As this year of waking, creating and repeating draws to an end, i am kicked into high gear on the creating bit. Every Christmas i inevitably make a few gifts, a few decorations and a few sneaky plans that raise the bar a teeny bit on the holiday shopping routine. i thought i’d share a few of my projects with you and even show you how i created one of them.

First, for the gifts! i’m making quite a bit this year and here are a few:

1. a little flannel batman nightgown for my handmade Apple Treehouse doll that my son has commandeered to practice his big brothering. i’ll be surprising little man with matching batman jammies i’m stitching up as well

2. this is the digital comp i made as inspiration for a wildly colorful portrait of my son i’m in the middle of painting for my husband. it’ll be perfect in his office

3 & 4. gifts for Grammy & Papa Joe. My son made this drawing of my folks and himself and we uploaded it to zazzle.com to make them fun keepsakes

5. custom-painted ties. i designed these custom stencils and then painted little boy neckties for my son. he’s crazy into ties right now! He cracks me up. You can see a tutorial here on my blog.

These gifts make me excited for the giving. They will all be unexpected because they weren’t on anyone’s list. One other gift i can’t wait to give is a professional extended family photo shoot to my parents for all the children, grandchildren and such next spring. i arranged a whole scheme with a local photographer. i’ve had an antique sofa for a while now. i intend to upholster it in cream canvas and take it outside so the grandkids can do this to it.

YES. i’m going to encourage them to scribble all over a fresh, cream couch. And then i will lovingly use it in my home when the photoshoot is done. i’m sure it will be added to over the next umpteen years as well. i love decor8! Such an inspirational blog.

Anyway, We’ll capture the kids getting crafty and being all scribbly and giggly, and then we’ll all pile onto and around the sofa for some memorable family photos. Picture kids jumping on the cushions and being tickled by grandparents or tumbling in the grass…maybe a few slightly more behaved shots as well. i’ve had so much fun in the planning of the shoot! Can’t wait to see my parents’ faces : )

Lastly, my son informed me it is high time we had names on our previously plain stockings, so i devised a super-fun scheme to make some names a little more colorful than the ones i’m used to with glue and silver glitter. Here’s how i made patchwork names for our stockings.

1. use pinking shears to cut random strips of colorful fabric

2. topstitch the strips together with bright zigzag stitches until you have created a broad swatch of fabric

3. tear masking tape roughly the size of the cuff on the stocking as a guide to write your names. adhere the tape on the diagonal to your patchwork swatch and write names in chunky letters

4. stitch through tape close to your marker lines and then tear off the (now perforated) tape

5. trim out your letters close to the stitching lines and use fabric glue to attach them to the stocking cuff.

6. SHOW OFF! look how crafty you are!

i have to say, that as busy as i’ve been crafting this holiday amidst the typical holiday business rush, i wouldn’t trade it. It makes me all the more excited to spend time with my loved ones sharing these gifts and hoping they all love them.

Joy of the Season to everyone!

{ sofa image via decor8 }