Gifts From The Heart

My blog isn't a "share-type" blog for hints and tips for all. Maybe recipes for my own family. I may list  a few projects I've been working on, or even fun ways to make hard stuff easier, or just laugh at the hard times made silly.

I did something odd recently. I had pretty-much had given-up the crafty stuff I've done all my life. That activity started as a toddler with a paint brush... painting my mother's walls brown just after she had the whole inside of her new home finished. I managed to continue my painting skills and did a fairly great job  putting together a very intricate (and real) training wagon for a horse. I even did all sanding and shaping of the new shafts and applying linseed oil to the old wood and putting Naval Jelly to all the metal, then repainting by hand every inch and crack in cherry red paint and missing the new-looking metal hub and wheel rounds. I was so proud of the job that I had done and it was something no one expected of me. I was a little girl, and only eleven.

This year at Christmas my family was spurred-on by fun projects that could be done easily by themselves and better than store-bought. Imagine that! I think Pinterest was the inspiration. It's a site devoted to a lot of DIY projects started to encourage all of our family to do more birthday, Christmas gifts, and decorations by hand. It turned-out that so many of our gifts to each other, had been made by our family's own hands. So much love, care, and a huge amount of time is put into these dear projects and are treasures coming from each one and we know that all is done with love and "that love" is sent to the one gifted.

I'd been burnt-out of doing so much to prepare for Christmas from years past. Steve and I made hand-made toys from necessity. Then it seemed suddenly our children were too grown for toys, but we still made toys to sell to be able to buy our older children the things we couldn't make, like a suit for our son's mission, a carburetor, or even plain sneakers. I wish in the 80's we had Pinterest because I could've made all those crazy leg-warmers I had to buy. Pinterest has patterns for cabled, home-made legwarmers for boots. I love that.

My Grand daughter Hannah:

Hannah "Ducky Kisses"

Today, I finished and gave my grand daughter, Hannah, a charm with little charms from her own mother's old watch from high school. I used an "O-ring Necklace" from "Pick Your Plum" company that sells crafting supplies. The charm was attached with a "jump-ring" and "claw" to hook the hearts together. Hannah can change-out the charms and she loves the tarnished-look of all the silvery jewelry.

From Pick Your Plum.The Tarnished Silver and Gold-look

 Pick Your Plum

 I admit my desire to make gifts has been rekindled by my dear daughter's and even my crafty firefighter son. He became creative because of necessity and makes decals for the fire departments, all around. No one was doing the job with reflective lettering that was durable and heavy enough to last yearly. The departments need all heavy basic lettering and numbers for everything, but now can't afford to label all their equipment. He even now has a screen printer to identify clothing. I can't think how many times we lose apparel because it doesn't have "Lazenby" plastered all over it. In addition to work Dustin has four children he's raising ... and he's making-up cute decals for their beach school, shirt logos, and personalized decals for skateboards and beachy surf ideas. He encouraged his daughter to make a school logo and the decal made from her design sold as fund-raiser to the school. Here's a copy he did for his girls which is the idea from his sister Bree.  They are Pinterest card and Bree did one for her older daughter and Dustin did for his little girls! Whatta' guy. Thank you Bree!

Here's My Bree's Card for Her Daughter, Jane

I can't make too much for teenage boys. It boggles my mind that Hannah and Tanner can go to dances now. The teenagers are so tall. Maybe I can crochet the boys...Nah, it would turn into a French beret and Tanner wouldn't go for that AT ALL. I'll let my husband find electronics, a car-part, or frozen yogurt gift cards for them.

 

I really want to remember these sweet Christmas gifts. 

All  my gifts were so special and all made with love. My multicolored

 crocheted hat is AWOL somewhere and I need it, my head is cold. I found it!

My Kiely even put bumped-out shell stitches around the

 bottom-half for added texture. It's original, cute, and fun to wear. 

 I took some pictures of my grown children's talents. 

All so different and all done with love.

Hannah Birthday Present From Aunt Larin

The fake cupcake was for me and the frosting is the clip for my grand daughter's hair and is going to her for her birthday. All the fake candy, confections, and cakes are made by my daughter, Larin. Okay this is amazing, she has her own Esty site and selling her handmade creations. It all started with a beautiful fake-cake. The big "fake-cake" was made out of necessity, summer before last, when Kiely and Matt were married and it was too hot to keep a cake in July, in the car from Salina to Payson, and while we were in the Temple in between. Here's Larin's Esty site: The Fake Cup Cakery

Kiely's an artist!

I'm so undeserving of the stained glass picture that is on my kitchen top window. My mother used to do stained glass as a profession and my daughter Kiely watched at a little wee child. Little did I know that she would follow and love to make pictures with glass. My mother says she's hooked when she sees everything beautiful in stained glass. My Kiely LOVES cattle and she gave me what she loved and wanted on her window.

The purse below is for my Tablet or IPad, so perfect, so padded and made to represent my favorite Primary Song, "Little Purple Pansies". My daughter Bree knew I loved the song and with love made me a remembrance of her knowlege that this would be a treasure to me. Bree's an artist!

Below is my "Camo" headband and I love that Kiely sat on the sofa and just whipped-it our in just a short time knowing that I love greens. I just said I thought that her sweet headband was so cute! So she made it and handed it to me. Love.

My dear little newest grand daughter,

 Susan with one of Aunt Larin's headband's.

 How sweet, and sugary on one kissy, little bundle of joy and love.

There are great blessings that come from gifts truly given with love. Those that are thought-out and even loved and wanted by those who make them, and then, give them away. My daughter Marnie made Susan a beautiful, beautiful quilt for her recent blessing in January here in Santa Paula. Marnie's an artist! How do my children sew? And not that they just sew--they sew beautiful things!

I thought I had only one of my children as an artist. Tressa taught art at a local school and is now back in school herself advancing her career. She still keeps her blog online, but it's just waiting for new students to come into her life. Mosaics, puppets, photography, graphic art, all are my Tressa. The site is: Art You Great

Tressa's Own Painting.. Overlooking Fillmore, CA

  I'm grateful that I thought of making and not so much buying when I thought of Hannah's birthday. Giving her  something she loves, but can change and still keep the little hearts that covered her mother's watch from so many years ago.  I'm thankful for my children and I'm so blessed and my children are saying to themselves, as they read this, "Mom is playing the GLAD-GAME!" Yes, I am.