Homemade Christmas Gifts

We are a crafty family and usually make several Christmas Gifts. Here's a list of past gifts:

• Baked goods ~ Cookies, breads & candies


• Canned goods


• Frozen meals ~ for families with new babies & older relatives that live alone


• Paint by number kits - then we framed them - choose the pattern wisely - ours took 5 weeks!


• Rice trivets with cinnamon & cloves - makes your table smell yummy!


• Cookie of the Month Subscriptions ~ Which could be expanded to anything


• Mini scrapbooks


• Pictures of our family


• Lap quilts


• Light up pot pourri jars


• Layered ingredients in a jar - cookies and also soup mix


• Themed Kits ~ movie night, art, office, new cook ~ endless possiblities here


• Personalized stationary & note pads


• Dress up trunk ~ mostly old prom dressers & costume jewelry found at thrift shops


• Packets of greeting cards with perpetual calendars


• Tons of stuff we found on Family Fun site


• Dog biscuts


• Suet cakes for birds

Okay, so we are running out of ideas and went to the library to find books. We found a kid's wood working book that inspired Cole. He is going to be making a rope ladder for the girls, a CD holder for a brother and he even found a wooden cat toy that I'm hoping he makes because it's so darned cute! We got a kid's soapmaking book and have found several recipes that we'll try

So, last night, I was surfing around, trying to find more ideas and I wanted to share a few websites I found. Some are blogs I follow daily ~ I'm totally making a spa kit for a friend from all the cool stuff on Little House in the Suburbs. Aubrey wants to make lip balm and also a loofah soap for her teacher. (Instead of pouring soap into molds, you pour it into the end of a loofah. A variation would be to take a bath puff, put it into a cup or bowl and pour soap on it ~ kind of like soap-on-a-rope but with a bath puff inside.)

http://www.skiptomylou.org/

http://motherletter.blogspot.com/

http://homesteadinghousewife.blogspot.com/

http://www.littlehouseinthesuburbs.com/

http://www.livingonadime.com/blog/

http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2006/11/50-homemade-gift-ideas-from-around-the-web.html

http://www.allfreecrafts.com/homemade-gifts/

Okay, off to craft & bake.