Handmade Holidays

It was a very busy month of December for me.  I got a very late start on holiday crafting.  I blame a few different factors (the move (when can I stop using that as an excuse?), lack of needed supplies, unorganized crafting space, procrastination....) and next year I plan to do better.  

Yeah, that's what they all say.

Anyway.  I am so glad that I have a sewing machine.  I can only knit so many things, and sewing really opened up the options as far as what I could create.  Like this little number for my sister-in-law:

I liked it so much I wanted to keep it.  But really I'm not cool enough to pull it off so it's better off with Melissa.

I didn't use a tutorial for the headband.  I was just inspired by the fabric and Melissa's sense of style, so I made it up as I went.

However, I did use a tutorial (loosely, at least) for these beauties.

(alert!  Blurry camera phone photos....)

They are Anthropologie-inspired fabric bead necklaces, and I completely love them.  They are fairly easy to pull together, just a bit tedious.  

Don't think I didn't knit anything this year, though.  Boy did I ever knit....

This scarflette was for my mother-in-law:

And this one was for my cousin/friend/theKate:

No pattern for either, just inspired by some neck cozies/scarflettes and came up with a lovely knit pattern (Mistake Ribbing).  The buttons don't look like much, but are from my grandmother's collection.  I love chunky buttons!

The thing I love about the second neck warmer is that while it looks sort of plain in that photo, it is EXTREMELY versatile.  Don't believe me?  Check here and here.  You can wear it however you want!  (enjoy, Kate!)  How awesome is that?

Let's see, what else did I make?  Oh yes, I made a few coffee cozies for my brother-in-law, a coin purse for his girlfriend, and another scarflette for my mom.  Kraig was in charge of other "boy" gifts, and he came up with the fabulous idea of hand-roasted coffee.  Oh yes, he bought a roaster and some green coffee beans and cranked out some delicious, specialty, home-roasted blends for the men in our lives.  Thank goodness for that idea because homemade gifts ideas for men are so difficult to come up with.

In addition to the handmade goodies, I added a personal touch to the gift wrapping.  I made homemade gift bows out of magazine pages.  They turned out quite lovely and are much more aesthetically pleasing than those super-shiny $1/bag atrocities.  Don't you think?

 Kind of weird that this one has an eyeball on it from the M&M's character... Must be more careful next time!

We also attached some of our homemade ornaments on the outside of the gifts.  Sorry I forgot to snap a photo of that, but here is what some of them looked like.

I was also busy with other handmade projects around the house.  Stockings, pillows (not for Christmas but just general throw pillows), and baking, of course!

Om-nom-nom.

What did you make this holiday season?