Christmas Projects

This year I tried something a little different. Instead of buying gifts for people, I attempted to make gifts. I'm not knocking anyone who buys gifts, I just wanted to make stuff this year as an alternative. It turned out to be a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. The only regret I have is not starting to make things earlier in the year so I could spread the work out. I ended up in a frenzy trying to make everything in the month of December. Below are just a few of the things I made this month. I'm not posting these things to brag about myself because I know there are lots of people out there who are much more talented and creative than I am. And I realize I am still a beginner at many of these crafts. But I wanted to post some easy gift ideas for those who would like to make presents in the future.

For Mike I drew a picture of our family sort of based on the family picture we used for our Christmas cards. I am still an amateur at drawing, and I hope the drawing class I'm taking this semester will help me out. I have trouble drawing people especially, and if you didn't notice, Vessel doesn't really look like that at all. But I tried my best and Mike seemed to appreciate it, even though he said I drew myself fatter than I really am. Thanks babe! Done with HB lead pencil and Prismacolor colored pencils.

This is a necklace made from hemp twine and wooden beads I also made for Mike.

This cloth book was something my grandma found at a thrift shop for Vessel. I absolutely love this book because whoever made it put a lot of work into it. On each page there is something to help develop a young child's motor skills like zipping a zipper, buckling a belt, snapping shapes, matching colors, etc. This book inspired me to make my own cloth book, which is in the works right now. But that will take awhile, so I ended up making the book below with the bird on the cover instead.

I thought this book was so neat for a child. Pictured above is a page that asks the child to button the petals to the flower and on the corresponding page it asks to hook the fish. A child learns dexterity and develops small motor skills.

I personally love cloth books for Vessel because they won't rip and they are a nice "toy" to give at bedtime. He can look at the pages before he falls asleep and they're soft enough to snuggle with. This particular number book was found at Micahael's craft store and came in a kit you put together yourself. (I saw it on Annika's blog and had to have one for myself!) Although the numbers look sewn on, there is no sewing required. All you need an iron and a pair of scissors to cut out the animals. Apply the numbers and animals where you want and iron them on. Viola! You've got yourself a "handmade" book!

Here is Vessel looking through his new book.


This past Fall we were able to get some good family pictures taken so I decided I'd make a collage of some of them and put them in a frame to give to some family members. I love scrapbooking, so this was a fun project for me. I just took some 12x12 scrapbook pages and cut them to fit the frames I was using.

For the above collage I picked out some Autumn colored pages that were textured and the pictures themselves were stuck to dark green papermache. I added some watercolor pumpkins, leaves, and trees and then some letter stickers to spell out our family name. Sorry if this looks kind of funny. I had to take the picture at an angle so I wouldn't get a glare from the flash. :)

For the above collage I used the same method but chose different colored paper. Using scrapbooking scissors I was able to cut fun edges around the photos and made shapes by using stencils. I also used ribbon that looked like braided rope for the top left picture. Again this might look weird because of the angle I took the picture from, but I had to avoid the glare.


Below is a stuffed monkey created from socks that my friend Mardene made for Vessel. It was the inspiration for the dolls in the next pictures below.

I wanted to make gifts for my nephews and niece this year. Remembering that my BIL and his wife wanted their kids to have dolls to play with I thought that these would make a perfect gift. These were the first dolls I've ever made, so don't expect them to look like they came from Kmart! I have to admit that I spent many hours in my friend's basement using her sewing machine to create these dollies and their clothes, so I hope my niece and nephew love them and play with them often!

The above doll might look like a girl, but it is actually a boy with long hair. My nephew used to have long hair and his daddy is growing out long hair, so it shouldn't be too uncommon to my nephew. After seeing the sock monkey Mardene made, my friend and I thought we could figure out a way to make a doll from socks too. Not using a pattern, we just kind of made up our own way of making these dolls. You use one sock for the head, torso and legs. The heel of the sock is the bum, the toes of the sock become the head, and then you cut down the ankle of the sock and sew the legs. Using another sock you make the arms. I just used quilt stuffing to stuff the body and limbs. The arms were stitched on by hand and the middle where the doll's gut is was stitched by hand after it was stuffed. The eyes, nose and mouth were embroidered on with embroidering thread. To make long hair you take whatever color yarn you want (I used orange because both my niece and nephew have reddish hair) and wrap it around a piece of paper lengthwise. Use a sewing machine, sew a part down the middle of the "hair." I glued the hair on with a glue gun, but trust me when I say a little glue goes a long way! I used too much and it ended up showing a bit on the outside. The pants on the doll were made from a blue sock. We thought it would fit the doll's body perfectly because it was made from a sock too, and would obviously be the same shape. Using the heel of the sock for the bum, measure how long you want the waist to be and then cut it. Cut off the elastic band from the top of the sock and sew it to the top of the pant waist. Make the legs of the pants just like the legs of the doll only with openings at the bottoms, then sew around the bottoms with zig-zag stitch on a sewing machine. The shirt was made from some blue cotton fabric. I just laid the doll on top of the fabric folded in half. Using a pencil, I sketched an outline around the doll to get an idea of how big to make the shirt. Cut a hole in the center for the head and then sew up the arms and side of the shirt using a zig-zag stitch.

