Home Made Christmas Gifts

This year I didn't really plan to have a home made Christmas and I didn't, by far, but blogland supplied me with so many ideas that I did get a bunch of gifts made by hand.

The biggest of course was the quiet book for Mady. But then I felt guilty that I hadn't made anything for Kaitlyn. So, when my sister sent me a picture of these little guys:

from here, I knew I had to make them. So this was one of Kate's gifts this year. Here they are close up:

I also helped Mady make mugs for the Grandparents by colouring on a white mug with coloured sharpie and then baking them for 20 minutes at 350. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures before we gave them away, but trust me in that they were cute! I may need her to make me one. *wink*

For Mark's Grandparents I made Hot Chocolate on a stick, which I also forgot to take pictures of. I made them in snowman and christmas tree ice-cube trays and dipped them in white chocolate.

And then I loaded up on other ideas for decorating my house, baking and stuff I'll have to do next year. So, what's a girl to do when she doesn't have enough time but sees some pretty sweet hand-made things she wants her girls to have? Get someone else to make them!

One of my favourite bloggers, Elizabeth, from Twelve crafts til Christmas, posted a fabulous tutorial for a pretend and play restaurant set.

I knew Mady would love it (and eventually so would Kate), but there was no way I had time to make it. So, I got real smart and suggested to my mom that she might want to make the set for Mady for Christmas. She got even smarter and suggested my little sister (16 and learning to sew) might want to use it as a practical practice for her sewing. Didn't it turn out cute?

There's a chef's hat and apron, oven mitts, hot pads and a waitress apron. So cute! And Mady (obviously) loves them (Thanks Val!).

I also followed Elizabeth's tutorial for making baby wipes

and this tutorial for making the diapers, which Mady won't let me take a picture of at the moment because she's "using them." I'll try to get one after she's in bed, if they're not all on the dolls tucked in her bed...

Thank you Elizabeth for the inspiration!

(Elizabeth just celebrated her birthblogversaryday and has a giveaway going on in celebration of some rosette ribbon bookmarks. Check it out here)

This year I'm taking a lead from what Elizabeth did last year and working on Christmas gifts early. As in now. I already bought fabric for my first project. But that's for another post. What about you? Did you make any handmade gifts this Christmas?