Homemade Gifts (better late than never)

I know my posts have been somewhat sporadic lately- but I don't feel too bad because I have been busy busy busy with working on reorganizing and redecorating my whole house!  Sound like I bit off more than I could chew?  You're right!  I did.  So it is still in that "worse before it gets better" mode.  But serious progress is being made, and I'm excited to share that soon!   Meanwhile, I will share this post that I started right after Christmas and finally finished today!  Wahoo....

February is pretty much over, and I still haven't shared what I made for Christmas gifts.  I have to admit that while I was really pleased how things turned out, and I spent a ton of time on making gifts, I really didn't take many pictures of what I made, so I have been kind of procrastinating this post because I felt like I didn't have much to show.  Oh well.  I am going to show you what I do have pictures of, mainly for documentation purposes!

I crocheted star ornaments for co-workers, neighbors, and family, tutorial courtesy of Jellywares.  I liked the ones done in sparkly, thinner yarn the best.

My boys got these jammies on Christmas Eve.  I just used some of their old PJs as patterns, with Toy Story fleece I got long ago in a discount bin.

"Baby Jammies"

"Big Boy Jammies"

There wasn't enough Toy Story Fleece left to make a pillowcase (the big boy loves to put his fleece blankets over his pillow to sleep, so I thought a fleece pillowcase might feel nice to a 3-year-old cheek), but I had some coordinating fleece, and I just appliqued cutouts of the characters onto the front of the pillowcase.

My mom strongly hinted before Christmas that she would like one of my adjustable ruffle aprons, so of course I made her one, in music note fabric that she had for years before she gave it to me.

I made her another apron, a chef- style, reversible, adjustable apron, again with fabric she gave me.

I hurried to make this Christmas apron for my mother-in-law when, just a week or two before Christmas, we were cooking in her kitchen and we tried in vain to find an apron.  Plus, I just figured every grandma needs a Christmas apron.  It just seems so... homey, and grandmotherly.

I think she liked it!

I have to show this picture partly because of my 16-year-old brother's amused face, and partly because my cereal box gift boxes ended up being really useful!  I roughly followed this tutorial from curbly.

I made neckties for my brother Collin, my dad, and my husband using this tutorial and free pattern from Puking Pastilles.

You can't see it well in this picture, but my son is holding a sock monkey I made from my husband's old black dress socks (clean of course).  This picture is the moment before he stuck it in his mouth and bit it.  Yep- a sign of love.  Or something.  See my post here about sock monkeys.

Below are the hats and a scarf I crocheted for my sons.  They hated them while I was making them and trying them on their heads over and over, but I guess they forgot about it, because they seem to like them and even tolerate wearing them for long-ish periods now.  I can't seem to find the patterns I used (very loosely, maybe even not recognizably), but I will add that if/ when I find them.

I made a couple of wetbags for nail polish, toiletries etc. for my sisters, but I only got one semi-decent picture of one of them, which Marissa is holding below.  I used fused plastic bags for the inside, fabric remnants for the outside, and a zipper closure.  I didn't use a pattern for these, just kinda "wung it".

My brother-in-law Richard wanted a "cool" billed beanie, and although I was nervous about giving it to him, I think this one fit the bill.  Haha, get it?  The bill?  Ok... moving on... I used this old shrunken sweater with great texture and a plastic restaurant takeout bowl (covered in duct tape) for the bill.  I didn't really use any pattern for it, but I studied pictures of this type of beanie, checked out the child's visor beanie tutorial on Eenie Meenie and Moe (previously Creative Maven) and watched the Threadbanger video for inspiration.  It was trial and error the whole way, but I learned a few things... maybe I'll share in it's own post.

Shrunken sweater to visor beanie

I loved the simplicity and versatility of these reversible cape/ jacket/ scarf "thingies" which I made for each of my sisters... I'm sure there's an official name, but I don't know what it is!  Yeah, you can't really see what it's supposed to look like in this picture, so check out the pictures and tutorial over at liaspace.  I think they are so stylish for spring, and I am going to have to make one for myself!

Ok, for the last few pictures, I need to give a little background info.  Each year, my siblings and I (including in-laws) draw names and we make one "gift from the heart" for the person who's name we drew.  It's not supposed to be real costly, and we have to put thought and effort into it.  We are supposed to use our talents, and if possible the gift should speak to the talents or interests of the person we give to.

My brother Tayler started playing chess and going to chess club when he was in elementary school or middle school, and he collects unique chess sets from all over the world, so I immediately knew, as soon as I saw the tutorial for this rolled paper chess set from paper, plate, and plane that this is what I would be making him.  It took quite a while to make, but I started early, so I wasn't stressed.  I love how it turned out with his initials in the middle!  I used my silhouette to cut the board squares and the initials, and I measured and cut all the other strips just with a ruler and my paper cutter.

My husband made this word art for my youngest sister Anna.  He asked each person in the family to come up with at least 5 words that they felt described Anna, and he arranged those words and added little drawings/ pictures using Inkscape.  He used colors that would match her room decor.  The more times people used a certain word about Anna, the larger that word was on the picture.  I love how it turned out!

Richard made this "Older brother award" plaque for my husband.  My husband tends to beat everyone at whatever game they play together, be it tennis, racquetball, ping pong, chess, boardgames, etc- in true older brother fashion.   So in honor of that, and to poke fun of it, he got an award.  Haha.

Marissa crocheted some amazing wool Norwegian house slippers for Cara, since Cara loves all things warm and cozy.  This is a really cool pattern because you just crochet alternating colors into an 'L' shape and sew it together a certain way before felting it in the dryer.  I believe Marissa used this tutorial from Mommy Knows.

My brother Tayler wrote a very complementary composition about my youngest brother Collin, and it was enjoyable/ hilarious to hear him read it out loud.

Collin made me a beautiful wooden box in his woodworking class.  I was really impressed with how well-made it was.  He used all sorts of techniques including laminating, turning on a lathe, and a bunch more  that I don't remember (because really, I don't even understand what I just said- I know he explained how you laminate pieces of wood together, but I can't remember.  I'm just impressed).

My sister Anna reverse- stenciled a funny T-shirt and decorated a composition notebook for Richard.  She did a great job!

Cara put together a "Cupcake Decorating" binder with recipes, decorating tips, pictures, and inspiration for Marissa, who has a passion (which we all enjoy) for baking cupcakes.

I still get warm fuzzies looking at all these pictures.  I love making gifts, and I am enjoying this season of my life where that is still possible. >happy sigh<