A Hand Made Christmas

 We went the creative route this year for many of our gifts.  The kids were eager to help make, wrap and label the gifts.  It took about twice as long to get things done with all the "help" but it was worth it.  I love seeing the excitement in their eyes to give a gift that they were a part of.

 The Grandparents both got their own faux-canvas pictures of the kids.  I love the internet....loads of information, ideas and how-to's for being crafty.  These were really fun to make and quite easy!  End result isn't too bad!  They might need a little poster putty or tape in the corners on the back to help keep it level, but otherwise I think it hangs ok. 

 Here's the run down on how to make them.

- Find your favorite photos

- Get the size canvas you want.  I used a pre-stretched canvas 4x4 from JoAnn's.

-Cut your pix just slightly smaller than the size of canvas and Mod Podge to canvas.  Let dry.

-Cut scrapbook or other paper for the edges...again, cut just slightly smaller.  Mod Podge to sides.

-Put on 2 more coats of Mod Podge across photos and edges.  It looks something like this:

 Once you have a couple coats of Mod Podge on, grab your paint.  I used black acrylic, but you could use any color to go with your pix...especially if you kept the pix in color instead of black and white.  

-You could use a paint sponge or paint brush, but I just cut off a section from a kitchen sponge and "sponged" on the paint around the edges.  

-Once paint is dry, one more coat of Mod Podge.

-All that's left is to get ribbon on.  I used a single strand down the back and two at the top to make the ribbon.  Staple gun is needed to get through the wood.

-Tie a bow and you are done!

You may remember a number of weeks ago I did Bubble Painting with the girls one afternoon.  We took all those lovely bubble prints and cut them down to note card size.  Then grabbed some extra envelopes from old Christmas cards we never used and printed more on the back flap of the envelope.  Now you have a set of note cards...tie a bow around them and you are done!  However, when doing this project with 3 year olds, you get finger prints and smudges...so, you would probably only want to give these to someone who won't mind these little "oops'" on their cards.....usually a Grandma.  ;-)

 

Since Island G&G actually have a tree this year, it seemed fitting to get them some more ornaments.  Home made, of course!

My parents live on an Island, we refer to them as Island G&G.  My in-laws have a huge old house with a fabulous attic that has been turned into an amazing romper room for kids....we call them Attic G&G. 
Anyway, back to the ornament.  Ava and I picked up these little wooden ornaments at JoAnn's not really sure what to do with them.    This is what we came up with:

 Did I mention earlier that I love the internet?  We found map of the Island, shrunk it to size, wrote: We love Island Grandma/Grandpa on them.  Painted the wood red, had the kids write their names (thumb print for Chubbo), and sealed it with a couple coats of Mod Podge.

 We also made some almond bark pretzels, knitted some dish cloths and made some tile coasters...forgot to get pix of those.  So, there's our home made Christmas.  Nothing too fancy but made with love!