Our Little Handmade Christmas 2011

Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas!!!


It is with full contended heart and stomach ;) that I compose this note of summary of our little handmade Christmas celebration for you.


If ever the notion existed, that an exclusively handmade Christmas wouldn't have your children as hyped-up and excited as a store bought one, Johnny did full well to disprove that notion in the weeks and days leading up to Christmas!


Lizzy and Mom did most of the baking together, (we lent our help here and there as time allowed) and their combined efforts led to a beautiful spread of goodies set out as our party on Christmas Eve began.


And what party isn't complete without a little wine? Our own, homemade apple wine--really good!!


We started with celebrating the birthday boy, singing and having Donna set him in his crib.


Then on to the gifts! Andrew got his first, simply because Donna was dying to give it to him!A hand stitched leather wallet with his initials on the front. Now that he's driving, he needed one.


Donna was next..


She got a beautiful truck and horse trailer set!


Michael made the truck for her, so he got the biggest appreciation hug of the night!


Then Michael opened a binder for his bass tabs, including a hand painted cover, a bunch of new songs to learn, organized tabs and a pretty colored picture in the back from his youngest sister. :)


Theresa went next... the tag on her gift: "To: Her from: Us." :)


She got a light box for drawing on, with compartments inside for paper, pencils and erasers.


Johnny got a painting set, complete with some new paints, a bunch of paint by number pictures that Annie drew, and a horse that Theresa carved for him to paint! Of everyone, he is by far the most enthralled with his gift this year. :)


Pretty little Lizzy went next, with a very funny shaped gift placed in her lap...


She unveiled a beautiful bentwood princess crown and an Arown LOTR sword with elvish wood burning. (They must have caught her admiring the boys Lord of the Rings weaponry a few times!)


Steve next...


A case for a new electronic gadget our family is going to be acquiring...


Annie and I got a big combined gift. Half was wrapped for me and half for her. :)


Aaaand, we discovered a two player pinball game! They completely made this up, and it works AMAZINGLY well!


This game has been in constant use since it was unwrapped...


A family game that Dad (purchased) was also getting a lot of attention.


We stayed up way too late playing all these great new games!


Somebody was getting tired...


The next morning had us up early as well, as someone had filled our stockings in the night! We had to wait around until Donna woke up though... (Note the Spirit pony and natural fencing pieces sticking out the top of Donna's little pink stocking there on the end!)

(Oh! And there's Theresa's horse carving for Johnny's paint set, sticking into the middle of the picture on the right hand side. It's not a representation of it, but it's a great carving!)

Yay! She's finally up and just as perky and excited as ever when she discovered her plump stocking!


Everybody enjoying their simple finds...


Dad got a back scratch-er and a plastic canvas stitched Beatles desk organizer while Mom found a hand whittled spoon and spatula and a Christmas hot pad from Lizzy.


A hand turned yo-yo with favorite super hero's wood burned on the sides.


A hand painted shirt in my stocking! I'll be self promoting everywhere I go now. :D


A hand knit, lined packers hat for the photographer.


Finally, we had fun last night putting together our Christmas picture for 2011:


Christmas day may be over, but it's still the most wonderful time of the year! :D
The sun is reflecting blindingly off our freshly fallen snow this morning and Christmas carols are still slipping loosely from every mouth. Cookies are still around with a surprising abundance (even our teenage brothers were no match for the size buckets Lizzy was squirreling away!) and more are being baked today, as the other girls who didn't get a chance to bake last week are having a go at it. 

We had such a wonderfully productive Dec. month in both of our online shops! After we opened our handmade gifts, we had to sit back and think of the 50+ children around the States (and world!) that were unwrapping and discovering our handmade toys under their trees yesterday. It's a strange, but wonderful feeling! Sure hope they enjoy them as much as we always have! :-)

We have a few orders to fill in the shop, but after all the busyness, I think I'm going to let the kids take today off and enjoy the sunshine, fresh snow and their furry animal friends outside...

Merry Christmas season to my dear readers, and have the best new year of your lives!! :)