Homemade Christmas Gifts 2015...

Here's a round up of my homemade Christmas gifts this year for the kids.

Cannon - Noah's Ark animals
This has been an idea a long time in the making and I'm only semi-disappointed with myself that I didn't get the ark made in time. Another year...another homemade gift. This year, he got the animals; 12 sets, 24 in total. Based on a set by Holztiger - a company from Germany which I talked about here.



My patio was a disaster for far too long. This was a labor of love and I was counting my lucky stars that I had all my fingers in tact when I finished. Scroll saws can be a little intimidating! They're made of 1" hard maple which was a little difficult to cut out but they'll be much more durable than making them out of pine. I spent many weeks watching Survivor and painting all the animals with basic craft paint (all of which was left over from a homemade gift last year, the nativity puzzle). I finished them off with a couple layers of clear coat and called it good.


They turned out better than I expected and I'm pretty much in love with them. So is Cannon.




Bennett - Wooden Robots
I found these darling robots (Ollibots) at Caravanshoppe.com. These require absolutely no skills. I purchased the digital file which gave me the artwork (printed them at staples) and all the instructions as well as the part numbers to buy from an online hobby store for all the wood pieces (precut).

They suggested different options of attaching the pieces together - I went with low-profile industrial strength Velcro from Amazon and it's worked like a dream.




You can mix and match to your heart's content - and Bennett has!


Hunter - Lego Print
Check out Hunter's Lego artwork gift on a previous post.


Hallie - Fancy circle skirt
I'm realizing the older my kids get the more creative I have to get with their homemade gift. It's much easier when they're younger!

Hallie was in need of some skirts. Typically, I'm able to find something at a store that fits her just right but we've had some trouble lately. She getting taller and she has a fairly skinny waist. We couldn't find a skirt long enough with a small enough waist. I turned to danamadeit.com and followed her circle skirt pattern. It was so easy, I made one for her to wear before Christmas and surprised her with another on Christmas morning. I'm tempted to make one in my size.



I'm ready to start brainstorming this year's gifts. (aside from Cannon's ark which has already made the list!)

Check out more homemade gifts from previous years: