DIY Christmas

Here it is, the final post of my hand-made gifts and my total spent.

Tote bag made with materials on hand - cost: $0.00

Purse made with same fabrics as above - cost: $1.27 (zipper for interior pocket)

Apron made with materials on hand - cost: $.89 (purchased d-ring for neck strap)

Child's apron - cost: $0.00

Braided trivet/hot pad - cost $0.00

Knit dishcloth (this isn't the one I gave, I had forgotten to snap a picture) - cost $0.00

Child's apron - cost $0.00

Wall hanging - cost: $4.30 (needed to purchase coordinating fabric)

2 ties and matching wrap skirt - cost $10.37

Diaper bag for Elle's doll - cost $0.00

Vegetable Spice Mix packets for 5 Sunday school teachers (recipe here) - cost $13.06 (extra spices and bags - made cards on cardstock I had)

Jumper for Elle made from Trick or Treat coat fabric - estimated cost $1.50 (I need to purchase buttons for shoulder straps)

Made with purchased notepads - removed the cover, cut out cereal boxes, traced, hole-punched and re-wired - cost $13.78

Vest to match his brother's from Trick or Treat - cost $0.00

Handbag donated to hubby's work Christmas banquet - cost $0.00

Two small blankets donated to Project Linus (this was something my "team" with the Challenge did - we felt we can bless our family and friends with our gifts but how much better, to bless those in need. We each chose an organization to donate to - you can read more here). What a wonderful opportunity to be able to make and donate projects with materials that I just had in my home and were not being put to use - cost $0.00

This was my biggest project in terms of time, but not size. These ice skates (idea here) - cost $2.68

I made 9 for my family (including parents, siblings/spouses and nephews/niece). Then, I made 28 for T's family (10 adults, 17 grandchildren, 1 great-grand). I think they are adorable. In year's past, the kids and I made the glass ball ornaments you see on the above picture on the top right, but this year I wanted to make something for everyone. Here's a picture of the ones for T's family just after I finished them the night before we needed them.

I LOVED this challenge. It was exactly the motivation I needed to finish all the projects I had swimming around in my head since early November, plus some! Even though I wasn't a "winner" in terms of winning any of the prizes YCMT randomly chose winners for - I was a winner for completing, at final tally,

67 gifts for $47.85

The idea of the competition was not to make every gift, but to see how many gifts we could make for under $50.

And, a final surprise gift for me?

I won a $50 pattern bundle from You Can Make This from a different website! Cool - I got a return on my investment!

It was such a joy, for me, to see the faces of my friends and family as they opened their handmade gifts. At T's parents' house, we used the ice skates on the table for seating and they all loved them. I think I got the biggest gift of all...as the giver!!

New Year Fun

I've decided to join Kelli in taking a peek through the past year of blogging. 

What to do?  Post the first sentence of your first blog post of each month. You can also add a favorite picture from each month.

~January~
Grant me the strength from day to day to bear what burdens come my way.

 

~February~

This morning, its raining - and we have ice warnings. (The Punxsutawney Phil post! ha)

~March~

T had his knee surgery yesterday and it went well.

~April~

I saw this book, Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the extraordinary nature of everyday life, at Short Stop's blog and had been tempted to pick up a copy to read it.

 

~May~

Going to the library in Style!

~June~

June is gonna be a busy month around here - and I suspect it will be in many other homes too!

~July~

I just can't help myself...

~August~

A week with no internet leaves time for this

~September~

Quintin had a 6 year check up with the doctor in June; the doctor, after comparing his height with other 6 year olds, told him his height is great and he'll make a great soccer or baseball player.

~October~

...'cause everyone needs a back end quarter of a 3D deer target laying in their yard.

~November~

I love this time of year.

~December~

With only 2 weeks left in the "You Can Make This DIY" Thrifty Under $50 Challenge - I'm working to get my projects finished.

If you want to play along, head over to Kelli's.  (Click on her name to get to her blog)

After doing this, I've decided my New Year's Resolution will be to include a picture in every month's first post and to make the sentences more exciting - all for the sake of this here, end-of-year review!! ;-)

A quick update

Not only is it hard to believe that Christmas is 2 days away, but the end of 2008 is just around the corner...I can still remember bringing in the year 2000!!!!

I wanted to share that while I didn't win any of the great prizes being given away in the You Can Make This Thrifty Under $50 challenge, I did win - because I was able to make over 50 gifts for under $35.  I was able to add in gifts for the kids' Sunday School teachers as well as making ornaments for each member of our families.  I am still working on some gifts, obviously they are no longer a part of the challenge.  I plan to post all my pictures sometime in the next week.  A few of the receivers read this here blog and I want them to be surprised!!!

Despite not winning anything through YCMT, I actually won a $50 gift bundle from YCMT from a contest on another blog!!

I want to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and I can't wait to catch up with you after the holidays!!

Welcome...come on in!

