Homemade Christmas Gifts 2015

This year was kind of different for my husband's side of the family.  We were gone the whole break and we had a wedding in Colorado for a niece, so we didn't all get together during the holidays (except the traditional Thanksgiving time).  We usually only have a few hours together for Christmas anyway, but one of my favorite things is the homemade Christmas gifts we all give each other.

This year one of my sisters-in-law (the busiest sister-in-law because she was also the mother of the bride!) made this beautiful ornaments! She used glue and gold glitter.  You can read her tutorial HERE. 

My mother-in-law made these really cute wooden spool snowmen!  I like hanging things like this!  The ribbon is just tied in between the spools, on the top and on the bottom.

I showed you my ornaments last week....the tree stump chalkboard ornaments.

My mom made this cute little embroidered "family" picture for me. She got the idea from one of my other sisters-in-law whose mom had made her one.  Our 16 year old said that next year she had to add two inches to his height! Ha ha!

There's nothing sweeter than homemade Christmas gifts.  I look around my home and see so many cute homemade things that have special memories.


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Tree Stump Chalkboard Ornaments

This summer when we went to Ruidoso, NM for vacation, I brought home some tree limbs to be cut for use at our nephews' wedding rehearsal dinner decorations. Shortly after that, I decided to use those cuts for my homemade gifts for my husband's side of the family.

Those cuts ended up being too tiny to do much with, so I had him cut some more that were larger. These may have been a litt too large, but I wasn't going to ask him to do any more. We were leaving for vacation a few hours after I finished them anyway, so it was a chore just getting them done at all!

I painted the cuts with an acrylic chalkboard paint, then used small chalk to decorate and write on them. An eye screw and baker's twine finished out the top. Lastly, I sprayed a fine mist of hairspray to set the chalk. Family members should be able to wipe off my writing and put their own, if desired.

If I had planned this idea originally, little jingle bells tied on top would have been a cute addition. My original idea was a decoupaged chalkboard tag, but it wouldn't have looked good. In my head, it did! :) Too bad my chalkboard writing skills are lacking - especially on small chalkboards.

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Upcycled Coffee Containers

(Photo from Hometalk)

Possibly one of the cutest upcycle projects EVER!!!  The instructions can be found HERE.  One of the problems some have mentioned about this project is that the can't get the coffee smell out of the containers.  On her Facebook page, the author had several comments from a readers that said how to do rid them of the smell.  I would do the vinegar suggestions.  I use vinegar for lots of things - especially for cleaning.

1.  Soak over night in apple cider vinegar, then put newspapers inside overnight and in two nights the coffee smell should be gone.

2. Empty them out. Fill with vinegar and water. Let set for 20-30 minutes.  Rinse and dry. Any smell should be gone.

3.  Someone else suggested putting baking soda in them to absorb the smell.

The only problem I see with this craft, is that we don't drink coffee, BUT there are millions and millions of people who do, so you and I should be able to get these containers without problem.  In fact, my husband was gone for a few days, so I was in charge of feeding the goats and pigs.  It just so happens that he uses these containers for some of their feed supplements!  So he has a source somewhere!  I'll just have to find out from him where....or sneak a few feed containers from him! Ha ha!  Not really. They don't have lids....otherwise, I just might! :)

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Appliqued Hand Towel - Homemade Christmas Gift

This cute appliqued hand towel was made by a sister-in-law who didn't get to be here for Christmas. She enjoys sewing, so put her talents to work by making this cute towel!

Funny that I had actually thought about doing a gift like this.  The only thing that stopped me was the "sewing" part!! Ha ha!!!  That's the thing I don't like to do. I even wanted to be a home economics teacher, but the sewing was a the part I was dreading teaching.  So, I just ditched the whole idea :).  

I'm not sure where she got these towels, but if you have a Sam's Club near you and are a member, I know that they sell "Bar Mop Towels" that amount to about $1.00 each. That, plus some scrap fabrics, could be lots of these cute towels to use for homemade gifts.  Such a cute idea!

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Etched Casserole Dish - Homemade Christmas Gifts

The last homemade gift is what my mother-in-law made. She's sitting to the right holding an etched casserole dish.  Here is a link with great pictures showing how to make one of your very own: http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2010/06/glass-etching.html

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Gifts in a Jar - Homemade Christmas Gifts

You really can't beat food as a homemade gift, can you?  This salsa was delicious! It was gone in no time.

These Friendship Brownies will be great and gone quickly, too. I should have made them during the Christmas break because now we're trying to eat better!  But, the boys are always ready to eat something a little sweet on the weekends, so I think I'll leave it out and make it for them in a few days.

