Handmade/Homemade Challenge: New Niece

Oh my sweet little niece...you deserve something special for being the greatest 7 week old I know. Something to hang above your crib. I've got just the thing.

All I needed were some letters, some felt, some fabric and thread. All the fabric that I used came from my favorite neighborhood store.

Such a sweet little gift for an adorably perfect girl.

Handmade/Homemade Challenge: Nephew's Birthday

For my nephew's 4th birthday, we have given the gift of our time and the experience of live theatre. Last night we took him to a production at a children's theatre of Robin Hood. In my opinion, the story line and dialogue were a little too mature for a children's theatre and the script included a lot of things that would go over the head of anyone younger than 13 or 14. Luckily they also threw in some scenes where the actors ran around the stage wildly yelling and screaming. This brought the attention of the 4-10 year olds back for a few minutes at least.

After the show the kids were invited to get their playbills signed by the actors, which I thought was a very nice touch. All the kids were super psyched to meet them. This is my nephew meeting Prince John.

Overall, the gift was a success and we all had a great time. When we dropped him off at home he said, "If you ever have any extra theatre tickets, you can come and see me." I take that as a good sign.

Handmade/Homemade Challenge: Brother-in-law's Birthday

I have no real reason for my absence from this blog. I got lazy. So, I'm going to forget it ever happened and never speak of it again. (and I'll try to be better from now on).

~

So, in February my brother-in-law had a birthday. It sort of snuck up on me so there was no time to make anything or search Etsy for the perfect gift. The morning of the party, hubby and I went down to a local bakery to pick up some treats for the birthday boy (man).

This brother-n-law of mine is known for his avoidance of carbs...so what do we get him...fancy bread and olive oil. Weird? Maybe. But this guy also loves to indulge in a Saturday morning of homemade french toast once in a while and this is the perfect bread for that.

The moral of the story is this...next time your carb hating brother-in-law has a birthday...get him some bread.
Or not.

Handmade/Homemade Challenge: Baby Shower

This is gift #3 in the handmade/homemade challenge that I am embarking on for 2010.

You can see gift #1 here, and gift #2 here.

. . .

This gift was for my great friend, Julie who is expecting twins in T-minus 6 weeks from now. I only got a photo of one of the gifts (modeled by my lovely 5 day old neighbor) but I assure you there were two of these. One for each babe.

. . .

Inspiration struck the day before her baby shower (nothing like the last minute) when I was browsing my local fabric store and came across this book. I knew what had to be done. I got the fabric, I got the book, and I started sewing.

I only finished one (green and white dots) before heading to the shower.

Then I think I broke my sewing machine (still undecided) and had to borrow my mom's machine to finish the second one.

I can't wait to try out some other projects from the book.

Handmade/Homemade Challenge: Sister's Birthday

This is gift #2 in the Handmade/Homemade Challenge that I am embarking on for 2010.

You can see gift #1 here.

. . .

So this gift is for my oldest sister. 2 years ago I made calendars for my whole family for Christmas. I just found out recently that my oldest sister loved hers so much that it still hangs on the wall - even though outdated. So that is where the inspiration came from for this gift.

. . .

I had the calendar start in February since her birthday is in late January. I wanted her to get the full years worth of calendar joy.

I went back and forth on this gift a bit. It's handmade/homemade right? I didn't print it obviously, but I did put all the pictures and dates in. I'm counting it.

What do you think?

I just know she'll love it!

Coming up in February...3 birthdays and Valentine's day...

Handmade/Homemade Challenge: Sister-in-law's Birthday

One of my goals for Twenty-Ten is to buy handmade or make homemade gifts for birthdays and such. I plan to utilize Etsy as much as possible and also try my hand at more sewing/crafting/etc.

My first opportunity was yesterday for my sister in law's birthday. I went with Koukla Mou Designs on Etsy for some super cute and dainty fresh water pearl earrings. They are beautiful, wrapped up ready to gift, and shipped super fast.

Up next in January, a baby shower (for twins) and my sister's birthday.

................

Care to join me in the handmade/homemade challenge? I'd love to know some of the gifts you are finding and making. Leave a comment!