Handmade Holiday: What I Made

Here's a round-up of gifts I made this year. Though I think I tried to keep it a little simpler than last year--and put a little of the load onto three little elves (more on that tomorrow) there was still plenty of handmade goodness (and late nights) around here. This year was more fun than last year, because instead of mass-producing gifts (mittens and candy), we made gifts especially chosen and designed for the recipient.

First, I made a flock of needle-felted bird ornaments for an ornament exchange I do with my aunts, my sister and my mother, and several more for my multitudes of mothers-in-law (the cardinal flew off without posing for a shot):

For the little boys, I knitted silly gnome hats (from the Fall issue of Living Crafts. I made one for C too, but ran out of yarn about two inches from the top):

I knitted this Hill Country Hat for M (also running out of yarn before it was long enough to cover his ears...I ripped it out back to the increases and made it eight stitches smaller around, giving it enough length, and a snugger fit...and finally finished it on December 27...the third day of Christmas):

For my sister V, who actually does yoga, unlike myself who mostly just talks about it, I made a yoga mat bag:

And for my sister E, I made this beaded headband from the Alabama Stitch Book, which involves all hand-sewn projects (and don't tell my sister this, but most of them are made from recycled T-shirts):

I also made a soft tree for my mom (photo didn't come out), a Mama Bag for one of the mothers-in-law (finished it about 10 minutes after they arrived at our house for dinner, so no photo), a stenciled shirt for M (with a picture of his favorite single prop plane, an F6F Hellcat) and matching pants and shirts for E and Z (Z was home sick, watching me sew the whole time, trying to guess what I was making and who it was for, and when I finished, said, "I LOVE that you can do this!" Did that make struggling through flat-felled seams and finishing just minutes before they had to get dressed for their holiday concert? Totally. Did I get an acceptable photo? No.).

And the piece de resistance--I made this flip book with the faces of everyone in my family (my siblings and parents, my brother-in-law, my niece, C and my kids) for everyone in my family. I've heard mixed reviews so far--some people loved it, some thought it was creepy (my own kids think it's hysterical). If you ever wondered what I'd look like with a beard and red hair, now you know: