My "Gifts for Kids" Pinterest board

A handmade gift I completed this past year

Here is another of my boards to explore: my Gifts for Kids Pinterest board!  Most of the gifts on this board are handmade ones, but there are a few ideas of things to purchase as well.

Here are links and pictures for a few of the items I thought would make fantastic gifts for kids:

This Superhero T-Shirt Quilt is such a great idea.   From My Thrift Store Addiction.

Photo by My Thrift Store Addiction

 You could just search at thrift shops; t-shirts are so inexpensive there.

I love this Be Valiant sign for a kids' room.  What a great encouragement to a child!

Both images from The Happy Scraps

The free printable (which matches the stenciled sign)  from The Happy Scraps is available in a more girly version as well, as seen above.

This list of 20 things to put in a Kids’ Cooking Gift Baskets is from Savings Sarah. 

Photo by a href=“http://www.savingssarah.com/">Savings Sarah

Some great ideas here; I know any kid in my life would love a basket like this!

This Kids’ Study Pillow is another thing many of my grandchildren would love.

Photo by Positively Splendid

 So many great things to sew for kids, it's hard to know where to start.

If you'd rather not give a toy,check out Ten Great Non-Toy Gift Ideas from How Does She.

Photo from How Does She

 Some fantastic ideas here!

Here's a fun and practical idea for a toddler:  Toddler Superhero Scarf.

Photo from The Scrap Shoppe Blog

Looks easy, too!  From The Scrap Shoppe Blog.

This Sleepover Bag with Matching Pillowcase

Photo from Sew4Home

 would make a wonderful gift for tweens or teens.  From Sew4Home.

Last but not least, check out these Quilted Floor Cushions

Photo from DOBLEUFA

from DOBLEUFA.  These would be great for tweens, teens, college kids or anyone who could use some extra seating space.  Love these!

Hope you have found some fresh ideas for the kids in your life!

My "Handmade Gift Ideas" Pinterest board

Some owl hot packs I made last year

As most of my Christmas kitchen visitors know, I love to give handmade gifts -- for any occasion, but especially at Christmas.  So it's really no surprise that I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to handmade gifts.  You'll find it here: Handmade Gift Ideas.  I've actually made a number of the items I've pinned, and have many more that I want to try.

I'm going to share a few links and pictures that might interest you and give you an idea of what's on my board.  Ready?  Prepare to be inspired!

Personal family gifts are so meaningful.  Here are some great ideas in that category:

This Family Recipe Album

Photo by Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

from Balancing Beauty and Bedlam is lovely, but you'll want to get started soon if you want to tackle anything like this!

Speaking of recipes, this idea -- Framed Family Recipes for kitchen decor  -- is a bit simpler project,

Photo by Tattered Style

 but could be extremely meaningful.  They are not actually hung by the ribbons (it just looks that way), but are held securely with hangers on the backs of the frames.   By Tattered Style.

I found the next one, perfect for families with young children, on Infarrantly Creative.  It's a guest post by Brooke of The Crafting Chicks: a Family Photo Go-Fish Game.

Photo by The Crafting Chicks

Looks like so much fun!

These Photo Tiles by My Family

Photo by My Family

 could be personalized for family OR friends and would make a thoughtful gift.

Just a few more!  These DIY Lap Desks by So Not Donna Reed

Photo by So Not Donna Reed

 are one of the most often re-pinned items on my board.  I love the idea of making one's own lap desk, but the thought of using an actual wooden board -- just not sure about that.  Seems like it might make the desk sort of heavy.  Still, as much as purchased lap desks cost ... I just might try it.

I love the thought of making one's own soap with all of the supplies easy to purchase now.  No scary lye or anything in this yummy-sounding Lemon Poppy Seed Soap

Photo by Raising Up Rubies

by Raising Up Rubies.

I've saved the best for last!  I am SO intrigued by this Gift Card Snow Globe by The Creative Mama that I have got to try making at least one this Christmas!

Photo from The Creative Mama

Is it not one of the cutest gifts you've ever seen?

Hope you are feeling inspired!  Make a list and get going on some handmade gifts!

Advent calendars and Christmas countdowns

 Few things are more fun for kids during December than counting down to Christmas in one way or another.  They are fun for adults too (speaking for myself here)!  When our kids were young, we had several of the paper Advent calendars with little doors that open for each day.  Sometimes we bought the type with a chocolate candy behind each door.  In her teens, one of my daughters made a handmade Advent calendar with a scene painted on watercolor paper, following instructions in a Tasha Tudor craft book.  It came out so cute!  I wish I had a picture.

