Friday, August 21, 2009

I'm In The Mood For ...

Christmas! I am working on a variety of crafts that I will be giving as gifts to my family and friends this year. I have started my annual "idea list" on my computer and when I hear someone say something that they are interested in or would like to get as a gift, then I add it to my list for future reference. I've even found myself thinking about what holiday decorations we have and where they will go in the house and whether or not I need to replace anything...like lights. I am putting together a list of what goodies I would like to possibly bake as well as what we may or may not have for Christmas dinner. We have taken to holding a family meeting and having a vote on what is being served. So it's not always the traditional turkey or ham. When you think about it, we have several months until Christmas arrives, but for some of us, that's not too far away. Christmas is my favorite time of the year and I love the whole spirit of the season thing and I just can't get enough of it and I find myself looking forward to it months in advance.

I thought I would talk about a couple of things I am "making" as gifts. First, I am learning how to scrapbook and/or journal. So I'm filling these little books I found at a thrift store with pages that I am making out of scrapbooking supplies. These pages usually have a special quote on them as well as a photo or image and then I'm decorating it up pretty. I want these books to mean something special to the person I'm giving it to, so I try my very best to make it apply to our relationship or their life. It's been a lot of fun looking through photos to find something to fit a page and I've had an interesting time finding suitable quotes on the internet. My friend Trudi taught me how to do this and I thank her bunches for the idea and inspiration.

The second thing I'm making are these little "booklets" for my sister's, niece and daughter. I put the information into page protectors and then those go into 3 ring binders that I have purchased. An example is the one I'm putting together for my niece. It contains simple yet cool instructions for making a variety of jewelry and other accessories using easily found materials. I will give her this booklet along with some craft supplies. I think it's something she will really enjoy. Another booklet is for my sister that is a bartender. Her booklet contains a variety of little known drink recipes. I will add some bartending towels or shot and jigger glasses to it for her gift.

I will add one last craft to this post. It's my own "primitive family portraits" and I'm making one for my mom that is of all of us kids. It's done in very basic needlepoint on muslin and then framed. My kids call these my "stick figure" drawings and that's basically what they look like. But they are quite cute and of course, very original.

Just so you know, there are 125 days left until Christmas! Happy Holiday Planning Everyone! I'm off to search some more for that perfect ornament to craft.

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