Christmas day after our out of state relatives opened their presents, I got a call from my grandma-in-law and I swear she was almost in tears because she loved her homemade clock so much. She said she will treasure it until the day she dies...here in lies the problem...how do I top that? LOL
I also began a yearly tradition of making homemade ornaments. Last year it was a puzzlepiece wreath with a picture of our son in the middle and on the back his foot print (it was his first christmas) and then this year I made plastic needlepoint ornaments with both of my boy's pic in it.
Any ideas on what I should do for next Christmas?
Relax first of all. Trying to top yourself will only frustrate you.
Remember, each gift you make is handmade, from the heart and loved by the receiver. We don't judge from year to year, but enjoy whatever the giver has decided to create for us.
Give yourself some time and what you'll want to do for next year will come to you. I love the projects you did this year. They are great!
Those are both great. I'm sure she will love whatever you come up with for 2010. Like the previous poster said, handmade gifts are made from the heart and are loved. You can't top them, just coming up with something each year is difficult enough, so don't try to play can you top this?
I love the ideas that you already came up with, so right there you show the creativity necessary. I'm sure you will think of something that she will love.
Great work!
I have a fun idea for you...it's easy to make and will be another treasure for grandparents, you and other relatives to treasure. I did it one year and they still are used 15 years later each Christmas.
I traced the handprint of each child on a piece of paper to use as a template. I used it as a patern to cut out handprints of green foam, the kind you can get at Hobby Lobby, Michaels and even WalMart. The number of hand prints you'll need to cut out depends on the size of your base and the child's hand. I also picked up some small red pom poms and red ribbon. You'll also need a current picture of your child(ren).
For the base of the project you use either a foam core wreath or make your own out of cardboard. Glue the foam hand prints, all facing in the same direction, onto the base making a wreath. Glue the picture, from the back, in the middle of the wreath and add the red pom poms around the wreath to look like holly berries. Attach the ribbon on the top and it can be used to hang on the tree (depending on the size) or on the wall.
You can either make individual wreathes for each child or make one alternating the hand prints of each child while forming the wreath.
I found a website that has a picture of one made of paper, but it'll give you an idea of what the finished product will look like. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/christmas/handwreath/
I didn't add the red bow in the center on mine and it looked fine without it. Just giving you an option for next Christmas. Oh, I wrote on the back of the hands the child's name, age and where they lived.
Here is a website with "Hand Print Poems" that you could print out and add to the back of the wreath. http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/handprint_poems.htm
Good luck on finding the right craft for you to make for next Christmas...you have a lot of time to rest and let those creative juices flow.
Thanks everyone! Sorry I haven't checked in on my post for awhile, been really busy with school, kids, and getting things done for a friend's baby shower.
I have thought about doing the handprint Christmas wreath...For mother's day last year I made all the women Lilly's out of the boys' hand prints and for father's day last year I stuck their feet in some ink and stuck the foot print in a photo frame that I custom designed for the male recipient (my husband and dad are computer geeks so their frames were decorated with pieces of a motherboard I cut up, and FIL is a mechanic so his had nuts and bolts). I really love incorporating the boys as much as possible in making the gifts special.
The ornament I made in 2008 for everyone was a puzzle wreath and instead of leaving the center hollow, I took a light piece of cardboard (cereal box) and on one side glued a pic of my son (only had one kid that year the other one was in the womb) and on the back I wrote his name, the year and had a footprint in the center. I think they kids' feet are too big for something like that now. My 2yr old's feet are have teh size of mine! and my 1 year old's 2 sizes smaller than his brother!
I love the idea of the footprints! I think I might have to borrow that one. I think I will do all 5 of mine and put in a frame for my mil and decorate with sewing items so she can hang it in her sewing room. Thanks for the great idea!
Quoting Qivarys:
Christmas day after our out of state relatives opened their presents, I got a call from my grandma-in-law and I swear she was almost in tears because she loved her homemade clock so much. She said she will treasure it until the day she dies...here in lies the problem...how do I top that? LOL
I also began a yearly tradition of making homemade ornaments. Last year it was a puzzlepiece wreath with a picture of our son in the middle and on the back his foot print (it was his first christmas) and then this year I made plastic needlepoint ornaments with both of my boy's pic in it.
Any ideas on what I should do for next Christmas?
free stuff to make for the holidays
- Qivarys
on Dec. 30, 2009 at 11:23 AM