Handmade Holidays

Thanks to a tip on the Knittyboard, I found Sew, Mama, Sew! which is one of my favorite new sites. I found the perfect fabric for the curtain for our downstairs bathroom there, and lots of great ideas.

(The bathroom is decorated with pictures from our NYC trip, and I wanted the curtain to look like a chi-chi little dress. It's cinched in the middle with a velvet ribbon.)

They have started a blog meme about holiday traditions, so here's my 2 cents worth on the first part of the questions:

Do you have a favorite gift that you love to give?

I love to give what I love to get: Handmade things, books and family pictures.

If you’re making gifts this year, what are you making?

American Girl clothes, fabric-covered take out boxes (with knitted washcloths and handmade soap from Eryn) and some surprises I won't mention here. Yet.

Do you have any good stories about handcrafted gifts you’ve given or received?

I really could go on all day about this one, starting with my daddy's jumping Santa he made from cardboard, paper fasteners, an old watchband and aspirin bottle cotton. He drew the face and used some red fabric for the suit. It was just the best, and I wish I knew what became of it. Our house is filled with my mom's handiwork: quilting, sewing, embroidery. But since it is Christmas, I will show one of her most beautiful projects:

"Stained Glass" quilting. She machine-appliqued around each little piece of satin.

This is one of my treasures.

In one of our Christmas boxes, I have every ornament/gift our kids made at school, even though much of the macaroni, sequins and glitter is on the bottom of the box.

So many of my friends are crafty: picture frames from Linda, a quilted wall hanging from Kay, ceramics from Laverne and a watercolor from Jeannine that hangs right by our kitchen window.

Name one thing on your personal wish list.

Besides peace on earth and complete troop removal from Iraq, I am asking Santa for a puppy. However, I am afraid Santa thinks this is a terrible idea.

Peace

Prayer for 12/10: For women all over the world who create and craft items by hand as a source of income.