Homemade For the Holidays

When I look back at Christmas’s past, I realize that expensive gifts really aren’t what has made the season special. In fact, some of my fondest memories are from years when we had very little in terms of money to spend. I’ve knit sweaters and scarves, painted pictures, made wreaths, and even given baked goods. (Despite the fact that I’m not the grandest baker.)

One especially ‘tight’ Christmas was in 1991. We literally had no money for gifts. We had three little girls at the time, so I sewed most of their gifts. I made a lot of stuff for their ‘Barbies’ including wedding dresses, sleeping bags, and pillows. My nieces had outgrown a large Barbie dollhouse that their dad had made, so my husband and I ‘renovated’ it with some paint, wallpaper and carpet scraps. I made appliances for it along with a couch and other furniture – all out of milk cartons. Everything was made with scraps and literally cost nothing.

And you should have seen their faces!

We can get so caught up in the commercialism that we forget that it’s not really about the presents. It’s about the heart. Homemade gifts are just one way to focus on the heart, whether you have money or not. There is something about making a gift with that ‘certain someone’ in mind, that gives you – the person giving the gift – as much or more joy than the recipient.

Whether it’s baking, sewing, painting, or knitting, I love giving and receiving homemade gifts. I even put writing into that category since I have given my family members books and plays these last few years. What are some of your fondest memories when it comes to homemade gifts?