Handmade Christmas: The Elves' Projects 2012

Andrew and Collin working in Granddad's shop

Once again, the days before Christmas were a flurry of sewing, knitting,  woodworking, planting, soldering, and, uh,  programming. (Yes, the repertoire of our elves has expanded through the years.) 

Our children have a draw amongst themselves for Christmas gift-giving, and the single rule is that the gift has to be primarily hand crafted. It is always a joy to see what they devise for their siblings.  


Here's a bit of what they came up with this year:



Amanda (right) sewed a camo vest for Paul, while Faith knit Collin a pair of fingerless gloves to wear with a pair of purchased gloves for using while he bikes to campus.

Kristen made this terrarium for Amanda complete with a Venus Flytrap and miniature Sculpy toadstools.

















Peter decided (at the last minute) to make a shelf for Faith's schoolbooks.

Laurel examines Aunty Kristen's new spoons

Ben carved wooden spoons and spatulas for Kristen,









while Paul made a folding stool for Kara to use while she weaves. (It is seatless at the moment so she can weave the bottom.)

   
  It's a bit hard to see, but across Andrew's lap is a guitar strap that Kara wove on her inkle loom.

















Two of the craftsmen had some significant last minute glitches, causing both to stay up until 3 AM in their respective homes. Jonathan built a game center from scrounged computer parts for Peter, but as he was putting on the finishing touches, the mother board fried out. Brother Andrew and he were able to rescue it Christmas morning, and, hurrah, it was done in time for the unveiling. Peter and siblings have been having a great time playing computer games from the '90s including Oregon Trail, Super Mario, and (my fav) Sleuth. It's a bit hard to tell from this picture, but the computer sits in a wooden case.

Collin's catastrophe was of a more literary sort, coming straight out of The Cat and The Hat. As he was painting Ben's chair swing, red outdoor paint got on one thing, and as he cleaned that, the red, now pink, just continued to move from object to object. Yikes! But the swing is lovely and Ben can't wait to hang it from a tree come spring. He has the spot picked out already.  

















Finally, Andrew made a programmable guitar effects pedal which delighted Jonathan in part because it still required further programming.

I've had a great time making a number of gifts this year, too.

One of the nurse costumes I made for Laurel and Annie

Hope your family had a wonderful Christmas!