With a growing family and a budget to stick to, Christmas 2011 had a focus on homemade gifts. On Christmas Eve my fathers’ side of the family gets together. I always like to give a little something to my aunts and my sister. This year I went completely homemade.
I made gifts boxes for each of them. Some of the items I made include strawberry jam, hot mocha drink mix, hot pink drink mix, lemonade iced tea mix, and candles made in an old miniature jelly jar. I also included Derek in the homemade gift project. He made travel mugs and apple-cinnamon ornaments. The items were put together in gift boxes I got from the Target dollar bins.
Jam and Drink Mixes
Finished gift box for my sister (Aunt Momma as Derek calls her). Includes a travel mug and ornament made by Derek as well as a jar of Hot Mocha mix and Pink Drink mix.
The main gift I made for my parents and my sister was a joint effort between Bryan and myself. I had this idea that I saw in a magazine to make a large letter depicting a last name. This could be hung inside or outside. So that I did not have to enlarge a letter and cut it out of wood myself, I searched several craft stores to find what I wanted. JoAnn Fabrics had letters that were large enough to use for this project. I got a D for my sister and an H for my parents. The next step was to do the decorating. Bryan helped me by cutting wooden dowels that had varying thicknesses. He cut them into different lengths so that they would be varied on the letter. After he was finished, he sanded the edges and I glued them onto the large letter. The final project was sprayed with polyurethane so that it would be safe if it were to be hung outside.
