Handmade Christmas

Reindeer night gowns hastily whipped up Christmas Eve

How was your Christmas? I guess it was ages ago now. We still have one more to celebrate with Jake's mom (and maybe a fourth with my sister?), but so far our other two have been quite nice (as I'm sure the others will be!). I do so love the handmade part of Christmas, secretly wishing to one day have an all handmade/ homegrown Christmas when time and proper planning allow. But each year, more handmade items find there way into the mix... four stockings, the green one for Miss Elsa finished last year, I think, hang on our cast iron kitty hooks each year. I toyed with the idea of making two tiny ones for the kittens, but instead they got something far more enjoyable, a pine cone tied to a piece of wire! (Jake's idea)

 My big Christmas projects this year were two small gnome dollies for the girls. They are my first attempt at Waldorf style dolls, and I must say, they took far longer than I could have imagined for such little ladies with all the wild hair and clothes. They haven't played with them as much as I had hoped, but I think they are still overwhelmed by the overabundance of new things, and they do get some night time cuddles. At least I get to play with them. I do sometimes wish I was an elf at the North Pole with all those toys to make and play with.

I thought the stripey tights made out of a recyled t-shirt were a nice touch. I'd originally cut it up for this baby gown once upon a time.

The gnome hats were immediately removed, of course, because only grown ups seem to keep their hats on around here.

I wouldn't have gone any farther with the handmade stuff for the girls, but Oona did write this very sweet letter to Santa. So Daddy, knowing that Santa has much too much on his plate to make all the things children can dream of,  made the doll house dollies from last Christmas a table, two chairs, and two beds. ( Not everything, but close enough.) I couldn't resist adding some little felt balls to their Christmas tree to make things truly festive.

Jake's Dad brought many bits from his home in New Mexico, along with this handmade gift from one of the tribes out there, a little dream catcher that will go above Oona's bed when it's done adorning our tree.

There are a few more handmade gifts I'd like to share, but they have to be given first. And there our a few that got sent off in a rush, with no farewell photo.  I'm hoping to get started on some of next years gifts while I'm snuggled inside on these bitter cold winter days. If anyone wants to share any of their handmade holiday presents, feel free to leave a link in the comments. It's always fun to see what others are making!




Joining in with KCCO over at Frontier Dreams.