The Handmade Gifts

This is a rare shot of one of us actually working on the handmade gifts that we exchange on Christmas Eve.  There were projects going in almost every room of the house that included saws, drills, sewing machines, knitting needles, and who knows what else.

Helen made Liz this set of origami box-covered Christmas lights to hang in her room. I think she made around 150 origami boxes.

Liz likes to decorate her room for Christmas and asked for a Christmas blanket. 

She got one --made by me!

Liz decoupaged this box with quotes from Helen's favorite books.

She also photocopied some of Helen's sticky notes (which are everywhere in her room filled with quotes) and included those. Helen loved reading all these and now understands why all her favorite books were missing from her room.

Liz made me this puzzle cheese board.

Liz crocheted Helen this cowl. I also knit her an infinity scarf.

Helen made me these canvas placemats. It took her hours to paint all these stripes.

Nelson made me this Christmas tree. 

I am IN LOVE with it!

Liz had fun with forks. She made these tablet stands.

Liz and Helen got a bottle cutter and made us a set of glasses.

This was a fun project that involved a bottle cutter, candles, and ice water.

Nelson made the girls these journal kits. He made boxes for the books and sewed elastic bandoliers to hold pens, glue, and scissors. The girls have already used them at an art museum!

Each year we get a bit nervous as to whether or not we can pull off handmade gifts, and each year just gets more and more fun.  The girls say that this gift exchange is more fun than Christmas morning gifts. Nelson and I remind new parents to be careful which traditions you begin as they can stick :)

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Handmade Christmas 2012

Opening our handmade gifts on Christmas Eve is such a cherished tradition that Helen has already begun worrying about how she'll make gifts when she's in college! We wait until after dinner for this special occasion. Here's what we made:

I did a lot of knitting this year. 

I made Nelson this striped hat that matches his wool coat.

Helen knit a matching scarf for him.

Nelson made this earring hanger for Helen. 

She has already re-organized her jewelry.

Slouchy beanies seem to be in fashion and both girls begged for them.

I obliged.

Liz made Nelson this cheese platter from a piece of slate. 

She gave him chalk so he can write the names of different types of cheese on it.

Nelson made me this shelf for the bathroom

Liz made this bowl and stones for Helen out of sculpey. Each stone has a word on it that defines one of Helen's qualities. When you put them in a line, the first letters of each word spell "Love Always, Liz"

Helen made this sterling silver necklace for Liz.  I am so jealous.

It was a "Dr. Who" Christmas and Nelson made this Tardis ornament for Liz out of an old clementine crate.

Helen made me these sterling silver earrings. She created and soldered the outer loops by hand.

Liz made me these two beautiful punch-sewn snowflakes. 

I am going to get them framed.

I'm already gathering ideas for next year on Pinterest. I am "Maymomvt".

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Christmas Gift Bags

This was the first year we were able to wrap all our gifts in cloth bags. We've been slowly gathering Christmas-ish fabric and sewing bags for about 3 years now. We have a good supply~

Some of the bags are wrapped like a regular package~

Some are wrapped by just being tied at the top.

Here they all in their "hiding" place. Of course the girls know about this spot because they get them to bring down to the tree every year.

One thing we learned about wrapping with cloth is that you can't use sticky tags. We have a variety of gift tags now--some are made from old Christmas cards with holes punched in them. Liz and I made these tags out of sculpey back in July.

Wrapping easily took about 1/2 the time as it did with paper and we had very little trash to clean up on Christmas morning. I wasn't sure I would like this change, but now I'm a complete convert.  This year, instead of hunting up Christmas wrap bargains, I am just hunting up some new pretty ribbon.

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Light the Advent Candle One

Light the Advent Candle One, 

now the waiting has begun, 

we have started on our way. 

Time to think of Christmas Day. 

We lit our first advent candle yesterday and began our preparations for a beautiful season.   The advent candle holder needs some greens but it was freezing rain when we started to get the table together for dinner.

The girls chose these thumbprint cookies for the first Christmas treat which we ate by the fire in the afternoon while on a break from crafting.

Here's the recipe:

Thumb Cookies

Cream 1/2 lb butter and 1/2 cup sugar.  Add 2 egg yolks and 1 tsp vanilla. Add 2 cups flour. Refrigerate 24 hours. Roll in balls, press down in the center, fill with jam.  375 for 10 minutes. We never wait the 24 hours!

It was fun to see what the first cookie would be to be baked, the first song to be fired up (Natalie Merchant, Children Go Where I send Thee), and the first book to be read (Big Susan).

I also tried these meringue Christmas trees (artfully posed by Helen in front of our Advent calendar). I have never made meringues before and this recipe was in the most recent Martha Stewart magazine. These came out a bit dry. It turns out the girls love meringues as they are a gluten-free treat that arrive at school birthdays regularly, but I clearly need a good recipe.

The handmade Christmas gifts are all underway. Some are even complete. It is fun to see what ideas the girls come up with each year.  Helen has turned the basement into a giant graffiti-art studio and is elfing away down there.

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Handmade Christmas

I have two final handmade gifts to share.

Liz and I made these woven reindeer for my Mother. Years ago a basket maker showed me how to make these and I finally managed to have the materials, the instructions, and the IDEA all at the same time. They are actually quite quick to make. I used materials from a basketmaking kit I had. The splint was a bit wider than the measurements that came with the instructions, so I split it in half and we made two reindeer. I imagine these could be easily made with paper, card stock, or even stiffened fabric.

Liz made Helen this jewelry organizer. She got drawer pulls and a piece of molding from the hardware store, polyurethaned the molding, and put in the drawer pulls. Here it is hanging on Helen's bulletin board already full of necklaces.

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Christmas Eve and the Handmade Gifts

Christmas Eve featured appetizers such as this cheeseboard of Vermont cheeses and a final feast of lobster casserole.

We read from my Christmas journal. Every year I keep a journal beginning on the first Sunday of Advent and ending on Twelfth Night. The girls always request a reading. This year I read from 2002 (the first year I began keeping it) and from last year. It is fun to remember back to all the things we made and did.

We listened to music, played Victorian parlor games such as charades where we acted out various Christmas songs, and looked at some of our favorite Christmas books.

After dinner we opened our handmade gifts. I love how excited we all get about this tradition. The focus is definitely on giving and every year the girls sigh and say they would be content if this was all we did. Here's what we all made~

Helen made me this set of napkins.

Liz needlefelted me this beautiful picture which I need to get framed.

I made Liz this owl and a matching buckwheat/lavender pillow.

Nelson made the girls fingerless gloves from thrifted sweaters.

He made me this bag dryer to go on the kitchen sink.
I have been wanting a good way to dry bags for years.

I made Nelson this work apron.
Here he is opening Helen's gift.

Helen made a set of 6 coasters using maps from each place we've been on summer vacation.

Helen made Liz this music folder out of duct tape.
Duct tape is a popular craft medium in our house these days.

Here is Liz with her duct tape folder.

I knit this elephant and sewed these pajamas for Helen.

For the final gift I printed out 2 copies of my blog from 2009. I made them each a copy because I know when they are old and grey, they will each want it. Now I need to get 2010 and 2011 printed. I'm a bit behind.

I'm so glad we started this tradition. To see more from over the years, click on the Handmade Christmas link on the sidebar of the blog.

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Light the Advent Candle Four

The entire family came to see Helen perform in Revels on the fourth Sunday of Advent.
It was a fun show with a great band playing Elizabethan instruments.

The rest of the week was spent helping Helen catch up with tests, homework, and sleep.

There was also lots of crafting. The sewing machine went nonstop for about 3 days. Helen moved it into her room and I heard it going into the wee hours. She not only got all her gifts made, but made a lot of cloth bags for wrapping.

Liz spent hours in her crafting tent.

I spent hours and hours knitting and watching Jane Austen. This is a personal tradition of mine, and I now realize that it isn't Christmas without a Jane Austen marathon.

This crafting is good for the soul.

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