Handmade Christmas Gifts

Anyone who knows me at all understands the depth of my kraft inkompetence. It's laughable, actually, how ridiculously untalented I am in all things crafty. I have tried and failed at many crafty endeavors, in no small part because of my incredible impatience and deep-seeded need for instant gratification.

So it was obvious to me that I should totally hand-make some of our Christmas gifts this year.

I'll give you a minute to pull yourself together.

I can't post all of my plans because some of them are for people who read this crap. That's not to say I'll actually end up giving those people the gifts I attempt to make, as they may well be colossal failures (the gifts, not the people). But I can talk about some of the things I'm making for the kids, which also may or may not fail spectacularly (again, the gifts; not the kids).

For Bear:

Magnetic paper dolls

I found the idea for this on Pinterest and decided to adapt it for my kids. I wanted something we could keep in the car for them to play with.

Bear is super into The Hunger Games, but I guess licensing has been pretty restricted and I couldn't find any sticker or coloring books to work with. Luckily I found these cute paper dolls on Etsy and they're perfect!

Bear's Hunger Games magnetic paper dolls

The additional costumes for Gale, Katniss, and Peeta

For Bug:

Magnetic cars and animals

For Bug's version of the magnet board I bought a sticker book from Michael's. The book came with several pages of "scenes" to play on, so I ripped one out and stuck magnets on the back of it, too. I used different magnets on Bug's figures than I did on everything else and they don't stick quite as nicely, though I can tip it up and they don't fall off. So...good enough. Lesson learned.

Pardon the glare. I am a truly terrible photographer.

Felt board

I love felt boards, especially for itty-bitties. At first I tried stapling my piece of felt to a piece of cardboard and putting it in an 8X10 frame, but the stapled showed and the frame had sharp corners and it was basically a huge failure. So I pulled it apart and used craft glue to attach the felt to a canvas board and it worked much better.

I also used my huge box of cookie cutters to make shapes for Bug to play with. Cute, right?

The felt board and some of the shapes I made for Bug

                The inside of the bag I ACTUALLY SEWED BY HAND for Bug to store his felt shapes in. I glued a plastic bag inside so the pieces wouldn't stick.

I still have to attach some Velcro to the bag flap so it will close, but it's not bad for a terrible crafter!

I like these gifts because we can update the figures as the kids' interests change. As Bug gets older I can add smaller pieces or things with smaller magnets, like magnetic fridge letters. Bear is getting a tin of magnetic poetry for Christmas that she can use on her board, too.

The cutting took quite a bit of time, but I started working on it in September and just did a little at a time. I definitely recommend planning ahead for these projects.

I haven't made the covers for the magnet boards yet, but my mother-in-law is going to help me with that in the next few weeks. I have all the materials; I just have to physically make them. Instead of "paper dolls," I'm going to put their names on their covers.

Are you doing anything hand made for anyone this year?