Homemade Gifts

Dawn is hosting a Loveliness of Homemade Gifts fair at her blog, By Sun and Candlelight.



As you can see from my lack of crafty posts, I am not a crafty person. Well, it doesn't come naturally, I should say. That is not to say that I am not appreciative of a good craft and our children LOVE to create and they LOVE to give!!



Last year I made Holiday Biscotti for our gift tins. It was delicious! Dipped in white chocolate, how could it not be! I plan to make them again. If you wish to see Giada make them, they will be airing her holiday cookies show on these dates next month:

	December 10, 2006 12:00 PM ET/PT
	December 11, 2006 4:30 PM ET/PT
	December 16, 2006 7:30 AM ET/PT
	December 18, 2006 1:30 PM ET/PT

I set the Biscotti in tins and added Florentines and homemade Peanut Butter Cups. Of course the recipients were gracious, yet neither my husband nor myself were exceptionally impressed with anything but the Biscotti, so those are only treats on the gift plans again for this year. FoodNetwork offers a 12 Days of cookies newsletter. The sign up page also shows the past two year's cookies and recipes.

I have made pressed cookies with my Pampered Chef cookie press. The children have fun pressing them and there are lots to share with friends. I always bake on a baking stone.. I consider it "insurance" for quality results!



In preparation for gifts this year, This Holiday Treats Kit is on the way.





A few Christmastime's ago, my mom and I were reminiscing about the clear lollipops that Nana from Rhode Island would bring for Christmas. We found these lollipop molds in the Williams Sonoma catalog and ordered the flavoring oils to go with them to make "Nana's" lollipops. I'm sad to admit that they have resided in my cookie cutter bin since I received them. I hope this is the year that I have the inclination to follow through and make them. I know at least five children who could easily nominate lollipops to have their own food group! Perhaps they will be perfect for the Feast of St. Nicholas on December 6.


When I make them, Daddy will likely have to help me as usually does when I begin a project. The molds are manufactured by Nordicware, however, I am led to believe that they are no longer stocked at Williams Sonoma, but you can find them at LorAnn Oils. This is the only similar picture I could find to show them. Ours will be solid with lemon, lime, orange, cherry, cinnamon and anise flavorings.




Ever since we made sacrifice beads, our boys have enjoyed making crafts with beads. We recently made some bracelets and necklaces for our parish Christmas fair. These are fun for them to give to friends, not to mention the collection they have begun for their little sister! We added Miraculous medals to some of them. For the strings to hold the beads we used narrow ribbon for many of them. However, a frugal find I found in our daughter's shoe bin (I recently found a couple of pairs of casual sneakers at Target on really good clearance in bigger sizes for her to grow into) were the white elastics that keep the shoes together in a pair and re-purposed them for stretchy bead necklaces and bracelets.

My final idea for homemade gifts is framed photos. I have made the children's portait appointment for later this month. (This is last year's portrait)

There are several ideas I have for these photos. We could make frames, but since I am not very crafty, and since I am sometimes an on-sale-shopper-ahead-er, there is a collection of picture frames in a bin upstairs, all found on sale at retailers such as Michaels, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Homegoods and Target waiting to be filled. Perhaps we can embellish some of the simpler frames with decorations. I am finally getting comfortable with our hot glue gun, but if I start the project when Daddy is home, I know I will get some help. (There is a method to my madness!)






I also found surprisingly cute small photo calendars at Biglots for only $1. I also found these adorable petite photo calendars at our parish Christmas fair yesterday!







We will be selecting photos from the past year to give to relatives. This is a project that I can handle. In the past, I have purchased different sorts of photo holders. Not completely homemade, but I consider taking the photos, selecting just the right one and cropping them to fit the opening to be semi-homemade. Last year Memere and Pepere received a Spinning Remote Control Holder and Frame from us. It was from Bed, Bath and Beyond and I used the 20% off coupon which they mail to us each month. (Just ask to get on the mailing list or sign up online). The Target portrait studio also offers inexpensive key chains to place a wallet size photo.

I look forward to seeing the ideas from other bloggers. I could always use homemade gift ideas!