Unique Homemade Gifts + Linky

Check out these special gifts I have made over the years for all of our extended family for Christmas: Homemade Family Treasures!

You can make your own perpetual Calendar too…
with this Catholic Family Calendar Printable or this Kelly Comics Family Calendar printable.

The first one can be alot of work…
but the good news is that it gets easier to make additional sets,
and they will be treasured by Grandparents, Cousins, Aunts and Uncles…

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What have you been up to lately?

 

I finally have an intro page…complete with photos from our photo shoot yesterday.  Wow…it’s difficult to get 7 people with their eyes open, nice smiles, out of the shadow (Kelly!) and looking in the same direction, all at the same time, especially when one is only 19 months.  This is my new Intro Page!

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Homemade Nativities

My clothes peg people are missing now…I’ll post a new (close-up) photo when I find them. They are made with traditional wooden clothes pegs, a painted face (with facial features added with sharpie) and material.  The arms are pipe cleaners.  These are sample crafts from A Treasure Chest of Traditions for Catholic Families. What’s the theme here?  Where’s Baby Jesus?  These are all Nativity figures I have made over the years with toilet paper rolls, egg cartons and wooden pegs…but Baby Jesus is missing in each one!  I need to start re-making Him… I remember the egg carton Baby Jesus, was just a small piece of the egg carton for a cradle, with construction paper “straw” sticking out behind a fabric bundle of baby.  I’ll  post pictures when I either find my original or make a new one. I find that Baby Jesus either gets misplaced by one of my kids parading him around the house during Advent (before Baby Jesus is supposed to be in the manger), or in transit from one of the Catholic conferences we attend. We have actually had the odd sample craft made from A Treasure Chest of Traditions for Catholic Families stolen from our booth display! These Holy Family Felt Friends are made with felt over a pipe-cleaner body, felt clothes, embroidery floss hair and facial features.  I know, I need to make a Baby Jesus version here as well. I added a quick Baby Jesus for this post. I made this Nativity before we were married and it’s our special one-of-a-kind family Nativity.  I think I found a pattern for the little bodies and then I improvised for the clothing. (Can you tell ? =)  I engineered the manger myself with the little skylight for the star to poke through. The brown manger material already had verticle lines in it, so I quilted it to make it a little more durable.  The manger also has a couple wooden dowels in it, but it’s not too “stable”.  I usually use a little pillow to prop it up.  I didn’t make the tree, but it looks cute with the set.  I like the lighting on the close-up picture…I think it looks like they’re sitting by the fire. Linked up to the Nativity Activity Linky! read more...for Equipping Catholic Families!

Knitted Nativity: sorry if you don’t have an Auntie Ingrid!

Linked up to the Nativity Activity Linky!

Auntie Ingrid has knitted amazing gifts for us over the years.  She knitted outfits for my brother and me…and those same outfits have been worn by my kids!  She is known for her amazing baby blankets…and I’m proud to say that our family with 5 kids probably has the biggest collection!

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Advent Mailbox Wreath

Our crazy ‘Family Mailbox-Advent Wreath…combining at least 2 ideas from The Treasure Chest…

The secret ‘Good Deed and Message Jar worked well last year…thought we’d give everyone their own mailbox (to open at Christmas) and draw a little extra attention to the Advent Wreath this year.

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