The above doll was made for my niece. I felt a little bad because I didn't realize that my MIL and BIL also got some red-headed dolls for my niece. Maybe we should've collaborated together so we didn't all get her the same thing. :) Oh well, I guess she'll just have a lot of red-headed dollies. This is supposed to be a girl doll, and it ended up looking like Annie or something. This doll was made before the boy doll, so I guess you could say it was kind of like a practice run. I have to be honest and say that I laughed until I cried while making this doll. Her little legs are so short and her arms are incredibly long and bulky. Nothing looks proportionate at all, but I'm sure my niece won't notice or mind anyway. I still love this doll even though it makes me laugh. The hair on this doll was stitched on by hand. The eyes, nose and mouth were embroidered on like the other doll. The blouse was made from leftover fabric from another project that you'll see as you read on. I made a ruffle for the neck and bottom by making the fabric pucker as I sewed it on. The pants were made from a sock as well. For some reason my friend thought it would be a good idea to sew the blouse to the pants, so she sewed them together. I was kind of curious as to why she did that since I thought most kids liked to dress and undress their dolls. Apparently she figured my niece was too young for that. Oh well, it still turned out okay. I wish I could better explain how to make these dolls. If anyone wants to make one, just email me and maybe we can get together and I can show you how, mmmkay?

Here is my nephew right after he unwrapped it. I was so excited to give these gifts! They were really fun to make and I hope my niece and nephew (and their parents) like them.

Rice bags are easy to make and a great winter gift. Choose a lightweight fabric. I used the cloth bags that some muffin mix came in (I forgot the brand name, but their pancake and muffin mixes come in cloth bags) so my fabric was already in the desired shape. You can make whatever shape you want, but rectangle or square is probably the easiest. I made a long skinny one for my grandma to wrap behind her neck. With the fabric inside out, sew 3 of the sides. Add as much rice as you want, although you don't want it packed to the brim. Then using a sewing machine sew the 4th side with the tops turned inside. You can make a washable cover or case for these if you'd like. Also, I've heard of people using dry corn or wheat instead of rice. While in Japan, a friend of ours made us one for Christmas and we used it every night to heat up our bed because it was SO flipping cold. (no central heat and barely any insulation in our house.) These are also nice if you have sore muscles or achy joints. Heat in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes and you will get a few hours of heat from them!


These are "bean" bags with a secret window. I had made one of these before and thought it would be a cool gift to make for my other nephew. I had enough fabric to make two (and enough left over to make a blouse for the doll above) so I made one for my nephew and one for Vessel. I used flannel fabric with a bright pattern I thought a child might like. To make these, just use a ruler to make 3 squares that are about 7 or 8 inches. In two of the squares you cut about a 4 or 5 inch opening in the middle for the window. The window was made with plastic you can find in the fabric section of most craft stores or even Wal-mart has some. You cut the plastic a little bigger than the opening and then sew it between the two pieces of flannel with the openings. With both sides inside out, sew the back to the front, leaving a few inches unsewed on one side to put the filler in. Push the fabric through the opening so it's not inside out anymore. Dump clear or white "filler" in and also add a bunch of fun things for the child to find. I added shapes, a penny, a marble, buttons, letter beads, fuzzy pom poms, etc. After everything is inside and is as full as you want it, sew the opening shut by hand. I wish I could explain how to make these better, but it's hard to describe without showing someone in person. Anyway, I thought this idea was really clever and have wanted to make more ever since the first one I made. Kids love trying to find different things in the window and they are fun to toss around.

Okay, here we go with hats and bags. I absolutely loved making these! I bought the Knifty Knitter loom set about a year ago and have gone crazy making winter hats ever since. The below hats were the first ones I made that were multicolored (something new I wanted to try.)

Purple and white hat with purple necklace made from glass beads.

This yarn was so thick and heavy, which might not have been the best for crocheting a handbag. But the matching hat is super warm.

I drew my SIL's name for Christmas this year so I made this little purse and hat for her. I also made a blue necklace (not pictured.) I was so excited to give this to her!

Yaay! Here she is opening it! I really hope she likes it.

I made this bag and matching hat for my sister. I crocheted the strap a little shorter than the other one and I think I crocheted the bottom fringe a bit longer, but they still turned out looking about the same.

Beading jewelry is something I taught myself just this month. I seriously went crazy making necklaces and bracelets for people. It is really easy to do and, for me, there is just something therapeutic about sorting beads and stringing them. I made so many more necklaces than what's posted, but below are a few I took pictures of.

Made for a Japanese friend of ours. She loves America so I made a necklace with red, white, and blue glass beads. This was made with a silver clasp. I had a lot of beads given to me by Mardene, but all my other beads and tools (wire, clasps, needle nose pliers, clasp pinchers, etc.) came from String Beads in Sugarhouse (I love that place,) Robert's Craft, or Walmart.

Small glass rainbow beads separated by large round glass yellow beads. Silver hook clasp

For 2 Japanese students of mine.

Orange, green, and yellow glass beads with silver clasp.

Double strand faux pearls and small glass burgundy beads separted by gold plastic round beads. Both with gold clasps.

Small glass green beads separated by round plastic gold beads with gold clasp.

Braided brown cotton cord with red plastic beads and silver clasp.

Faux suede cord with wooden beads and a Japanese coin.

This necklace was probably the most complicated. The idea came from a mother of a Japanese student I taught. The flower was made with rain drop shaped purple beads and turquoise round beads for the middle. Light green glass beads for the leaves. Dark and light brown cotton cord, metal beads and metal clasp. (I don't know what you would call the color of the clasp....dingy metal color?) I think that this necklace is pretty sweet. It's supposed to look like multiple necklaces when it's around your neck. Hope you enjoy it Bekah!