Happy Handmade Christmas

It is one of my favorite things ever to make handmade gifts for Christmas.  It makes me feel a little like Ma Ingalls.  (More on my longing to be Ma some other time.)  Except she would never lose track of time, and this year I sort of lost track of time and then I ran out of time.  Alas, some projects I had planned for fell by the wayside, but here is my Show-and-Tell post for the gifts I did complete.  (My children are also very adept at handmade gifts - this year's included a variety of popsicle stick creations, loom potholders, and some very lovely crayon-colored letters in the style of Medieval illuminated manuscripts.  But I failed to get any photos, apparently because I was too busy taking pics of my own creations...Hmm... New Year's resolution perhaps?  Project Document Kids' Crafts?  I'm workin' on it.)

felt tea bags and pouch - for my daughter who received a tea set last Christmas
(idea adapted from any one of the play food tea bags listed on etsy... take your pick)

felt envelopes for playing mail and sending secret messages
(idea adapted from here )

felt ornaments given to my sons to commemorate two special events this past year... the hot air balloon festival we FINALLY got to go to and our very fun and very prolonged backyard squirrel study.
I hope this will become a tradition each year, if I can manage it.
(I made up the hot air balloon design and I got the squirrel template here.)

people treats -  hot chocolate stirrers for the kids' stockings 

dog treats -  even though I don't care for pets (ha.  that's putting it mildly), we do try to treat our dog-in-law, Leo, well.   He really likes this recipe here.  I substitute natural apple sauce for the jelly and skip the sugar decoration.  We used a cookie cutter to turn them into "Buffalo Bites" and made a triple batch to fill a pint-and-a-half mason jar.  This has become an annual activity I do with the kids - it's the closest they'll ever come to caring for a pet whilst I'm in charge...

Hmm... I don't exactly have my sister's permission to  put her picture on here, but she kind of
had to be in it so you could see the cozy cowl I crocheted.  

fabulous purse, if I do say so myself!  I've been using this pattern for a couple years now.  It's a good one! 

tulle tutu and matching ballerina doll (the doll is my own pattern and the tutu is the Low Sew Tutu from JoAnns, adjusted for my daughter's height) 

and here are my sweet ballerinas!

I think that was it for Handmade Christmas this year.  But I have a few other things I may try to pull together for the Feast of Epiphany.  We usually try to have a gift for the children on that day as well, but with my lack of planning this year (and the early January-ish problem of we've all been doing way too many Christmas crafts and we better get back to doing some school lessons pretty darn quick), it's questionable whether I'll have anything made in time.   What would Ma do?

I would love to hear what kinds of gifts other folks were creating for Christmas this year!  So, if you're crafty and you're reading this, share your ideas!  Please!  Thank you.

And, oh yeah.  I am none too ashamed to admit that most of the things I create are concepts I've seen elsewhere.  I will always try to give credit where credit is due.  Please feel free to do the same with what I post here (but it would be ever so appreciated if pictures of my children and any other human beings would stay on this blog.)

One more thing - don't get the wrong idea about me hand-making everything.  While I love sewing and crafting and making things that I hope will be family treasures for generations to come (or at least for a couple of months) I'm also a BIG fan of Amazon Prime.  Big.  Fan.  Love my two day free shipping - not too good for developing the virtue of patience, practicing delayed gratification and all that, but very good for distracted-mom holiday planning!