Holiday Gift Giving

I really enjoy giving homemade gifts for Christmas. The gifts don't always turn out the way I had hoped, but the receiver is always happy and I admit that I can be a bit self-critical. In the spirit of the holidays, I have decided to give you some ideas for homemade gifts that you can in turn make and give to the people in your life. (By the way, if you are looking for some great canning/food item gifts to give, you should look to my sister here. I may add one or two food items, but not many.)

Things I have made in the in the past:

1. knit scarves (I am attempting to knit legwarmers this year - I will keep you posted on those results.)

2. stamped note cards

3. mixed cd with a hand-stamped cover (This was a favorite of mine - I found songs that my family listened to when I was young, many of which we hadn't heard in years, and made a mix. I also converted a homemade tape of my sisters and I as children singing various songs into a CD and burned it onto the mix.)

4. etched glasses (wine glasses as well as tumblers) - this one sounds much harder than it is. I will give instructions soon in a different post.

5. beer bread mix in a canning jar - I will also post instructions for this

6. homemade vanilla

I think there are many more things that I should have on this list, but I can't think at the moment. However, I encourage everyone to add at list one handmade gift to their list this year...it's so satisfying!