
I had a lot of fun making a few extra Christmas gifts this year. I always make a little something for each of the children, a small handmade gift from mamma under the tree, but this year I carved out a some extra time and make a few things for my nieces and nephews too.
But I’ll start with the some gifts that came from the kitchen; not the sewing room. We wanted to deliver cookie plates to our neighbors and friends this year, so I spent a few weeks mixing up and freezing cookie dough. I got up early one Saturday and started an assembly line of cookie baking. By a little after lunch we had 10 cookie plates ready to deliver later that evening.

Justin spent the morning roasting a huge batch of coffee, because the only thing better than cookies; is cookies with a nice cup of freshly roasted coffee! 
We had such a fun night making deliveries and being invited into the homes of our neighbors. We had intended to just drop the coffee and cookies off, but each and every person invited us in to sit and chat. It was a truly memorable night!
When I wasn’t elbows deep in flour and sugar, I was in the sewing room working on my small list of Christmas presents.
For my nieces I decided to make monogrammed tote bags. I enjoy making making tote bags. They are such a quick and satisfying project, and I was pretty pleased with the way the monogrammed letters turned out!

I filled the bags with art supplies and chap stick (because every little girl loves chap stick).
For my young nephews I decided to make reversible hooded capes. I used a black and silver polyester satin fabric to give the cape a dramatic, sweeping look. I wanted it to look like a Jedi cloak or a Medieval cape. It’s always a little risky making a handmade gifts. There’s a fine line between being the cool Aunt who makes unique gifts, and being the crazy Aunt who makes embarrassing gifts that you hide in the back of your closet.
But both the boys seemed genuinely excited about their capes, and I was delighted to see pictures of them in the following weeks wearing their capes to the beach, over their pjs, and even to Disneyland!
I also painted up a few small snowmen and Christmas trees to tuck into stockings and other gifts.

I purchased several gifts from some other wonderfully talented women I know. For each of my sister-in-laws I bought these wonderful crocheted face scrubs, and a bar of lemon poppy seed soap, from and Etsy shop called The Green Daisy. I love this lemon poppy seed soap! I’ve been using it myself for the last 6 months and I was excited to give them as gifts.

For Miss P I made a new set of peg people. Last Christmas I made her a set of animal peg dolls and this year I wanted to make her a set of family peg dolls. I tried to get them to look as much like our family as I could. She loves playing with them! I ordered all my unfinished peg dolls, trees, and snowmen from this Etsy seller.
Miss P loves wearing “fancy” things, so I also made her a hand-painted wooden bead necklace.
I threaded the beads onto some leather cording and knotted it tightly at the top. When it was finished I liked it so much I was tempted to keep it myself!

I also bought Miss P this darling roll-up crayon holder from Justin’s Aunt Doris. She is such a talented woman who makes beautiful things!

For the boys I decided to make a homemade checker board. Justin helped me out with the boys gift by making the checker pieces with his 3D printer.
Not only did he made extra large checker pieces but he even monogrammed them! I love the way they turned out!
The boys have already used their checker board dozens of times. J even brought it to school to share with his friends on a rainy school day. I love seeing them use and enjoy something that I have made.
For Miss E I made a very traditional Christmas gift; a long flannel nightgown. I’ve wanted to make her one for years and I finally got around to it. I have my own plaid flannel nightgown that I get out on those very cold winter nights, and whenever I wear it she says, “Oh mamma that is such a beautiful nightgown! You look so pretty in that!” I was absolutely determined to make her a nightgown of her own. I’ve never made anything like a nightgown so I was a little nervous but it went together very smoothly. I found this darling flannel print at Joanne’s Fabric, it’s from their Snuggle Flannel line (very reasonably priced).
My one regret was not taking a little more time to get the gathers around the neck more even. Sometimes the gown hangs a little funky, but Miss E doesn’t mind a bit.

She loves the pink lace around the neck.
And that’s all for this year’s handmade Christmas! It was so much fun to make all those little gifts and to imagine them being enjoyed, and worn, and played with… I love the whole process, from beginning to end.
Thanks again for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed my little handmade Christmas tour and maybe you’ve even gotten a little inspired to try making a few of your own Christmas gifts next year.
See you again soon! ~April