it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

oh, wait- not quite, and i'm glad because i LOVE September!... but, i'm beginning to think a lot about Christmas.

i love to gift handmade. and i love to make handmade. so, it's a good combo when i can gift what i love to make. but, it doesn't always work out that way...

i've been trying to plan what i will do for the family this year. i've got a few ideas up my sleeve but thought i'd take a look at a few of last years gifts- thought you might like to come along for the reminder...

i made our parents each one of these for christmas. the moms were probably more excited about the looks, the dads were probably more excited about eating some new recipes...

i made a mini magnet board for a recipe holder to go along with a recipe box. i made little magnets, recipe cards, and i included some of our favorite recipes as well.

this was a gift i wanted to make again for myself and have yet to do it...

note to self: make a project to keep

ice cream happiness below:

i bought some plain jane bowls and spoons and gave them my own personal touch. granted the spoons probably aren't too comfortable to eat with, at least you have fun while you eat with them.... and ice cream doesn't last long enough to worry about it anyways! i also made a topping kit which consisted of chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, sprinkles and chopped nuts. all wrapped up and topped with a gift card to cold stone- because you can't have the party without the ice cream!

we have a teacher in the family- cute Rachel. So, i thought it'd be fun for her to have a cute clipboard for class. (i feel sort of funny saying "cute clipboard" when i'm the one who made it...but ya know what i mean) so, i bought a clipboard and went to town. i added some funky ribbons, and mod podged the back but kept the front pretty simple so it would still be practical for every day use. i printed up some personalized "mrs. martinez" stationary and added some embellishments and a pen ready to write some notes home... and there ya go, a clipboard set for any teacher:

so another year Christmas is approaching and my wheels are turning....

do any of you have any homemade gift ideas you'd like to share?

ADDED: due to lots of emails and requests for info on the crafts above I will be I adding some information and basic how-tos. I will add links to the "how-to" information as they are posted.

recipe box and holder

ice cream bowls and spoons

And, thanks for the compliments- you guys are so nice to me!