Quite a few years ago I made Advent countdowns (as pictured above) for each of my grown kids and their families.  I found old frames at the thrift store and repainted them using crackle medium, then followed countdown instructions from Gooseberry Patch Christmas Book 6 to make the projects.  You can read all about it here: Gooseberry Patch Advent Countdown.

Naturally, with my love for advent calendars and countdowns, I had to make a Pinterest board just for them.  Here's the link:Advent Calendars and Christmas Countdowns.

If you're thinking you might like to make an advent calendar this year, it's time to start.  So here are a few inspiring ideas!

Here's a Christmas countdown I had pinned and blogged about previously: A Fun and Different Advent Countdown  What a neat idea!

Photo by  workmanfamily.typepad.com

 You can read all about how it's done at workmanfamily.typepad.com.

 Here's a look at just a few of my other favorite ideas:

This  Toolbox Advent Calendar by Sassy Style looks like so much fun to decorate and fill.

Photo by Sassy Style

 You start with one of those small plastic toolboxes with many drawers!

Then there's a Wooden Chalkboard Countdown to Christmas by Brittany at Pretty Handy Girl.

This looks relatively simple, but it's a pretty and fun way to count down the days.

Photo by Pretty Handy Girl

Or how about this sweet Easy No-Sew Burlap Advent Calendar made with printed burlap ribbon?

Photo by Finding Home Online

 It can actually made with any wired ribbon.  By Finding Home Online.

Last, but far from least is this adorable Advent Calendar Kit featured on I Heart Naptime.

Photo from I Heart Naptime

It's so cute -- all packaged in a sweet little red paper suitcase. Unique and lovely.

Hope you have enjoyed this look at my countdown board.  Head  on over to Pinterest to find some of the other neat countdown ideas I've pinned!

My "Crafting for Christmas" Pinterest board

A "Pinterest project" I made previously

I've been doing a lot of pinning lately and thought it might be nice to share some of my Christmas boards on Pinterest with all of you.  I know I've done this in the past, but have added so many pins to my boards of late (mostly just from blogs and newsletters I get via email).  Since crafting for Christmas is on many people's minds right now, I thought I would start by sharing my Crafting for Christmas Pinterest board.

I just love crafting, period, but never more so than at Christmas time.  I like to see that my kids and grandkids have gifts handmade by me.  Sometimes the ones for my grown kids and their spouses are just kitchen gifts -- candy, cookies, jar mixes -- but there is usually something handmade for everyone.  My goal this year is to get the handmade gifts done by the end of November (all except the kitchen ones).

Then, I should (ideally) be able to spend the first part of December crafting some fun decor items and baking.  I thought that by sharing the Crafting for Christmas board first, other people might find some inspiration for things they want to start right away and complete by Christmas!

Edited to add: I had actually posted this a week ago, but decided that I would edit it to add some links and pictures for some of the nifty ideas on my board.  Here goes:

Let's start at the front door with this creative Christmas Church Wreath from Homespun With Love.

Photo by Homespun With Love

 Isn't it gorgeous?  I love this and would really like to make one.

Now, let's go for a few simple ornaments.  I so enjoy making ornaments and like to add a couple of new ones every year, if I can find the time.  This Tart Tin Ornament by Indulge Your Shelf is so sweet!  The page these were on seems to be gone from Indulge Your Shelf -- I pinned this a couple of years ago -- so the link probably won't work.  But I think they look easy enough to replicate without instructions.

Photo by Indulge Your Shelf

I have a bunch of these little tart tins (brand new) that were my grandmother's.  These ornaments look so simple, and I have plenty of bits and pieces on hand that could be used to trim them.

You noticed the sheet music on the ornament above?  Here is another easy-looking ornament that uses sheet music: the Sheet Music Christmas Ornaments from The Graphics Fairy.

Photo by The Graphics Fairy

So cute, don't you think?

For some pretty Handmade Holiday Napkins, check out  bhg.com.  The simple embroidery patterns are free and downloadable.

Photo by bhg.com

These napkins would be a lovely gift or add an heirloom touch to your own holiday table.  You could certainly add whatever sayings you prefer to these.

