Christmas Recap: The Giving Edition

Wanna know what's funny? When the sometimes-messy, always-particularly-jumpy, ADHD-medicine-has-worn-off girl accidentally steps on the big box o' bubble wrap on the floor and then jumps higher than a cat and says a multitude of curse words while clutching her heart to make sure it has regained it's ability to beat. That's funny. Even if the only person there is the aforementioned girl.

Anyhow, on to Christmas. I really do enjoy the giving aspect so much more than the getting. I love the search for the perfect present, either something that very much reflects who they are, or something that I know will bring them great joy. As much as I love it, it brings me great stress. Because I have to find something perfect and meaningful. This year, it had a different twist, as I couldn't post all of my fun creative goodness, since half of the people on the receiving end are readers of this blog! Put me in a bit of a pickle.

So, I had to wait until after Christmas to show you the goodies I made.

For my name in the in-law drawings, I got M. She collects crosses, so it was easy to go get her a cross, which is what I did, but I also wanted to make her something.

So, I took this picture frame (12 X 12)and gutted the inside, giving a shadowbox effect. Then, I made a few scrapbook pages, to change out throughout the year. I put it on a fancy book stand, and now she has a beautiful (if I do say so myself) message board for year round. Apparently the other ladies of the inlaws wanted one too. The funny thing is that this was my aunt's idea, but I made it. For next year, she's already decided to take one of my ideas and make it for all of them. We work well like that.





Next is my second-favorite thing to make. My girls wanted white-boards really badly. I can't just let them have plain old white boards, now can I? So, I decorated them to match their rooms. I used scrapbook embellishments on them and made flower magnets, and they are wonderful. The girls love them, but the next prize I made them was what garnered my presents the phrase "This is better than Rock Band!" (Yeah...my head barely fit through the door.)
Ah...the piece de resistance. What went with the boards is what was the most fun to put together. I didn't do much with it, but a girl's gotta have some markers to go with her white boards. And I knew the girls had taken quite a liking to our Pampered Chef spinny organizers that hold all of our markers and fun supplies, so I made them these:


Finally, my most-stressful project, the one that C's ready to make for all her friends. I made the dachsund onsie in the same way, and I was afraid my ever-so-creative aunt would get the idea to do other things in that manner. But she didn't.

I took her blog header, which is a picture of her girls walking hand-in-hand in a cotton field, and silhouetted (sp?) it on a tee-shirt for her. In typical fashion, I did the whole project, was a little unhappy with it, so then I went back to read the directions. And came up with a better way. So I will be playing with that option in the near future. Beware. Until then, here is the final project. It's not the best picture. I took it before the paint fully dried.


Tomorrow will bring the Getting Edition, a showcase of all the fun goodies I acquired yesterday!

P.S. I hate putting pictures into text on Blogger. Hate it.