Jane: Handmade gifts . . .

One nice thing about being good with yarn or a sewing machine is that you can create one-of-a-kind gifts for people at times like birthdays or Christmas. This used to be especially essential for me--at times when I didn't have much disposable income for presents. Instead of going shopping and feeling sad because I couldn't afford to buy friends and family the gifts they deserved, I could stay home and create gifts--and usually creating gifts is less expensive than buying!

When I was a girl, I remember working for a year on a crocheted scarf for my grandmother (who taught me to crochet). I felt so proud when I gave her that gift! And I remember other hand-made gifts, too--embroidered pictures for grandmothers, Christmas doodads for mom and dad, etc.

Money was tight when the boys were babies, too. I remember using nap time (ah nap time! How I miss it!) to create a flock of fleece vests for my family! I found it relaxing to go downstairs and sew in peace and quiet while the boys slept.

I guess I still enjoy the creative process of making gifts . . . I still do it every year, even though money is no longer tight!

Here are a couple of gifts I've created recently. I'll share more later . . . :-)
Jigglypuff was for my niece Maggie, who loves video games.
These handwarmers were for my sister-in-law--my brother keeps the house rather cold :-)

I'll share more photos later!