Some special Christmas art is so nice to display at this special time of year.  Here are two ideas: Twinkling Christmas Canvas Art from Clean & Scentsible is so pretty.

Photo by Clean & Scentsible

I have seen twinkling art pieces and always admired them.  It's nice to know how to make my own.

And then there is this Simple Christmas Art by Just a Girl and Her Blog.

Photo by Just a Girl and Her Blog

So pretty and meaningful!  Looks fairly easy to make, too.

Just a couple more ideas that I couldn't resist!  First is the Car in a Jar Snow Globe

Photo by It All Started with Paint

 from It All Started With Paint.  Isn't it just so cute?  It seems to me that I need one of these.

And then, lastly, this masterpiece from Elizabeth at Creative Breathing: Seasons Greetings Shadowbox.  The photo below is only a partial view.  You can see it in its entirety on my Pinterest board.  I did find, in clicking my link to make sure it worked, that I got a "the page you are looking for in this blog does not exist" message.  Don't worry.  Click the "shadow box" label in the right sidebar and you can find it easily.

Photo by Creative Breathing

I had made a Christmas shadowbox with vintage bits & pieces a few years back and I was thrilled with how it came out.  But it pales in comparison to this.  I just ache to get out my materials and craft another one!

Okay, that should be plenty of Christmas crafting inspiration for now!  Enjoy!

Getting serious about Christmas crafting

From my collection of vintage Christmas art

How can it possibly be November already?  This just can't be!  But it is, and now it's time to get serious about Christmas crafting.  Typically, I don't do a lot; never as much as I'd like to.  But I do like to make handmade gifts for the grandkids, something they can keep and one day say, "My Grammy made this for me."

This spring I came to the realization that, due to increased eldercare responsibilities, I needed to scale back on the handmade gifts.  I decided to do just one handcrafted item for each of the kids, something uncomplicated and simple but still special.   By midsummer I knew what the gifts would be, and in the fall I began ordering materials, taking advantage of sales.

So far I've finished three of the eleven gifts.  This week I'm hoping to crank out a few more.  I won't be able to post pictures until after Christmas, but I am getting serious about the crafting!

Another vintage kids' book ~ The Animals' Merry Christmas

When our kids were young, we had the equivalent of this book contained within one of a four-volume set of Richard Scarry anthologies.  If your kids or grandkids are not familiar with Richard Scarry, they (and you!) are missing out.  His art and stories are both fantastic and so much fun for kids.

This Little Golden Book (copyright 1950, 1958) actually was written by Kathryn B. Jackson, but the pictures are all Richard Scarry, and just beautiful.  The book contains four Christmas stories:  Mr. Hedgehog's Christmas Present, The Singing Christmas Tree, The Cold Little Squirrel, and The Long-Ago Donkey.  It also includes two Christmas poems: Green Christmas and A Very Small Christmas.

The poem Green Christmas was a favorite of my children, so I will quote it here:

Green Christmas

"It's almost Christmas, and still no snow!"

Cry the woodland creatures.  "We still can go

Out of our houses to search for roots

And seeds in the dry grass, and maybe shoots

Of fern and fennel that think it's spring.

We may find acorns -- 'most anything

That's good to eat may be in sight

For Christmas dinner, on such a night,

When the ground is bare of ice and snow,

And stars are bright, and the winds don't blow.

Hurrah for Christmas and still no snow!"

"It's almost Christmas, and still no snow!"

Sigh the townsfolk, wishing the wind would blow.

"Our doors are wreathed with pine and holly,

And our Christmas trees would look extra jolly

Blazing with lights -- if the snow came down

Deep and white all over the town!

Why doesn't the sky go wooly gray?

Why doesn't it snow for Christmas Day?

It's not like Christmas without some snow!"

Sigh the townsfolk, wishing the wind would blow --

BUT -- 

"Hurrah for Christmas and still no snow!"

Cry the woodland creatures, and out they go.

-- Kathryn B. Jackson

Such a fun poem.  Helps kids to see that there may be more than one side to a story!

If you've not seen this book, I'm pretty sure you could find one on eBay or Etsy.  With its four separate stories and two poems, it would be a great addition to your family's library of Christmas books!

A fun little gift for a 1-year-old

 Our youngest grandson turned one year old in June, and -- although I really wanted to make something handmade for him -- I was at a loss as to what that might be.  Then I saw an idea on Pinterest for alphabet letters made of fabric.  Now this might be something he could play with, and I could see his siblings getting involved by spelling out names or words on the floor for him.

