I participated in the "Homemade Gift Exchange" through Craftaholics Anonymous again.
My exchange partner said she decorated with red in her kitchen and wanted to add some teal/turquoise too. I thought this would be the perfect thing for her kitchen wall. I was inspired by this project. It's a little different than the inspiration (mine was made with scrapbook paper and hers was made with batting and fabric), but I liked the result.
My partner also mentioned that she LOVED elephants.
Saw this hippo photo holder and knew I would make her teal elephant "recipe holder" for her kitchen.
I also added one of our recent favorite recipes, "Crockpot Potato Soup" and sent it in the mail.
Hope she likes it.
On the Smullin side of the family, we have created a new annual event...the "Smullin Traditions Weekend". It takes place the first weekend of December (between Thanksgiving and Christmas). We eat like it's Thanksgiving and party like it's Christmas.
The cousin/grand kids exchange homemade gifts, while the adults find something from the Dollar Store or around the house, that reminds them of their exchange partner, to give. Treyson's cousin gift was for Jeremiah... a scientific, brainy kind of guy.
Treyson and I measured, bagged and labeled different ingredients to create a "science kit".
We included gloves, safety goggles and a "science notes" book. It had instructions for the experiments, as well as space for Jeremiah to write his own observations and notes.
Abree had her cousin Adam. Adam comes from a family of 5 boys (and 1 baby girl). They like all things boys, but especially super heroes! Abree decided to paint a canvas of super hero logos (with a little help from me).
We traced the logos onto contact paper and then taped off 4 sections. Abree painted the background colors, then dotted/spotted them.
Next, we cut apart different sections of the logos and painted.
There were several steps to this process and it was quite time-consuming, but the result was great.
The perfect wall hanging for that super hero lover in your life.
Taylee was giving me a hard time saying, "Mom, no kid wants a wall hanging for a gift. They want a toy. You guys should have made him something he could play with. She had a point... maybe she was right, but the ball was already in motion when she pointed this out. Hopefully he's ok with a non-playable gift.
Taylee made a fashion notebook for her cousin Jordyn. It was cute and SUPER detailed.
Rylee made an iron-on t-shirt for her cousin David. It said, "I (picture of moustache) you a question" and then on the back it said, "but I'll shave it for later". Ha, funny, eh?!
Homemade gifts feel like a lot of work in the process, but are TOTALLY worth it in the end!
