The Makings of Christmas!

If you know my family, then you know we are always making something. Christmas really puts this in overdrive. Here is a sample of some of what we made. I made a few pairs of fingerless gloves (knitted) but didn't snag any pics. Boo, I came up with the pattern myself,  so I will try to write it up and make another pair (maybe for me?!) and post it.
    Boy were these fun to make! I hope some of my crafty friends will share what they made this Christmas.

A knitted hat to Vlad from Mommy

A gnome home with mushroom rattle for my niece,  Mae. The gnomes are knit,  but the rest is crocheted. 

A big,  beautiful Christmas doily made by my Mom. Gorgeous! 

A dollhouse for Ollie Bean. My mom made it for me when I was little. Then I painted it for Jas. Now Matt fixed it for Ollie in the same colors as our house!  He made a little furniture for it too. There is more we want to add,  then  more pics will follow! Can you believe my Mom made this from scratch? She is a d. i. y. beast! 

Old school bomb with fuse for the bros,  knitted. 

Crocheted pincushion 

My favorite gift wrapping this Christmas,  done with upcycled packing paper from a delivery. 

Had to make Ollie a gnome home too! 

Matt took a wooden,  thrifted salad bowl and carved it into a yarn bowl. I love it! Now my yarn doesn't roll across the room while I knit. 

Some ankle socks,  knitted for myself! Claus is vacationing inside for the winter,  so I had to put him to work hauling my socks. 

Gift bags made from old t-shirts

A time bomb with removable sticks of dynamite. Matt recorded a sound button in the clock! You must check out the video of it here

A stocking made out of t-shirts. The inside is red. Of course this was for the tractor loving Brandon. 

Here are some t-shirts that Matt made by creating a stencil from freezer paper and painting the shirt. I think he outdid himself! 

Link for Wolfie

Megaman for Vlad 

A thumbdog for his Mama

And for his Dad,  Dennis Kucinich! 

I didn't take a pic of the grenade stuffie I made,  but I did take a video. (click here) Matt recorded another sound button and it has already seen a lot of action! 

Last,  but not least,  the boys did their first embroidery as a gift to their talented Grandma Kathy. Subscribers, Click for video


I hope you fit a little handmade into your Christmas! I would love to hear what some of you made too!



P. S. Must give props...

The gnomes were from this pattern:
http://plainandjoyfulliving.blogspot.com/2009/02/fun-knitting-gnome.html

Gnome home was based on this pattern:
http://yarrrn.blogspot.com/2008/02/gnome-home.html

The grenade:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mills-bomb-grenade

The old school bomb :
http://shoshanaknits.blogspot.com/2012/06/happy-bomb-knitting-pattern.html

The mushroom rattle was based on :
http://tomacreations.wordpress.com/2012/03/03/amigurumi-super-mario-mushroom/

The pincushion:
http://www.hookedonneedles.com/2009/08/crocheted-pin-cushion-pattern-english.html

The time bomb was my own on-the-fly pattern.

I always use Ann Budd's sock book. Swear by it!

http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Started-Knitting-Socks/dp/1596680296/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357700431&sr=1-3&keywords=ann+budd

Holiday craft cavalcade!

     Now that gifts have been given, I can post some of my family's Christmas crafts that were given as gifts without spoiling any surprises.  Matt, Grandpa Jay and Jas did some crafting this year, which made it even more fun.  Unfortunately, not all of the crafts were photographed, but this will give you a taste.  I loved that some of my friends responded to my homemade gift post last year with posts of their own, chock full of new ideas for me to steal  to inspire me!  I hope they do it again!
     I got acquainted with crochet via this little baby Cthulu doll I made for my bro-in-luv.  I later modified this into a Cthulu cup cozy for my sweet Lovecraft-lovin' husband too.

I crocheted a winter headband with a flower for my big haired daughter (must be nice to have too much hair for a hat)

She, in turn made a cute headband for herself by following some tutorials online during a sleepless new baby night.

  I got my knitting going too and made a sock monkey cup cozy for my other brother-in-love.  I was able to use some yarn given to me by a super-knitter that I work with, you should see the stuff she knits!

For their wives, i made up some glass pendants, upcycling some glass marbles I had and photos from magazines

I made my Mom some embroidered napkins for her to use when she is hosting Mahjong.  These were actually a birthday gift, but it falls during the holiday season, so it is fair game!

I used some recycled denim to make a little bib for Olivia.

Matt made Olivia some Onesies using freezer paper stencils of some drawings he did.  She looks soooo cute in them!

He also painted a canvas playmat for the boys.  I love the concession stand and car wash!

Even my Father-in-luv joined in, making Vladdie a double rainbow for his train set!

Lastly, all of us chipped in to make "Treecycle",  a 3-d tree about 3 feet tall made from recycled boxes and magazines.   It has ornaments made from the handles of chinese take-out boxes.  Wolfie sewed the packing peanut garland all on his own!  Vladdie put the popsicle stick star on top.  The little tree is made out of one folded magazine.

That's all the crafting that I took pics of.  We had a lot of fun making things together.  It is so nice to think of the people you are making them for and remember fun times you had together.  It is as if the supply lists should include "love" in them!

More basic knitting

I finished a cowl and matching fingerless mitts!  Here they are, modeled by my lovely daughter!

 

 I made these without a pattern, using one stitch,which proves even a monkey can learn to do some basic knitting.  I fantasize about a time when I might be able to actually follow a pattern without anyone bugging me!  Knit on!