I usually have my homemade gifts done far before my other shopping is complete, but this year I was a little off. I thought and planned for one larger homemade gift for the all the kids. But it wasn’t working out so I had to come up with some individual gifts for them. Here’s how the gifts went down this year:
I made Hallie a knit pencil skirt – the same pattern she made over the summer which has become her very favorite skirt.
Hunter is in Kindergarten and is starting his fascination with writing stories and drawing pictures. This roll is large enough it will probably last for years!
Bennett loves to hear stories about when he was younger and loves to look through the blog and recognize himself. I printed off pictures – birth to present – of him. Some have his siblings a few have us or grandparents, but mostly it’s him and he loves it.
Cannon has no idea Christmas even took place – but he still got a gift! He’ll thank me later!
And because Blurb is my absolute favorite – Steve also received a book: 2010 Blog book. Yes I’m behind. At nearly 400 pages they take a while to layout. It’s really more of a family gift as it’s an account of us, but Steve gets to open them each year when I complete one. I realize at this pace I’ll always be four years behind, I’m hoping to make up ground with an extra book this year!
My favorite gift I made (next to the Nativity puzzle of course) was Steve’s t-shirt quilt.
I’ve been saving these shirts for years for this exact purpose. I hid them in our house in Milwaukee. I hid them in this house. I hid them driving up to Idaho so I could work on it last summer. I’m happy for it to come out of hiding. Each shirt means something and it tells the story of him: Shirts from high school, mission, our dating years, family trips, college, jobs (at least his first job).
He was surprised. Shirts he had long thrown away suddenly back in his hands as well as the memories. The whole reason I look forward to homemade gifts!
The only blog book I have printed was 2007…I can safely say I'm WAY farther behind than you! I LOVE the roll for Hunter…can you email me how you did it and where you bought the paper roll? I want to do this for Brody's birthday Feb 6!
The paper roll is from Staples. I used 1×6 poplar and created a U shape with them. I also used curtain rod holders on the inside to hold a dowel holding the paper roll. You can do it!
I love the paper roll and the quilt and the Blurb book!! You are so creative.
I'm curious, what was your original homemade plan? I'm always trolling the blogs for good homemade gift ideas and have enjoyed going through your archives looking at yours. I must say of all the many sites professional and not, yours are hands down the best!
I originally wanted to build a playhouse in the backyard as the gift for all the kids – I just realized that if I followed through with that plan it would've made for a stressed out mom in December; not worth it. Hopefully I'll get to it this spring!
I Love all the things you make. You are so creative!!
I have 6 years of blogging to get printed. Do you have any suggestions for a girl who isn't good with computers? I tried Blurb a few years back and didn't get very far.
Thanks! Blurb is the only way I know to make those books. I know that they have improved their user software to make it easier to use. I make mine in InDesign – post by post – Copy from the internet, paste it into the document. It's time consuming for sure, but I love the results. So do my kids!