Gingerbread Houses (I think I'm going to try Rice Crispy Treat houses with my favorite peanut butter & brown rice syrup recipe)

-Sugar cookies. A Christmas tradition. (I use this recipe).

-Paint snowflake art

-Create snow globes with Dmitri (there are a million tutorials on Pinterest)

-Put the very first present under the tree the day we get our Christmas tree  (The book: Mr. Willoughby’s Christmas Tree. That way, we can read it all holiday season long. And it's such a cute book.)

-Hang stockings by the fireplace

-New Christmas pajamas and a special Christmas book: our Christmas Eve tradition

-Cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning!

Are you in the full holiday swing?! I still have a few activities I would like to do, but thus far, we are really enjoying this season. Having little ones has only increased my love of Christmas, if that's possible. And I cannot wait to see their faces on Christmas morning.

I'm still scrambling to finish a couple handmade projects. Do I still have time to knit a hat?!
What about you? Are you done with your shopping/gift-making?

Mama Elf's Workshop

Kool-aid dyed playsilks. Tutorial.

 Felt in progress- cut and ready for assembly for a scarf applique and play food.

The pieces for a fabric book, to be ironed. Inspired by.

Ready to sew.

Compiling photos for some photo projects, ordering prints, listening to a Christmas station on Pandora, thinking about wrapping ideas, waiting on a couple of Amazon orders, browsing stockings on eBay, to write or not to write a Christmas letter,  all currently going on in Mama Elf's workshop. A busy elf, is a happy elf- at least in this house.

Are you busy with holiday crafting? I must say, I'm so excited about my attempts at a handmade holiday.