A Handmade Christmas 2014

Blogging!

Wait… how do you do this again?

Oh yeah, start with some sort of catchy intro, type thing…

So, um, hey readers! Long time no chat! 

 Ugh, I'm out of practice! :P

I’m not here to make apologies about that, though. I’m here to be my classy, witty, glamorous self! ;)
...Actually, that’s not true either (well, everything but the witty part, hehe!).

I’m here to share with you the best Christmas ever! And naturally, that’s whichever Christmas was latest. In this case, the wonderful Christmas 2014.

In previous years, our handmade Christmases have been rather chaotic affairs, mostly taking place on Christmas Eve due to our handmade toy shop being so busy during the Christmas season. However, this year, we weren't busy quite so close to Christmas and the handmade part went very smoothly. In fact, the handmade aspect to our Christmas was exceptionally enjoyable this year, methought.

Mom and Lizzy largely outdid themselves on the treat table this year. So many varieties! Mom remarked that there seem to be quite a bit of leftover cookies this year, to which Andrew replied, "we're trying!" haha, and we are!

 Our handmade gift opening, as usual, was such an exciting celebratory affair!

Can you tell what I got? I couldn't.
I think I was still palming it and trying to figure out what it was in this picture...

There were probably a lot of little girls getting Frozen dolls for Christmas this year, and while Donna was one of them, I tend to think her handmade dolls were cuter than the ones the stores offer!

Okay, so without further teasing, I'll show you all the handmade gifts that we unwrapped... 

Donna got Elsa and Anna Frozen dolls from her big sisters. Annie made the dolls, hand painted the faces, and spent two days brushing yarn out and making their wigs. I sewed their dresses.

Johnny got a three foot long Toothless dragon stuffed animal from the How to Train Your Dragon movies (of which he's a massive fan) as well as the original book series to the movies. I made him using a wonderful free pattern I found online here.

Lizzy got a wooden art easel that expands up to six feet tall and is largely adjustable in every direction. Andrew made it from his own design. She was very happy!

Mike's gift probably had the most girl hours in it, mostly from Theresa. It's a football field quilt that seem to expand in size and detail as it went along, until it was super nice and accidentally out-shining the rest of our gifts. Oops!

 

In return, Mike made Theresa two large produce gathering baskets. The produce can be washed in the basket's wide mesh before even coming in the house. Mike laminated maple together to make the bent handles. These are as pretty as they are practical!

Steve got a light up sign for his bedroom door, with his youtube logo painted on by Lizzy. The light alerts this noisy family to be quiet when Steve is recording tutorials for his channel.

Stephen made Annie a beautiful jewelery box with a rounded lid, magnet closer and multi-colored wood types. It was complete with several lovely pieces of jewelry.

Turns out my gift was a new bookshelf, with a rounded curvature that means you don't need to use bookends to hold up the books! It's pieced with different colored wood mixed in, and has little compartments underneath. I'm way beyond happy with it. It's beautiful, unique, practical, and exactly what I didn't know I wanted!

 

In return, I sewed up Andrew some insulated curtains to warm up and brighten his music studio room. 

 Mom got some comfy crocheted slippers from Annie, complete with jute soles and rustic buttons. Just what she wanted! :)

And a produce bowl from Andrew, which is said to keep produce fresher longer with it's air flow-y design.

 I thoroughly enjoyed making Dad a big minions couch pillow. He has a thing for minions, particularly this scene, but then, who doesn't? But it may have been this Christmas short that set him off. :D

 And Johnny made Dad this beautiful wooden version of the computer game, Pong--his own design and creation! He was very excited to gift it and we were all quite proud of our little brother. :)

Finally, the boys had a big family gift: a new chess set! Mom had been asking for one for some time. It's far bigger and beautifuler than any expectation, and we were all surprised that Steven and Andrew had time to spare on extra family gifts. We're so spoiled! :D

 The rest of our Christmas was spent relaxing in snowy landscapes with critters. For Liz, it was horses and for me, a quiet walk by the river with the dogs.

The next day the Porkies finally opened!!! Whoop whoop! 

 Let the snowboarding begin!!!

The timing was perfect after our busy season, and now we've been spending every day this week tumbling down those snow covered hills, more or less gracefully. (Some of us have style, others: bruises. Stylish bruises. Since I can barely walk, I guess I fall in the latter category... probably headfirst, but I'll work that out with style! ;)

Finally, here's our 2014 Christmas picture:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!