Christmas Projects

I always get excited about diy-ing gifts for Christmas. There's a lot of fun in plotting and planning and coming up with something that seems perfect. And then there's the fun of creating it; watching your idea come into reality. And it's extra great when you're really happy with how they turned out.

However, as Christmas gifts are top-secret in nature, there's no place to safely share the glee of watching things come into being. So, I sit on them.. and save them.. maybe post teaser pics here and there, but really, I have to practice patience and wait until it's safe to share, without spoiling surprises. Like now!

First thing I got done this year was a decorated tote. I find parents are hard to buy for as we get older.. but what parent can resist a homemade gift from their kid (even a grownup one), right?  So, my mom's a quilter and this seemed perfect. Plus, this one was fun, since the first couple layers were only a peek at what was, I could post them online as a teaser.. the blue outline could be almost anything, for anybody! But as soon as I laid on the lettering, it had to wait for the big reveal. Here's the final image. I love how it turned out!

Next there was another tote bag, for my niece. This one I sewed from scratch and was much more colorful... and I added a sparkly monogram on the one side 'cuz, while distance prevents us from being super familiar with her likes and dislikes, my brother (her dad) assures me she loves all things sparkly. And it turned out really cute! Plus, I love the bright yellow inner lining as a charming contrast to all the pink on the outside.

Then, last second, I decided to make another bag; this one would be for my sister-in-law. I had some fantastic blue polka dot fabric that was a good weight for a bag, but I needed a contrasting color to go along with it.

At first, I tried dying some fabric for the second color, but it turned out poorly... I kind of hated it, so back to the drawing board I went. Happily, I found a store (not too far from me) that sells fabric, and they had some that was more what I was looking for. And, though Christmas deadlines loomed, I got the bag done and everything out in the mail just in time.

But the biggest project this year was a little toy kitchen for my boys. However, Christmas this year didn't go quite as well as we'd planned. We all got sick and we ended up canceling our travel plans to stay home to recoup and not share our stomach bug. So, rather than a Christmas gift, with the delays in the creation and assembly of the toy kitchen turned into a New Years Day present.