A Christmas Video...

John put together a video for me for my Christmas present...



Best Christmas present ever.

Charlie's playmat...

My Aunt Lori and Cousin Liz, made Charlie a really fantastic felt playmat for Christmas. Obviously, if you know me, this kind of stuff is right up my alley! Charlie can't play with it much yet, but Henry has given Charlie's "placemat" his stamp of approval.

On the playmat they included things like our local grocery and hardware store, as well as a farm, train station, and construction site. They even included a miniature backhoe, blue Dodge pickup (like Grandpa Royce's), John Deere tractor, and a border collie puppy to play with. Too cute! (It's been played with so much that certain places already need to be reglued).

Here is the playmat unfolded...

And here it is all folded up into a house with a handle...

Absolutely precious! Thanks Aunt Lori & Liz :)

Another doily bag...

I made one more of these doily bags. White on black this time. So fun!

A wreath...

I made this Christmas present wreath and love the way it turned out! I got the idea to use a spiral cutting technique for felt flowers from Jill. They were super easy to make. I'm so glad she told me about this method. Now I need to make myself one :)



Here is the video tutorial I used to make the flowers:

Henry's Car Cozy...

We are celebrating Christmas with my mom's side of the family this weekend in Fresno. The adults are all participating in a "dirty bingo" style of gift exchanging (i.e...you draw numbers, pick a gift, unwrap it, if someone else wants it they steal it, etc, etc.) This game will be fun for the adults, but it's not exactly good for the kids. So, parents were asked to bring their own kids a wrapped gift and place it under the tree for them. I made Henry a car cozy and stuffed it with matchbox cars. I love it, and I hope he will too! (I used this pattern & last year I made one for Ryan for Christmas)






I still may use freezer paper stencils to number the car pockets, but that may come after I give it to Henry.

A sock monkey & my new gift-giving philosphy...

My friend, Betsy, and I decided to make sock monkeys for our boys for Christmas. These were a pretty fun project and I'm proud of us for finishing them in 2 sittings! We bought kits at Michael's and Beverly's for only $10 and they included everything we needed (minus the stuffing), which was great. I'd like to make Henry's some clothes at some point, but for now, I think the monkey is just fine as is.


This will be one of Henry's 3 gifts from us this Christmas. I've been thinking long and hard about how we should do gifts at Christmastime. I definitely want my family to give and receive gifts, but I don't want our kids to expect excessive amounts of stuff. Since I enjoy structure, I've been trying to find a somewhat loose structure for our gift-giving, and I think I've found it! And don't worry, John likes the idea too :)

Our pastor often talks about gift-giving with the idea that we can give gifts of our time, talents, and treasures (He uses this model year-round...not just at Christmastime). This has always really resonated with me for some reason, so I thought it might provide a nice structure for our family gift-giving.

So for example, this year Henry will get 3 gifts, with each gift falling into one of the 3 categories:

• time- John is going to assemble a tricycle that I received as a baby shower gift from my Grandma Net while pregnant with Henry. We aren't spending any money on this gift, but John will be giving of his (very precious) free time during the busy month of December to prepare this gift for Henry.
• talents- I made Henry the sock monkey using my sewing talent.
• Treasures- Henry will be receiving 2 books from us that John and I picked out together. We used our treasures (money) to purchase these gifts.

We'll see if this is something we stick with for years to come, but I think we should definitely give it our best shot. I think it honors both gift giver and receiver and helps deepen our relationships. I think it will also give our kids a sense of what is to come, and help them prepare themselves for the gifts they will receive at Christmas. We'll see how it goes.

Other ideas I have for these 3 categories:

• time- Individual outings for each individual child with one or both parents, either selected by the parent or planned by the child, or a family trip or vacation.
• talents- I have endless ideas for this category. Quilts, videos made my John, photo books, the list can go on and on.
• treasures- Here is the category where we can purchase gifts that our kids ask for.
  

So anyways, that's my gift-giving vision for the moment. I thought I'd write it down so I would remember it next year :)

Denise's linen bucket...

...I drew Denise's name for the Sorensen Christmas gift exchange. This was part of her present:

I think Henry wanted to keep it for himself:

Gifts for John's coworkers...

Shelly & I made a double batch of Peanut Butter balls for our respective husband's coworkers last week. We made them small so they resembled a truffle and then placed them in mini muffin cup liners. Shelly is fantastic at all things crafty & creative, so she taught me how to make a box from cardstock and a lid from overhead projector sheets. I tied them all up with raffia and presto...a gift was born.

Currently working on...

...one of Henry's Christmas presents.

Sweet little lion...

...thanks to this crafty lady. A sweet surprise in the mail for our wee bee. It's just about the cutest little lion I ever did see. I'm pretty sure it will become an instant favorite once our little one is old enough to appreciate such things.

(and, ahem...that's its tail between its legs...bad picture positioning on my part).

If we have a boy...

...John wants to give him this:

(Perfect Triple Threat Position)

If we have a girl...

I want to get her this:

My flower...

...this was given to me by a student for Christmas. A little bulb, a pot, and some potting soil. It finally bloomed, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.