  I looked at the tutorial and decided to make it easier.  Here's how I did it.  First, I did a search for large alphabet letter templates.  I found some great ones on DTLK's Educational Activities for Kids, just the size I was hoping for.  They printed out two to a sheet of paper.  I printed enough letters so I had not only the ABCs, but also enough extra letters so that every child's name (he has four older siblings) could be spelled out on the floor at once.  Somehow I could just envision that happening!

Then I cut out enough fabric squares to have 2 for each letter.  I had lots of small colorful scraps in my stash that were just perfect for this.  Using dressmaker's carbon paper, I traced letters on half of the squares.  Then I cut a same-size cotton batting square for each letter. 

I sandwiched them together like this: plain fabric square, right-side down; batting square; fabric square with traced letter, right-side up.  I pinned them securely, then carefully machine-stitched around the outline of each letter.  Once the letters were all stitched, then I cut out each one with pinking shears, using embroidery scissors as necessary for some of the small cut-out parts of letters. 


 
 
Voila!  A multitude of fabric alphabet letters for a little boy and his older siblings to play with!  The letters could be packaged in a zip-top plastic bag, a plastic box, or whatever other storage you might find suitable.  Hope someone else can use this idea.  My grandkids loved it!

Rudolph Day for September

Isn't this so pretty?  It's a cross-stitched  effect from a "calendar" card from the 1960s or 1970s -- I'm guessing the latter.  My scan is so detailed that I could actually make a cross-stitch from this design if I so chose.

Unbelievably, Rudolph Day for September is here!  Do not ask me where the time has gone.  I have been so busy, mostly with spending part of time each day out of the house for eldercare responsibilities.  I had a simple, simple gift tag project (involving hot glue, some embellishments, and silver thread) planned for August -- I estimated it would probably only take about 15 minutes to make a dozen tags.  Well, somehow I didn't even find fifteen extra minutes.  How lame.

So when I thought about Rudolph Day coming up again this week, I thought that of course I would complete that project today.  It's not happening...

Instead, I decided I would at least crack open the door to the Christmas Kitchen and just give a quick little update.  In view of how busy my life has become,  I'm planning just one handcrafted gift per grandchild this year ... very simple projects, all using the same pattern but different themes.  We will see  how that goes.  I'm finding that some of the components aren't as easy to locate as they used to be, but have bought some online and am almost ready to start on the first gift.  (I don't want to be more specific, as some of the recipients (or their moms!) read my blog. 

Guess I'd better close the kitchen door and order some more materials now.  Hope all of you are having a more productive Rudolph Day than I am!

Another vintage kids' book -- THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

You can see this book was well loved!

Today I want to quickly share another of my childhood Christmas books.  I finally found a few minutes this summer to scan some of my favorites.

This one is simply the classic The Night Before Christmas poem by Clement C. Moore.  This Little Golden Book version was published in 1949.  What is really special about it is the lovely illustrations by Corinne Malvern.  There is a little bio of her in the front of the book: "Corinne Malvern has excelled in two of the arts.  She was a successful child actress, then studied art, and has since exhibited her work and done commercial art.  She has illustrated ... many of the Little Golden Books."

Since the poem was  written in 1822, the artist opens the book with an illustration depicting a calendar page from December 1822.

Don't you love it?

I scanned this page because it was easiest, being first in the book, but also because it's my favorite.  I love the little house and the falling snow by lantern light!

Vintage kids' book ~ The Most Beautiful Tree in the World

This book was one of my favorite Christmas stories as a child.  It is a Wonder Book and, sadly, gives no credit to either the author or illustrator.  All it says is that the story was originally published in Family Circle magazine in 1954 and was copyrighted as a Wonder Book in 1956.

The book tells the story of children living on a farm and the beautiful gigantic spruce tree on their property.  The tree is sold and carried away by helicopter to become the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.  Andy and Ellen get to go to the city and see their tree in all its glory.  The story ends happily with a new little spruce tree being planted in place of the large one, and the promise that it too may one day be the most beautiful tree in the world.

Andy and Ellen's first sight of the helicopter passing over their farm

The story is fun and the illustrations absolutely fabulous.  If you can find a copy, this little book is well worth having in your Christmas book collection.

