Christmas Craftiness

I made quite a few of the gifts for my friends and family this year and that makes me feel pretty darn good. There's something nice about creating something for those you love, I think. I'm going to have to do this more often.

I made a reversible tote bag (the full-size version of the one I made for the duck) for Tracy. It ended up being pretty large (possibly too large, if you ask me), but she was jazzed because she can use it to carry her music. She liked it a lot, which made me happy, and even said that her mom was contemplating stealing it. Haha. Anyway, here is one side of the bag:

And here is the other fabric that I used. I had ordered the floral print online at Hawthorne Threads and I took it with me when I went to Joann's to pick up something complementary. I ended up asking a couple of old ladies if they thought the two would be okay together. They said yes. I rolled with it. What do you think?

I made aprons for both my Marmee and my sister. I also gave them each a cookbook. I gave Marmee Food in Jars and I gave Holly the Joy the Baker cookbook. The fabric was a reprint of a pattern from the 1930s that I had purchased at Shabby Fabrics. I got the same print in blue, peach and red.

Originally, I had thought to make an apron for all three of us but each in a different color. After thinking about it and discussing it with my dad, I decided to make all three aprons exactly the same and use all three colors. I think it was a good idea. Now we all have the same apron! Yay! Here is one of the aprons:

And... here I am wearing said apron. Boyfriend took the picture for me. We're still working on his photography skills. Haha.

I am pretty pleased with the way the aprons turned out. I used the same tutorial I used for the apron that I made for the duck, I just made it using real measurements.

Finally, my last handcrafted project was one for Boyfriend's dad. I drew his name in the family gift exchange and decided, with Boyfriend's help, to make something that would be meaningful and also include the Duck and Regan. I decided to make a photo coaster/serving tray combo. I started by choosing a photograph. I picked a picture of the the three of them, taken at the Duck's second birthday party this past summer.

I cut it into four equal pieces so it would be one picture on four tiles and mod podged that business to the tiles.

Boyfriend constructed a little box thing:

When the tiles are inside the box, it makes a little serving tray! It's very clever, if I do say so myself.

Boyfriend's dad was very pleased with the gift. He liked it so much that he said he wanted to hang it on the wall and not use it. We told him that that was silly, of course, and that we made it to be used. Hopefully he'll follow our advice.

Did you give any handmade gifts this year?