Many of you know that I was participating in a DIY Challenge to make as many Christmas gifts as possible under $50, which I'll share the final projects next week. While working on those, we had some home projects going on at the same time.

I'm very excited to tell you that our home projects have been completed (but I still have several sewing projects to finish up) and that we have Christmas tree standing in our family room. Also, I'm happy to tell you I found my Christmas spirit!! My kids were a huge part of how I found it. Decorating the tree with them last night helped me to rediscover that joy. I wasn't sure if Colin was at a good age or not, but we started out talking about their own ornaments they get at Christmas and I showed them how to carefully open, unpack and take care of their ornaments. Mine have lasted a long time and I hope theirs do too. Colin jumped right in to helping and it was such a joy to decorate with them!

So, with no further ado, come on inside, warm up from the cold, and let me show you around. Included in this tour will be some before photos as well, so you don't have to try to remember what my house look liked! ;-)

Please, come in! It's cold outside and the rain...yuck!

Here's some cocoa to warm you up!

And a cookie! (Ok, so they aren't fresh baked out of my oven, and I found this picture on my computer taken in July of '07 - but hey, that's the beauty of a virtual tour!)

You may remember I lost something in here?

Yes, it was my Christmas spirit.

We're still working at getting the room straightened up. But it is much better. In this room, we have Quintin's nativity he crafted in co-op last year, on display. Just look - don't touch - he's pretty particular about his handiwork. And what artist, isn't?

The photo below, was taken a few weeks ago. This is how our playroom looked. We needed to move EVERYTHING out of it which is why the living room looked ridiculously a little bit cluttered.

Let me take you into our playroom. We are still working on organizing what will work best for homeschooling. I almost feel a little overwhelmed with the space - but give me time!!

Aaaaahhhh - storage!! Let's zoom in on those top shelves, shall we?

Can you spot Charlie? Our elf from the North Pole!?!?

Just a few Christmas decorations to make the playroom more festive! After taking the above pictures, the kids and I decided to add their nativity to the shelves in the playroom. This advent nativity is a highlight for the kids! This year, instead of hiding Baby Jesus for the children to find Christmas morning, I'm going to wrap him up and give it to them to open after we sing Happy Birthday Jesus. Because I want them to know that He is the best present we all receive this Christmas!

And, let's leave the playroom and head into the family room. I LOVE these two rooms being side-by-side and just a few short steps from the kitchen. The playroom, family room and kitchen are along the entire back of our house! I LOVE it! Kudos to whoever thunk that up...HA! (Hey, after 2 weeks of chaos I deserve a little pat on the back, right?)

Sorry to throw this picture at you. I couldn't find my before pictures of my family room. This is the only picture I could find, but, if you look past the bunny and over the soldier's shoulder, you'll see vinyl flooring along the wall and a black cabinet. We treated that area of our family room as a hallway. The room was smaller and had brown carpet as seen in yesterday's post. (I'll spare you having to scroll down)

While the "grands" were here for Elle's birthday, we suckered them into moving our furniture - no cake unless you agree to help work! HA!

Ok, sorry for all the history there on our room. I tend to babble, just stop me if it gets to be too much. Don't worry about being nice, I can take it. My husband has hung up on me because I .... oh, goodness, excuse me, there I go again.

Remember the hallway with the vinyl? We removed the vinyl and re-carpeted the entire room after our cabinets were installed.

From the left, the two santa stockings were made by T's mom. I made the third one for T about 10 years ago. I started working on an angel stocking for myself at the same time...and well, yeah, it's one of the many UFOs in my house (un-finished objects). T's mom made the angel stocking for Elle. She liked my idea so much. She's made them for all the grandchildren in the family. Have I mentioned there are 17 grandchildren? Before making them for my children, she asked if I would prefer to make them...um, let's see. I made one in 10 years and you've made 14 in a matter of a few months...yeah, why don't you go ahead and make some for my kids! LOL!!! They are beautiful, and one day, there will be another angel alongside Elle's.

This is our first artificial tree. It's 9 feet tall. It only can fit in this room - hence the reason I had to wait so long to put it up. I did purchase it at 50% off after Christmas last year! And I think it is the most beautiful tree ever...and that isn't just because I didn't have to string it with lights!

Please step a little closer so you can see all the things on my shelves. Just be careful, the paint was touched-up yesterday.

My favorite piece to put out this year is this:

T bought the basic nativity part of it for me for Christmas last year. To my surprise, one of the stores in our quaint little town had the rest of the pieces at 50% off the day after Christmas! Score!! I love it!!

Here, you may leave through the kitchen door. Next time you stop by, please use this door instead of the formal front door. I know, you didn't know, but now you do! You are a friend, and like the sign at my mother in law's says, "Backdoor friends are best!"

Thanks for stopping by. I'm going to grab a pepsi and crash on the couch with the kids now! :-)

Praising God this Christmas for all that He has done and for sending us the greatest Gift,

His one and only Son!