Friday, January 1, 2010

Gift Giving

These are a few gifts that were made this Christmas. I'm really trying to get the kids into the habit of making their gifts for family and friends. It forces them to be imaginative, creative, industrious, and it builds skills. Plus to me it means so much when it's handmade.

This is another felted pilot hat I made for my little brother. It's really easy to turn sweaters into felt. Just find an old WOOL sweater that has shrunk, has holes in it, or go to goodwill and find some for cheap. All you do is wash them in hot water and then dry them in the dryer. They are felted when you can cut them and the fibers don't unravel. Sometimes you have to wash and dry a couple of times. Once they are felted you can do so many quick projects because you don't have to finish the edges.
These are silhouettes of Malachi and Amelia I gave to my mom. The actual silhouettes are cut out of foam to give it more dimension. The foam is glued to fancy paper which is mod podged to wood oval plaques.

These are bookmarks that Malachi made for gifts. He drew pictures on linen and then we chose a coordinating material for the back. My favorite is the menorah he drew for someone that isn't even Jewish.

Amelia stitched this for my mom. She did all of the stitching by herself. I drew the picture on a yellow linen and would hold the embroidery hoop while she stitched away. She was very focused and actually finished it fairly quickly. I was amazed at how well she did. Sometimes I forget she's only three.


I made this doll for Amelia. It's called a Jane Austen doll.






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4 comments:

Emily said...

As always, I'm so impressed by all these projects. I need to find a way to simplify my life so I can do these kinds of things with my kids and on my own. You are the coolest! :)

Kiasa said...

Hey Laurie! I didn't know you had a blog...or three kids...or were crafty! So fabulous! I'm so impressed with Amelia's embroidery!

The Self's said...

Hey, do you have instructions for the hat? I recently acquired a wool sweater that was accidently felted, and I immediatly thought of you :) I just love your crafty ideas!

The Self's said...

Do you have instructions or a pattern for the hat? I recently aquired a sweater that was accidently felted, and immediatly thought of you :) I just love all your crafty ideas!