Now that Christmas is over, I can share what I made everyone for Christmas! I decided back in September to be a crazy person and make all of my siblings + parents + Danny’s Christmas presents. Yep. It all stemmed from a present my little sister Maddy, made my other sister, Makayla for her birthday. She painted a picture of a duck with the words, “MAK!” written all around it. One of Makayla’s nicknames we call her is, “Mak,” and when the whole family starts to say it we sound like a flock of ducks. It was such a hilarious and thoughtful gift that I wanted to try my hand at it for Christmas. Since there are ten of us, plus in-laws, I got started right away.
Not gonna lie, when it came down to Christmas Eve and I was still making presents, I may have questioned my sanity a bit. But I loved being able to use my talents to make something special for everyone.
For Danny I used a scroll saw for the first time and made him this nativity out of poplar. One of our older neighbors heard I like using power tools and let me borrow/keep until they need their old scroll saw. This thing is a beast and looks a whole lot different than the ones they make nowadays, but all things considering, it turned out pretty good!I was most excited about my parents’ gift! I made them a Guess Who game with our family members. It turned out a bit differently than I had planned, mainly thanks to the doll house hinges not working the way I needed them to – resulting in a Hail Mary as I scrounged my wood scrap pile for things I could make into ledges. But it still looks beautiful! The tiles are my favorite part! Since I had planned this out back in September, in October when I took our family pictures I made sure to grab headshots of everyone (which wouldn’t normally happen for the couples) knowing I was making this game. For my brother, Austin I made a desk catapult he can take into work with him. His company he worked for got bought out and in doing so he has now moved offices. Knowing my brother and his love to play and tinker, I thought this little set would be a great way to not only add personality to his desk, but get some fun use out of it with his co-workers. I made it out of the scraps from the tiles I cut down for my parents’ guess who game as well as wood pieces I had in my craft stack. These tiles are all 1×1/2 inches and so cute! They work great to be the target or the object since catapulting through the air. For my sister Maddy I made her a brush and pen organizer/holder. She has really taken to developing her artistic talents this year and didn’t have a way to store all her brushes.My grandma gave me a brush holder when I started painting and I thought it would be a nice gesture to make one for her. I embroidered this baseball cap for Makayla since her and her husband love being outside biking or hiking.Brian, my brother in law, got a hat to match Makayla with a little, embroidered bike and tree added to the side.My other brother in law, Mitch loves Nacho Libre. So I made him some corn magnets My sister in law, Olivia is a plant lady lover like me. She has wanted a Monstera for forever but never got one. I took a cutting from my big plant of one of the juvenile vines and placed it in this cool, wine bottle I thrifted. My whole goal was to get this thing rooting before Christmas. All my love and good vibes (plus water and plant food) paid off and I was able to give it to her with the tiniest of roots forming. Kenny and Tyler both got books. Which at first was very disappointing – until I told them to open the pages. Secret compartment! I tried to find books that not only looked cool without their dust jacket, but had something “secret” or “treasure” related in the titles. – Atlantis Found, Treasure of Khan and Protect and DefendMy sister Julie loves cats and kitschy things, so I made her a cat sock puppet lol It was a big hit with her using it on the grandkids.I sculpted my brother, Robert magnets of his dog, StuartThese were inspired by the cat butt magnets I had seen a few places, so of course I had to make a Stuart butt to don their fridge. I watercolored my sister in law, Jenna a family portraitAnd lucky for me, the 90’s are back in style since the only beading pattern I know how to do is a daisy chain that my great aunt taught me when I was like 8. I beaded my sister Hailey this choker.
And there you have it. So many hours into these gifts, and even though I was cutting it close, I loved it! But maybe this year I’ll start in July 😉
