Preparing for a Handmade Holiday Season

With a few year's worth of canning, sewing, knitting, embroidering, soapmaking, and other such activities under my belt, I've decided to issue myself a challenge for the numerous happy occasions and celebrations that will be on the calendar between now and the end of the year. Taking the amount of gifts necessary into consideration, this has been a project I've been working on with great joy throughout the balmy days of summer. Careful thought has been put into a special gift for each recipient on our list and several different handmade goodies have also made their way into our gift closet, in anticipation of hostess gifts, childrens' party gifts, and other such occasions that can arise at the last minute.

What can be found in my gift stash thus far:

Well, a few gifts I cannot share about, as the recipients read my blog. ;o)

*several cloth shopping bags, using McCall's pattern #M5898 and heirloom tomato printed fabric, with red & white polka dot lining

*an assortment of aprons, made using McCalls #5505 and a variety of veggie and fruit print fabric, all of which Peapod believes are apples. ;o)

*kitty cat pajamas for Peapod's upcoming third birthday, with McCalls #4283 & 5222 & race car and alien pjs for little boys on the list

*several sets of embroidered cloth napkins, with various designs chosen specifically with the recipient in mind, including the Eiffel tower, strawberries & tea cups, and a funky little alien set

*various custom scented soaps, including forest inspired soap-on-a-ropes for some of the men on the gift list. The soaps will all be given with a hand knit washcloth.

*preserves, preserves, and more perseveres. If you peek back into my recent archives you can see a brief peek into what I've been preserving, but in addition to this, several special batches have been made just with gift giving in mind. On this special shelf of my pantry you will find: preserves from the splendid book Mes Confitures, raspberry-orange zest jam, apricot sauternes jam, peach-rosemary jam, blueberry bay leaf jam, and fig preserves. All of these will be packed in thrifted gift baskets, several different varieties per basket, and will be given with challah or brioche, an embroidered tea towel, and some other goodies tucked into each basket. The fig preserves will be packed with a local artisan cheese for any recipient nearby enough to hand deliver to.

*knit fruit & veggies rattles for the teeny ones and crayon rolls (pattern found in Soule Mama's The Creative Family for toddlers and above.

*playsilks, crayon cookies, stuffed animals sewn out of wild patterned fabrics

*playdough sets in little tote bags, completed with some cookies cutters and tiny rolling pins, picked up on clearance last January.

For packaging our gifts:

*Peapod and I have been making wrapping paper from various recycled papers, including brown paper shopping bags. Stamps, paint, and glitter have turned boring paper into something more.

*Tote bags, decoupaged boxes, and drawstring bags are projects I have been working on, making for a second gift that can be reused, rather than paper to be discarded.

*Greeting cards for special occasions are handmade for Peapod. Last year, our family's holiday greetings featured tiny thumb print snowmen, courtesy of Peapod's little fingers. These cards were such a hit amongst our loved ones that we've been making greeting cards whenever the opportunity has arisen since. Some stationary sets for a few special people may be gifts from Miss Peapod this fall.


As you can see, this is a challenge I am not just looking forward to completing but am enjoying greatly along the way! :D

What handmade gifts are you planning on making for the fall and winter? What special treats have you given (or been given) in the past? What projects are being worked on in your sewing rooms and kitchen tables?

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