Handcrafting Christmas

Gifts for Kids:

Hat and mittens- I used this hat tutorial and made a mitten pattern by tracing their hands onto a sheet of white paper.
Pj pants- no tutorial for this one, I traced existing pj pants making sure to leave room for a seam allowance
Fleece blankets - easiest gift ever
Child sized bean bag chairs
Chalkboard and chalk- for the chalkboard I'm painiting a piece of plywood with chalboard paint, using moulding to finish the edges and then placing hanging hardware on the back. Chalk tutorial is here
Hooded bath towels
Pillowcase dress- if you go down a post you can see one of these thatI already completed for Sam.
Car play mat- there are tutorials for this all over Google but I haven't found one I really liked yet. I'm planning on making this one up as i go, if it works I'll post a tutorial for you.
Rag doll
Easy Bake oven mixes- Amanda got an Easy Bake last year but she quickly ran out of mixes and the price for replacements is outrageous. Right before Christmas I'm going to make up some homemade mixes from here. I bought small cellophane bags and gift tags to package them up nicely.
Crayons and colouring books
I Spy pillows
Bath crayons
Puppets- I'm using this basic Grover puppet tutorial for the basic form
Playdough sets

Gifts for Women:
Scrabble tile pendant
Brush roll
Sweater purse- I love these so much I already made one for myself
Makeup bag

Gifts for Men or Women
Adult bean bag chair
IPad case

This isn't the complete list, I still have some holes in my list that need to be filled in. As I come across new things I plan on making I'll update the list to add links.

Places I go for inspiration:
PrudentBaby
MakeandTakes

I've been spending most of July making lists, looking for ideas and getting organized. At this point the list consists of over 50 items so I'm going to need to make 12 gifts a month to finish in time.

It's hard to think about Christmas when it's roughly 10 million degrees outside so luckily I have the wonderful Shannon who told me about SewManyWays' Make a Gift on the 25th Club and then reminded me that today was the 25th. Thanks, Shannon :)

My July projects have been pretty random. So far we have...

A hat for Colin, scarf for Amanda and mittens for Sam



A dress for Sam. I'm slightly cheating on this one since the shirt is one I bought last spring and put away in her fall clothes box but since it was something we already had in the house I'm using it.



Our Walmart closed it's fabric department last spring and I grabbed these Sponge Bob pillow panels for Ethan and Amanda and totally forgot about them until last week. 10 minutes of hemming and they're ready for Christmas morning.



Now, for tonight's project. I had pj pants on the list for all 4 kids and I knew I wanted them to match, but not be identical. The boys got dump truck flannel, pants for Colin and board short style shorts for Ethan




And the girls got purple snowmen, wide leg pants for Sam and Bermuda length shorts for Amanda.




That's all for July! On board for August: bean bag chairs, diapers, puppets, Scrabble necklaces and a chalkboard, among other things.

The Challenge: To have an almost completely handcrafted Christmas in 2011. Everything from gifts to decor to food will be hand made.
Exceptions: A gift for my brother in law who is pretty much impossible to buy for at the best of times. I will try my hardest to find something to make for him but don't blame me if his Christmas gift is a Best Buy gift card like it is every year.
Any decorations that require electronics (ie; lights)will be store bought. I would prefer to not burn down the house.
Gifts for Derek's parents. There are two reasons for this 1) that's his job and 2)if I'm going to hear about how whatever I got them is all wrong anyway I'd rather it not be a gift that I put a lot of time and effort into.
Gifts from Santa will still be store bought. Our kids get one Santa gift and it's usually something they've seen on TV or at the store that they are really set on. Santa is still allowed to shop at Toys R Us.

Due date: Christmas Day 2011