There are so many "Gifts in a Jar" ideas and recipes.  It's perfect for just about anyone!

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Wooden Photo Holders - Homemade Christmas Gifts

This block of stained wood with a sweet sentiment nailed to the front made a great homemade Christmas gift. Wires were curled and inserted into the top of the block to hold the photos.  I'm not sure what the other sentiments where, but I know one said, "So Very BLESSED".  

It just needs four pictures to make it complete!

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Going Green! - Homemade Christmas Gifts

One brother and sister-in-law went "GREEN" on homemade gifts this year. She harvested chives from her herb garden, made these cute Chevron envelopes for them, and gave us each some to use.  She also gave us a cutting from her Redbud tree. We'll be planting it in a few months.

But, probably my very favorite homemade gift of all times is these little wooden card holders.  My brother-in-law made some several years ago. They gave each of us a set of four, but as our families grew, our need for more card holders grew!  So, he made us all another set.  YAY!

This is one of the originals. Each one had the order/sequences of hands in our family-traditional-card-game, Liverpool Rummy. If you haven't played, you should!  So, you see, when you have 15 cards, plus extras, your hand gets really tired of holding them! With these beauties, you don't have to hold them! Yippee!  Best thing ever invented - well, one of the best things, anyway! :)

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Jute Letter - Homemade Christmas Gifts

Here's another homemade Christmas gift: A jute-wrapped paper-mache letter...decorated with ribbon and greenery/berries.  This sister-in-law made this size of letters and smaller letters.  My daughter has hers hanging on her dorm-room door.  This had to take a lot of time to do, but the results are beautiful!

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Mason Jar Christmas Scene

My daughter made these cute "scenes in a jar" for her homemade Christmas gifts this year.  Using a small snowman or reindeer, bottle brush trees, and fake snow, she assembled each of them in a mason jar to create the fun gift.  

This jar was decorated mostly all around on the outside, but some jars do have one blank side...and there are even some that have all blank sides.

Mason jars are inexpensive and very popular now for all kinds of projects.  I knew she was up to something when I called her before Thanksgiving and she was at Hobby Lobby! :) Now I know what it was!

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Homemade Christmas Gifts

A fun family tradition on my husband's side of the family: Homemade Christmas gifts.  I'll go through each of them for the next several posts, but will start with mine.  

I hadn't ever done this gift before, even though my mom had actually posted a recipe for it on here several years ago. It didn't seem "homemade" enough for me - just mixing together three ingredients.  But, this fall, when I got some at a ladies' retreat, I thought, "Why is it NOT homemade 'enough'?"  I couldn't figure out why I had thought that before :).  So, homemade gift, it was!

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You will need: 16 oz. baby lotion (My favorite is Johnson's brand.)

8 oz. Vitamin E cream (sorry for the blurry pics). Each of these little jars is 4 oz.

And 8 oz. coconut oil (solid, not melted.)  Mix together with handheld mixer until it resembles icing.  It makes a wonderful, light moisturizer that smells good, too!

To make it even more "homemade", I used these little burlap bags I had bought at The Container Store several years ago.

The bag was stamped with a design on both sides using black ink. After the bag was filled I attached a stamped "Merry Christmas" tag.

I put the cream in a small plastic jar with a black lid. I found these jars in the art section of Hobby Lobby (in the artist's painting section, near the framing station).  I hot glued Chevron ribbon around the jar and topped it with a burlap flower.

With the extra lotion, I filled a few bigger jars that will be used in the future for gifts.  The burlap flower fit on the outside for this size of jar.  My mom got one of these in her stocking.  They were found in that same art section, but are double the size (8 oz., I think.)

Why is everything cuter when it's small???  I loved seeing these little bags all piled up! :)

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Easy-to-Make Gingerbread House

This is the easiest gingerbread house you will EVER make!  And so cute, don't you agree???! :)

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Graduation Tassel Ornament

I'm showing you this idea before I have it finished, but wanted to share this cute idea I saw somewhere.  It's a graduation tassel ornament. 

I bought the biggest plastic clear ornament I could find. I took off the 13 charm (below) and will attach it when I get the ribbon on the ornament.  Just stuff the tassel into the ornament, and use the big loop to create the hanger for it. I could cut it off, but may just leave it long.  It will be fun to do this with each child when they graduate.  I have a blingy 2013 that I may put on the front if I can find it.  It's MIA at the moment :).  But, the boys wouldn't want bling on theirs, so I may leave it plain, since the charm will hang from there, anyway.