An attic find

 
As I've mentioned a few times, I've been doing some clearing out at my dad's home.  Not things that he sees and uses daily; just things in the storage areas, of which there are many.  While working in the attic back in June, I came upon this find:

It's an interesting-looking book, although the stories I've glanced at don't seem to be anything wonderful.  (In fact, they seem a little strange.)

The book's title is

 CHRISTMAS STORIES:

 A Parlor Companion,

FOR

CHRISTMAS, NEW YEAR, AND ALL SEASONS.

How's that for  all-inclusive?  I couldn't find a copyright date (or even an author's name; it seems the stories may have been written by a number of different authors, though I can't be sure).

However, the book was a gift from "Aunt Lizzie", and is inscribed "Merry Christmas, December 25, 1892."  That, and the fact that it will be a nice addition to my Christmas decorating, made me decide to hang on to the book, at least for now.

Down the Lane to Christmas

A favorite vintage card from my collection

Here is one last lovely poem by Mildred L. Jarrell.  Oh, the memories it brings!

Down the Lane to Christmas

Down the lane to Christmas

Mid fields adrift with snow,

I can see the old familiar home 

With windows all aglow.

I can hear the Christmas music

Carried o'er the frosty air,

And picture home folks singing

Round the organ by the stair.

The yule log will be burning

Near the tinseled Christmas tree,

And I hasten with a yearning

Towards the ones that wait for me.

Though the road is long I've traveled

Sure my heart no more will roam,

For down the lane to Christmas,

My heart is nearly home.

~ Mildred L. Jarrell

I hope you've all enjoyed this simple Christmas in July as much as I have.  It's been fun for me and a nice break from my everyday responsibilities.  See you in August!

A fun last-minute handmade gift

Photo by Raising up Rubies

I admit it ... I am slow, slow, slow when it comes to catching up with blogs I follow by email.  Sometimes I read the posts I get by email right away.  Other times, especially when I'm very busy, they just stack up in my Inbox without being read.  But I save them to read later ... you can easily see why I have over a thousand emails in my Inbox at any given time.  When I finally do get around to looking at these blog posts, I nearly always find something I want to pin or save.    That's the case with this fun last-minute gift from Jaime at Raising up Rubies.

This Peppermint in a Jar gift is so simple yet so much fun, with a couple of handmade touches to make it impressive.  Jaime's creative fingerprints are all over it.  Go on over and check it out ... I'll let you get the details and the helpful photos from her.

Have fun with this idea!  I plan to make some of these!

Chocolate Nut Fudge

Photo from Taste of Home

Can you use one more fudge recipe?  This one, Chocolate Nut Fudge, which I saw in the December 2000 issue of Country Woman magazine, looks like a classic and a keeper.  It sounds simple to make, and I like the fact that it uses both milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips.  It also calls for large marshmallows rather than marshmallow cream, and I like the idea of that -- more vintage-y, somehow. 

I'm planning to give this one a try.  In my book, you can never have too many recipes for kitchen gifts!

Two more fun Christmas fabrics!

Snow Magic

 Today I'm going to share scans of two more of the Christmas fabrics I recently purchased.  One I got from Walmart,  primarily because it was a nifty small print with sort of a vintage look. 

With its unusual color palette of gold, brown and red, it will go with other, plainer fabrics in my stash.  The little motifs include deer, trees, sleighs, ornaments, candy canes and more.  I regret that I don't know the name of this fabric.

The other fabric was part of my recent purchase from Fabric.com to finish off my $125 gift certificate.  I could no longer find the fabric on their site, although they did offer a couple of other coordinating items.  But I did find it here: Snow Magic.

I love this scene!  To me, it really looks like Vermont.  For one thing, there are sugarhouses near a couple of the pictured homes, and backyard sugarhouses are pretty common in Vermont and New Hampshire.  The other thing that makes me think the artist was depicting a Vermont scene is the slantwise upstairs windows on a couple of the houses.  From what I understand, it was pretty common to place a window slantwise in a space where a window would not otherwise fit, in an upstairs room.  I imagine this is true, because a good many old houses in Vermont (and some in New Hampshire, Maine, and probably the other New England states as well) have these slantwise windows.  Good old Yankee ingenuity!

This is such a fun fabric although I have no idea yet what I will do with it.  Maybe just a simple table runner, to showcase the design.  We will see!