handmade with heart: a few Christmas gifts

Eleanor and I were sick the week before Christmas and a few days after, so blogging and updating on crafts and life stories hasn't been a huge priority :)

Eleanor passed out in my arms when she was sick...this rarely happens!

We are feeling much better, although Eleanor still has a runny/stuffy nose. We joke that "maybe her teeth are coming in" every time her nose is runny or if she randomly wakes up in the middle of the night. Still no teeth here. :)

There has been some scooting/army crawling action going on over here though.

She got herself situated under the recliner. This was the happy face before she realized she was stuck.

On to the real post with handmade gifts...here's a little snapshot of a few of the things I worked on for a few of the Christmas gifts. It was so much fun!

Crayon/Art Pack-handmade by me

Inspiration found via Pinterest (Hope Peterson)  

I looked online for free patterns, but only came across this blog that was selling a pdf pattern. I decided to make my own pattern and just "wing it" :) and this is what I came up with. I wanted to make a crayon holder for my niece who is 18 months old. On Christmas morning she opened lots of presents (Grandma definitely spoiled ALL of us ;) she even got a rock band Elmo! When she went to open our gift, I thought she'd just open it and toss it aside to get back to Elmo and Grover...but she didn't! She loved the crayons and paper and went straight to coloring...everything! Good thing those are washable crayons :) (you're welcome Jaime...haha). I loved the way this turned out and am looking forward to making more as gifts in the near future.

Owl calendar

I also made an Owl Calendar frame for all the grandparents. The photo above is Eleanor with Mister Owly and a monthly calendar print from My Owl Barn. For the last two years, the My Owl Barn blog has been creating these cute calendars. There are over 40 artists who participated this year, each contributing their cute owl drawing to the collection. When you go to the website you can select any of the drawings for whichever month you like, and then print! It's super easy, and super cute! I love this! I should probably have one of these printed for our house too...ha! Check it out if you get a chance!

Last up! Crochet-knot headband for my lovely special seester

Found on You Seriously Made That? blog

The DIY tutorial was free and easy! You can't go wrong there :) I think I'll make a few more, with more chains to make it a little bit longer. I also visited youtube to get a little help with re-learning how to crochet. I've had some great friends help me along the way already (Lindsey, Ang, Alysia). Can't wait to crochet again!

So there you have it...a few of the handmade (with heart) gifts from our Christmas! I may post a tutorial (if anyone's interested) for how I made the crayon pack. 

We had a great time celebrating the birth of Jesus with all of our families. We visited the Nativity Scenes on Euclid, ate amazing food and desserts, opened way too many presents, and enjoyed time with loved ones. I was definitely blessed just to have Ryan home for so many days in a row (he had 3 paid days off from work!). 

Christmas with the Ransoms, Moos & Mullens

Now it's 2012! I can't believe it! The time flew by so quickly! We rang in the new year with some close friends, watching Tron and raving with glow sticks and champagne. What a night :)

I'll be taking some time to reflect on the past year. Maybe I'll post some of those reflections here. We shall see ;) I'll also be posting some "What's for dinner?" recipes and the monthly photo/letter with miss Eleanor...so come back soon!