This year we did a homemade Christmas, and while it took me countless hours to plan, prepare, repurpose, crochet, sew, glue, cut, stitch, bake… it was so worth it! I think it was September when I started crafting (although I had thought about starting back in April, haha, and began some of the planning way back then), and I was finished a while before Thanksgiving. I love being given homemade things, knowing the particular love and sacrifice that is poured into such things.
Anyway, I’ve had people asking me to share what I made this year. So here you go. Perhaps giving you more than you bargained for. 🙂
This is a grocery sack holder: you know the heaps of plastic bags you accumulate and want to use as garbage can liners (or whatever else), and they make such a mess? This is the solution. I made five of these for the ladies in our family plus one for me.
I made sets of pillow cases for our parents and siblings, with “Mr.” & “Mrs.” and ribbon embellishments.
I collected bottle caps, and made bottle cap magnets for my sisters-in-law (as well as some friends).
I made bottle cap thumb-tacks for the guys.
For my hubby, brother, and brother-in-law, I made cork boards from used wine corks. They’re pretty nifty.
In my brother’s, I used two corks from champagne from his college graduation. And in my hubby’s, I used some corks from wine we had shared together.
I did this stitchery for my mama. I framed it with a frame I’d had waiting for years for a project, and used matting leftover from previous projects.
I made my mom-in-law a Christmas wreath, which (by the way) I consider super duper fun.
I crocheted bookmarks for the ladies in my family, and for some friends.
I framed photos for my grandparents and our dads. (this is the one we gave my dad)
I made hooded towels and personalized them for our niece & nephews.
I decorated onesies for a young newphew.
And I made quiet books for slightly less young niece & nephew.
For Gabriel, I made a bunch of felt food for him to use in his new play kitchen. 🙂
I love all your ideas, I thought the bottle cap magnets were especially neat.
I have seen those plastic bag holders for a long time, but have never made one (although we could certainly use one!) So I think I will…
Wow, you’re one crafty gal! What thoughtful gifts!
I love these gifts you made! The hooded towels and the felt food are especially adorable. My kids love their hooded towels and play food 🙂
Well done, Melissa! I love it!
You were a busy girl! I have a collection of corks, and have thought of making a board or something. But, so far, it is just a collection of corks!
I want to make felt food, too. I like your bacon & egg set. SO good!
Wow! Looks like some amazing stuff!
Hey, I have been trying to figure out how to leave my name on the write the name in the sand waitlist and I can’t seem to find the place to leave my baby’s name. Any suggestions. The websites just keep refering me to a different site.
HUGS to you!
Love it all! Especially the felt food; I want to try that sometime.
Did you use patterns for the quiet books, or just your imagination? Mom got materials for some years and years ago (when she only had a few grandkids), but life is so crammed full of other projects popping up that she hasn’t gotten to it yet. 🙂
How did you make the bottle caps? You did a great job with everything, but I especially like the Quiet Books. Very well done. You could sell those!
You are simply amazing. Have I ever told you that? 🙂
Honestly, you are!! You are so creative and skillful and endeavors-ous!
Such great ideas.
Thanks, ladies. 🙂 I got almost all my inspiration on the internet. I searched Etsy for ideas, as well as plugging in various google searches for ideas in my head that I wanted to play-out in reality. 😉
Krista, if you google “martha stewart bottle-cap magnets”, you’ll find that the top result is what I largely referred to. And I’ve been told by some people they’d like to commission Quiet Books, but it wouldn’t be worth it I think. 🙂
Hannah, no I didn’t use patterns, but took ideas I saw online (as well as an old quiet book my grandmother had made for me as a child) and either tried to recreate them or adapt them to what I had in my imagination. Once I made Gabriel’s last spring though, it did sort of serve as a template for the ones I made this Christmas.
Erin, the cork boards are so fun! I sent out an email to our church asking for corks, and people gave them to me on Sundays throughout the course of about six months. It was a great way to get a large collection pretty quickly, since there’s no way we could collect enough on our own. 😉
Jaclynn, I should send you the link for the tutorial I used for that. So easy and quick! I made them all in just two hours, I think.
Samantha/Stef/Tammy, you are just too sweet. The end. 🙂
Wow, that is all very impressive! And here I was proud of the scarf I made my mom and our half of an Advent calendar that I managed to finish before December 1st! You have set a high bar, and I’ll need to start much earlier than October this next year to catch up!!
Yes, I would love the tutorial for the plastic bag holder!
This is wonderful, Melissa! I really want to take a lot of your ideas and use them next year. I save wine corks, but I never really had a plan for them…hmmm, I don’t think I have enough, but asking people at church is a great idea too.
Thanks so much for sharing and especially for posting all the photos. It really helps my visual mind to see the finished products.
Grocery Sack Holder