It's Freckles.

We went away to Mexico for the wedding of two of our good friends in the beginning of December. It was a lovely wedding and over a week of nothing but sunshine, eating and reading. 
As a result though, when we came home, it was straight into the thick of Christmas prep.

I love making people things as gifts. In fact, the Christmas I remember best was a “Handmade Christmas”. I’m certain it was because my parents couldn’t afford the kind of Christmas that we’re all too familiar with. Piles of gifts stretching for yards from under the tree. Gifts that required batteries and were impossibly twist-tied into their packaging. -And while we would have loved that, I’m positive that I wouldn’t have remembered one thing that was under that tree. (The tree was epic, by the way. We lived in the woods, so we went out one day and found a 12 footer. Awesome.) I remember every single gift given that year, though. 
My dad and big brother made us younger kids a lovely table and our own chairs. Mine had a heart carved in each side. We made my mom a sewing machine box. Everyone made something and everything was beautiful. 

So this year was kind of a whirl, from making and sending 50+ cards, to hosting Christmas dinner for family and friends at our house. By the time it was all done, I was kind of sad that I hadn’t made more things and taken more pictures of them. This, in particular, made me gnash my teeth and wail.
But then I remembered! 

     
This!

That’s my sister’s ornament. I made it with my new cricut and a boatload of glitter. It’s her dog Butters :)

     
 And this!

The boy I look after is craaaazy into Star Wars. -And desperately needed a bigger backpack for school. It turned out pretty cool, but man, it was a bitch to make. From trying to draw (R2D2, no less!) on fabric, with pens that leaked, to trying to get the whole damned thing fitted into my sewing machine in just the right way, and then having the tension completely screw with me the whole time. Gaah! He loves it, though, so all is well.

        
One of Mike’s gifts adorned with a vintage marquee letter.

I didn’t have a lot of stocking stuffers this year, so they didn’t really warrant a full stocking. I’d been wanting to make these for a long time, so I put my goodies inside and rolled them up like old fashioned candies.

-I’ll post pictures the second I find the camera…