One of the girls at work loves Christmas and I mean she really loves Christmas. Beginning January 25th she starts the count down by posting on my calendar, 11 months until Christmas.
No matter how you look at it, 11 months until the next Christmas or 1 month after last Christmas it comes every Dec. 25th. This also means approx. 10 months until my family starts the moaning and groaning about our annual handmade Christmas gift exchange. Two years ago, I started a tradition of drawing names for a handmade family gift exchange. This concept has not been well received by all of the family members but this is only year two and I am not giving up. They are creative in so many ways and don't even realize.
One of the kids has always written quirky poems to all the other family members. One plays music, a few of them are fantastic cooks. A handmade gift does not just mean creating a patchwork quilt but I think my family associates handmade with a sewing machine.
Being creative also has a lot to do with making or doing something just prefect for the one person on your shopping list. I was lucky enough to draw the name of one of the girlfriends who is fairly new to the fam. I was playing around with an older Moda pattern and had already started making it in red and blacks.
The name I drew was a graduate of Texas Tech so this was going to work out perfect.
I think they enjoyed hamming it up for a photo shoot.
This quilt had black snuggles on the back and finished out as the most yummy cuddly project ever. Everyone in my family now wants a quilt with snuggles on the back.
Bob made Grant a really cool wooden bench. He cut down the tree and created a new family heirloom. {I tried to sneak this bench home with me, but I couldn't even lift it. }
Bo received a special monogrammed chefs coat and proudly wore it the rest of the holiday break. That was creative and not just something you could buy off a rack at the mall.
Jarrod is the uncle to little Nolan but he has also been named the baby snatcher since he seems to always be the hogging the baby. Others received trophies, paintings, gift cards for cleaning and other thoughtful, creative gifts. We have drawn names for next year so we have 11 months and no trading names!!
What does the word handmade mean to you?
