This Christmas my family decided to make our gifts and while some were more successful than others, it was a lovely idea that we’ll definitely be trying again.

I better start with the gifts I made, though I had to rush them as my hands were so sore during December and storms meant I couldn’t even get out of town to buy supplies. My sister Nicolette got a sewing machine recently so I put together a little bag full of useful things and appliqued a felt Kogumachan on it. I managed to find 2 buttons the exact size I needed in my button tin and a little bit of fuzzy fabric for his chest. It would have been nicer on a coloured bag and I was sure I had some leftover from the button bag days, but apparently not.

For my dad I made an origami snowman whose head bounces when you press on top. I totally forgot to take a photo and this is the only one we have but you can get a better idea from the original video tutorial by Hello Origami. It was fairly easy to make but still took quite a while, especially all the decorations. My mum & Jan got their usual Angel Bunny calendars – maybe not exactly handmade but very limited edition!

Nicolette probably won this year as she made all our gifts from clay. Mine is a paint palette with grooves to rest the brush too – and of course very cute! Maybe too cute to use but we’ll see.

She also used one of my Jammie Dodger polymer stamps to make these little clay gift tags – so sweet!

My dad was still making our gifts right up until the last minute and they turned out to be wooden puffin decorations! Mine has a cracker since I am the cracker-maker of the family. The bottom green section is removable and can be turned flat into a more sturdy base. It’s going to be so nice to have on display every Christmas. Mine stayed behind for some adjustments and is taking a long time to get back to me – if Royal Mail lose it I will be so upset.

And one more as Jan made this laptop cover for my dad using some of my fabric swatches. Really cute and well-made – the design even matches on both sides.
I need to step up my game next year and start a lot sooner but it was so much nicer than getting things you asked for or worse, things you don’t even want and have to carry all the way home.