What fun things are you making for Christmas this year?  I haven't had time to do much, but have had fun doing things for other events. I'll show some of those tomorrow.

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Homemade Gift Week #2 - Picture Frame

Here's a very cute and very versatile picture frame you could make for any occasion!  It is laying down instead of standing up because I kept getting a glare on the picture. 

Take a wooden frame and paint it.   Paint a mini bulldog clip and glue to the front glass.  Insert a piece of scrapbook paper (cut to appropriate size) into the frame, and clip a photo to the front!  

This gift was made by my niece.  Thanks, Shanelle!

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Homemade Gift Week #2 - Fabric Ornaments

My mother-in-law made these cute fabric ornaments as her homemade gift this year.  The turquoise one was made from leftover material she used to make my daughter's banquet dress last year, so that was pretty neat!  (NOTE: By the way, I have a LOT of that sequined material left....about 3 yards and it's 60 inches wide, I think.  If anyone needs it let me know. I'll give you a great deal on it!)

This is the back of my ornament to show you how she did it.  Gather the ribbon and hot glue it to a fabric covered circle.  The edges of the fabric are on the front side.  You will cover it up with the top, shown below.

The top part is another fabric covered circle.  Click HERE for a link that shows how to gather the fabric onto a circle.  It's easier than you might think, but does involve a little bit of hand sewing.

Cute, isn't it?!  Thanks, Sharon!

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Homemade Gift Week #2 - Hanging Pinecone Decoration

Okay....This is the last sister-in-law gift!  The last few homemade gifts are family, but not sisters-in-law.  This pretty hanging pinecone decoration is simple to make and versatile.  When we first saw these, they were all hanging in a window, by a tension rod.  Imagine how pretty it was having 10 or so of them strung along the window!  So, there's an idea for you.  Of course, one alone is pretty, as well.

Andrea used white spray paint to lightly coat the pinecones and give them a wintery, snowy look.  She then hot glued them to sheer white ribbon, adding snowflakes and more ribbon.  I can think of all kinds of possibilities to do with this example, can't you?  I may do several of these next year for my entry (shown in top picture), where I usually use pinecones and snowflakes.

Thanks, Andrea!
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Homemade Gift Week #2 - Chocolate Pretzels

Simple and yummy describes this homemade gift made by another sister-in-law. (Yes, I have LOTS of sisters-in-law! :)  I'm not sure what size these pretzels are, but they were bigger than the regular sticks and smaller than the big rods.  But they were perfect for this little pint canning jar. 

I like this gift because it can be adapted to any occasion. For Valentine's Day, you could sprinkle the white and chocolate coating with Valentine sprinkles and make a cute topper for the jar.  Have you seen where you use a cupcake liner on the top?  The liner goes over the flat top part of the jar lid, then the round ring part screws on over the liner.  A cute, easy and inexpensive give for a teacher or special Valentine!  The possibilities are endless.  And yes, the chocolate pretzels taste great, too!

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Homemade Gift Week - FIND IT! Christmas Ornament

Remember when I posted about an "I Spy" Christmas ornament that I did with the 4-H Club, but it didn't work out???!  THIS is the solution to my problem!  I can't wait to do this with the 4-H members next year for the fair.  They'll have lots of fun making these and they work....like they're supposed to!  (That's always good :).  

My sister-in-law, Michelle, made these for her homemade gifts this year.  She personalized them a little big by putting mine and my husband's initial letter in the list below.  Her list is laminated and tied to the ornament.  I haven't looked for everything yet, but will.  It's a lot of fun and will be for years to come!  Be sure to buy the glass ornaments that are big so that the opening is big.  Fill with foam and small plastic "goodies" and fill the remainder of the ornament with pony beads.  Super idea and super fun!

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Homemade Gift Week - Mattress Spring Christmas Bell

When several of us went to Canton Trade Days in Canton, TX, I bought three old mattress springs for $1.00 - not quite sure what I was going to do with them. I thought they were so neat and unique!

Later on in the day, when I saw one of my sisters-in-law, she noticed my springs and looked a little shocked!  She said she had bought some, as well, and got hers for only $.75.  I could tell by her reaction that she was planning to use the springs for her homemade gifts for our family this year.  Since I had no clue about what to do with mine, I decided to wait and see what she did with hers.  

Here is the finished craft!  A mattress spring Christmas bell!!  I LOVE IT! Isn't it cute??!  

Next year I'll make bells with the three springs I bought and hang them around the house.  Thanks, Deborah!

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