Christmas Gifts 2015

I gave each of my daughters-in-law a lost sock sign. I adapted the idea from Pinterest. I started with a plain board from a craft store, nailed on clothes pins, painted it, then sealed it so the vinyl would stick. I used a Silhouette Design Store file and added the phrase I wanted.  I want to make one for me, too, eventually.

 

What I gave the guys were Star Wars Root Beer Mugs. I found clip art on the internet, turned it into a stencil, and use Armour Etch.  I molded the Millenium Falcon chocolate in a Star Wars chocolate mold. I also added a Death Star ice cube mold to go with it.  It was a huge hit among the guys!

 

I bought fake snowballs on Amazon and made snowball fight kits for each of the grandkids. No pain when they hit, they make the sound of packed snow when you scrunch them, and they are definitely lots and lots of fun!

Although all of my gifts were at least partly homemade, I am pretty happy with how they turned out. I also felt that there was more to the gift than just the usual "shop, wrap it, give it" that it has been in the past.  There was a part of me in each gift, and I was really excited to give my gifts and see how the recipients liked them.

It would be hard to find something else as cool to make, though, so I think this was the only homemade Christmas. Besides which, it took a ton of time.

Yes, I do still scrap, stamp, and craft.

This is a note of explanation to the few who have followed my papercrafting blog, in case there are any of you left.

I have made new projects over the last several months, but taking the time to get a picture and upload it has not exactly been a high priority because of everything that has been going on with my family.  We have taken more trips this past year than any other year of our marriage, but there is a reason.  Notice I say "trips" and not "vacations."  The trips were fun and wonderful, but they all had a purpose.  This past year's travel has been leading up to a major change in our lives.

In addition to the trips, we have been working a lot more seriously on getting our home dejunked and ready to sell.  Since we have been in this house for 32 years, it's a bigger undertaking than I had expected.  Everything seems to take longer than it should, including sorting through everything to decide what to take with us.

We are moving halfway across the country, so this is a really, really BIG move and change for us.  If all goes well, I will have an actual scrapbook room in our new home, where I can craft my little heart out, so eventually I will have lots of new projects to share.  In the meantime, I will still try to get some of my projects from the last six or seven months uploaded, too.