Handmade Holiday

For Christmas, we tried very hard to give gifts that were handmade (either by us, or others).  I thought I would post a few of the "big hits" of the holiday...

Santa brought Matias a geoboard.  It is a simple piece of wood with evenly spaced nails and a package of rubber bands...it has been a big hit (and not just with the little people, either)

For Miss Violet, Santa brought a balance beam.  We believe his elves must have gotten this great idea from Amy over at Simplicity Parenting.

These wonderful tree blocks came from my Aunt and Uncle up in beautiful Bayfield, Wisconsin.  We can't keep our hands off them!

This sensory tub for Violet can be filled with all sorts of goodies.  Right now, we have cotton ball "snow", pinecones, walnuts, cinnamon sticks, spoons and a wooden bowl in there.  Counting Coconuts offers lots of fun sensory tub ideas, which we will be borrowing, no doubt!

Not the best picture of any of us, but you can see the crowns I made for the kids (sort of).  I used this pattern by Jessica Levitt.

Some felted rocks add a fun touch to the tree blocks (and are currently serving as the flames on the candles for the block-birthday cakes that Matias is making for us).  Each child also got a jar of homemade playdough, inspired by a post at The Artful Parent.

Lastly, no picture for this one, but for Matt, I promised to make him a homemade lunch every day for the next 6 months.  "Hairnet Helen" is back in business!

Christmas is always a lot of fun, but we had fun for the months leading up to it as well, planning and creating for our friends and family.  This will surely become a tradition!