A Very Handmade Christmas

The holidays have always been my favorite time of year. I'll be honest, my favoritism is due largely in part to the fact that my birthday is just before Christmas. It's always been double the presents and double the celebrations... what's not to love? With age though, this time of year has become less magical and more expensive (go figure). Plus, our anniversary is 3 days before my birthday... between that, the holiday parties, office White Elephants and gifts for family and friends, my account is usually looking pretty sad around the 1st of the year.

Unless you want to buy me a new car, my wishlist is pretty much taken care of.

This year, I thought we'd do something a little different. We don't need "stuff" - anything we need, we buy ourselves throughout the year. And unless you want to buy me a new car, my wishlist is pretty much taken care of. So I had an idea - let's exchange handmade gifts instead!

My family was totally down - they're crafty little ladies themselves, so I figured they'd be game.

I'll admit: once I realized how much work all this crafting would be, I almost considered rescinding my idea and heading to Target. But a few mintues into my first project I was hooked. I spent 8 years in various art schools, but after graduating from college I started my career in marketing and haven't really looked back since. Turns out, there's not a lot of free time in the life of the working adult. So it was really nice to sit down and do something creative again!

I knew I wanted to make my mom some jewelry, so I headed over to Michaels to pick out some beads. I used to make jewelry, once upon a time, so I had all the tools necessary to do the job. If you'd like to try your hand at making some jewelry, you'll need a pair of nail clippers and some round nose pliers. You'll also want to stock up on some basics like jump rings, clasps & closures, eye pins and earring hooks. You can get them all together in a starter kit like this.

I ended up finding some really classy silver square-ish beads, and made my mom a pair of earrings and a matching bracelet. It was great to get back into an old hobby, and they turned out great. She even cried when she opened the gift (I think that was a good thing?)

I texted my sister asking what they wanted/needed, and the first thing on her list was coasters. Well it just so happened that I'd found this super cute DIY coaster idea on Pinterest a few years back and had been dying to make them! (FYI, Michael of Inspired By Charm is one of my favorite bloggers. His house = my interior decoration goals.) I ended up buying 1/4" thick cork board tiles and using my french coffee press as the guide to trace around. I also used a hot glue gun, which looks much easier that using a tube of glue. If you don't have one, you can pick one up on Amazon (plus glue sticks) here. (Trust me, you need a glue gun. I use it for everything). I purchased 6 packs of these felt wool balls, which was more than enough for 6 coasters, approximately 4.5 inches in diameter each.

I had a blast making them, and I think they turned out really well! Here's a picture of them in their new home:

All in all, handmade Christmas was definitely a success. Instead of spending heaps of cash on things we didn't really need, we spent time creating thoughtful gifts for each other. And most importantly, we spent time together. Plus, we got some really neat one-of-a-kind gifts that we'll treasure forever.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. Now, back to the grind!