Handmade Christmas

This year, we had a very handmade Christmas. I have made presents for people previously; however, this year as many presents were made as possible.

One thing I made were these dolls. I made the above dolls for 3 neices. I also made one for my mom and one for my step-daughter. I haven't really done a lot of sewing in the past, other than eye pillows with straight lines, so I was pretty pleased with how these turned out. They are by no means close to being perfect, nor are they sewn straight, but they are so adorable. They were also so much fun to make. Once I made one, I just wanted to keep making them. I have plans to make one for myself eventually because I have run out of people I think would like them for gifts.

The pattern is from The Black Apple's appearance on Martha. You can make these for gifts, but don't make them to sell because they are copyrighted. Her dolls are flipping awesome. Mine, not so much, but I guess they are adorable in their own way.

The recepient of this doll was the most exited about it and that made me so happy.

The other great thing about making gifts is that you can impress your friends and family with your crafting skills. Most people realize that I make jewelry and aren't that surprised, or impressed, when they receive jewelry from me. However, people were actually surprised by the dolls and other gifts I made.

One of my goals for this year is to start making my Christmas presents this month so it isn't a big race at the end of the year. I did basically get everything done, but I felt kind of rushed and frazzled to get it all done. I figure I can make a couple of gifts a month for the year and I will be set by Christmas.

So now I need to start thinking about who I will be making presents for and what I will be making for them so I can get started on this task.