Happy First Monday of 2015!

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas!

I’ve decided to kick of 2015 with an ode to the lovely homemade and handmade gifts I received for not only Christmas, but also my birthday. I’ve also included a few pressies I’ve given as stocking stuffers.

Where to start… first of all I just need to let you all know what talented family and friends I have – they have created so many amazing things. I love handmade presents, they’re incredibly thoughtful, I can fully appreciate how much time and effort goes into them.

My sister-in-law made me “The best homemade Baileys in the history of ever” for my birthday, with the recipe from one of my favourite Bloggers, Lynne from Design the Life you want to Live. It’s delicious, for reals – go now and try it!

My friend Katie also made me the coolest arm knit scarf! I’m just learning how to knit… so arm knitting just makes my head spin thinking about it. I would have taken a pic, but I am really not selfiegenic (yes, I just made up that word. What a good combo of selfie and photogenic).

Let’s start with the amazing Beaded Christmas Ornament, my very talented friend Missy made me.

Handmade Beaded Christmas Ornament

The detail in this piece is nothing but amazing, even the edge is a blanket stitch… with BEADS! She does sell these, so take note for next year. I love this for several reasons; not only has she used traditional Aboriginal practices and materials to create beautiful tree art, it’s even more special because she made it – and I will hang it each year, reminiscent of a great Birthday together!

Custom Fabric Coasters

My Friend Lorraine is so thoughtful and an amazing quilter. She made me and our friend Donna Custom Fabric Coasters for Christmas! These coasters are awesome! They were also created with our house colours in mind (see, she’s so thoughtful!) – and mine have SNOWMEN on them! The cool thing is, because they are fabric you can toss them in the wash…perfect! Because I am also a spaz. These coasters are a combination of two different patterns, I love it!

Petite Crocheted Snowflake

Next, the tiniest and cutest Crocheted Snowflake from Autumn for my Birthday! I can’t crochet, I can appreciate anyone who can, especially Autumn for this tiny masterpiece! Everything she creates amazes me. When she showed me the size of the crochet hook, I couldn’t believe how miniscule it was. This photo was taken with the snowflake inside a small tart tin. 

Beaded Habs (Montreal Canadiens) Keychain

Let’s save the smack talk for later – Mike is a Habs fan, I will let the subject rest here. My friend Sheila made this awesome keychain for him only weeks before Christmas, and it was a perfect stocking stuffer. She’s so artistic, she blew me away when she showed me the moccasins she made for an entire bridal party… Gorgeous! Funnier, when I asked her about beading a Leaf’s keychain she gave me the biggest eye roll. ha ha ha.

Lovely Body – Sleeping Giant Brewery Beer Soap

In my recent journey to become a maniac and throw out any beauty products with harmful chemicals discontinue using products full of carcinogens; I stumbled upon the Etsy shop, “Lovely Body”, which coincidentally the lovely owner, Sarah and I are practically neighbours! Yay! Sarah’s products are all homemade, using safe and simple natural ingredients. The soap has been a stocking stuffer hit, not to mention how amazing it smells.

So far, I have only purchased items for others, however Sarah was kind enough to supply me with a few samples; my favourite so far – Applejack & Fir Sugar Scrub! You should check out her shop here..right now. Do it!

Homemade Christmas Stocking 

My mum is a creative crafty genius. This project isn’t from this year, but I figured I would include it. She made Mike his own stocking – guess this means he’s officially a Frankow! She created her own templates for the Soldier, Santa and Gingerbread man. All lovingly hand sewn – matching the style of stockings she made for my brother and I. She still claims this stocking isn’t finished… however I moustache you a question… how about that Soldier’s stache?

Handprint Ornament

I have saved the best handmade gift for last. My little niece, Fiona with the help from her crafty mum made us the cutest handprint ornament. It’s so adorable – each one of her fingers was transformed into a snowman. She made everyone in the family custom Christmas art – even switching her medium to footprint reindeer on canvas! Tiny hands as a tiny keepsake, preserving her at the adorable age of 3 for Christmases to come.

If you’re not “crafty” or “creative” don’t despair! Etsy is just around the corner. Support talented artists, designers, craftspeople and creators. You can still give the gift of handmade, with a little help from these people.

Hope some of these gems have inspired you!
Keep, crafting, sewing, baking, knitting, crocheting, and drinking (someone needs to test the Baileys for quality assurance).