I Love You Because...: Leather

January 03, 2013

Homemade Gifts 2012

This year, the homemade gifts were a little different. It was all about the kiddos. I had this idea last year but it took awhile to figure out the logistics of something soo unknown. I made Little Leather Stuffed Animals for all the babies this year.

Dahlias and Izzy's Whale, because they live by the ocean ...

Abby's Elephant & the 'test' Bear for Owen (thier favorite animals) ...

and Emmy's Garden Owl (to match her garden room)...

And while they were by far the hardest and most time consuming things I have ever made they were actually a lot of fun to design and make. Seeing them come to life was awesome for all of us to see. The Cute little owl's inspiration was inspired by a gift tag I had, the whale I saw a few variations online but adjusted and tweeked and basically revamped to make my vision with leather work, the cute elephant was a shape I found online and added the dimenstion. and the bear was a pattern bought off etsy. They were filled with beads and polyfil. One thing I learned was that combining quilt fabric with it added a little more life then just leather (and it was easier on my machine.) I actually plan on making three more that I've already designed as soon as my machine is fixed replaced.

You can see way more of our Homemade Christmas gift ideas here.... Christmas 2011 and the full list of 2010-2005.

What have you made lately?
Joanna

Posted at 01:30 PM in Cousins, Homemade Gifts, Leather, Sewing, Tradition | Permalink | Comments (2)

December 28, 2011

Homemade Gifts 2011

Speaking of traditions, this one is another one of my all time favorite traditions... HOMEMADE GIFTS! Every year My siblings and I homemake our gifts to eachother. Every year it's different and fun and always heartfelt. It just brings such a personal touch to the gifts and puts their personalities in our lives and in our homes. We went to Florida a few weeks ago for my nieces baptism and it was so fun to see the same decorations and family themes decorating their house too. As I was getting ready for this post I realized that in EVERY room in my house you can see evidence of homemade gifts over the years....

A tableloth pieced by Teri in Owen's room.

In our living room, Sean's Photography... (I wish I had more!)

In my kitchen, Emily's recipe boxes (she took all my Grandmother's and Mother's recipes, typed them up, printed them and laminated them for us one year... This is probably the MOST USED GIFT EVER!!)

In our entryway, from April and Gentry the ledges (he made those!) and from Spring and Sean the Santa cross-stitch (yeah, crazy, I know but, I love it!) and that picture of Christ? It's cross-stitched as well, My Mom made it for me 15+ years ago. (now are your starting to see where we get the craziness from?)

and in every bedroom, This year Teri and Chad gave us Christmas Pillowcases... (the kids are so mad at me because I took them off today to wash them.)

This year my Mom also made me a Santa Quilt, it's in Lorali's room and it's so beautiful. Santa's from around the world, all appliqued on, I LOVE IT! ...

This year Sean and Spring gave us a super thoughtful gift, it's a little candy cane countdown to Christmas, exactly like the one I grew up with (makes me smile every time I see it.)...

Then Emily really out-did herself this year, I have no idea how the heck she found the time to make this with her busy schedule but, I'm not complaining it's perfect and I have the perfect spot for it this fall in my entryway...

and what did I make this year? All November my dining room was turned into a leather workshop, Yep, more leather projects just like last year. I now realize how my Grandpa had it as his lifelong hobby. It's addictive! I already have ideas for projects to keep me busy all year. This time it was just for adults... Blank Leather Books. Fishing Logs, Hiking Logs or Journals, whatever they're used for they're all personalized.

I've already made some for most of the grandkids but decided not to give them at Christmas but to give them to the kids one at a time for thier birthday's this year...

and for Dad's birthday I made him a few more Fly Fishing Reel Pouches...

Now, I'm off to start planning for next year!

Posted at 07:55 AM in Birthdays, Christmas, Cousins, Crafts, Decorations, Family, Grandparents, Halloween, Joanna, Leather, Quilts, Sewing, Tradition | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 05, 2011

Homemade Gifts 2010

Okay I think I'm finally recovering from the holidays and thought I should post more about the big day... and the big tradition. Esp. since I'm already thinking about what I should start for next year.

This year I decided to do everything with leather. I had never worked with it at all and new absolutely nada about it but, I was determined to make something my Grandpa Smith would have been proud of. He actually gave me my first homemade gift that I remember and it was leather braided belts for the boys and leather hair pieces for the girls. I knew I wasn't quite to his skill set so when I walked into the leather store I had them dumb everything down for me but, I still think they turned out pretty good.

For the men? Fly Fishing Reel Pouches.
(Dad has already made a request for 3 more!)

For the women I took the same idea but adjusted it to something that they'd use. Hiking First Aide Kits. Inside I put in a few essentials, MoleSkin, Band Aides, Ointment, Mini Sun Screen, Ect. The boys got pouches too, a little bit bigger in size for things like toy cars or a DSi. They were all actually different designs but in my rush to get all 28 done I didn't take pictures. (Dear Family- PLEASE TAKE PICTURES and email them to me, please!!)

Then the little girls got the idea that started it all... Hair Bows, barrettes and headbands. Again, not many pictures because I was on a mailing deadline but I think they liked them.

And my favorite one of all of them?? Seriously, I wish I had a baby and I could have kept this. I WANT A BABY! Instead I get to live vicariously through Emily. My baby sister is having a baby girl!! So I made her this. (It will look better on Baby Abby then it does on Baby Owen but remember I DON'T HAVE A BABY ANYMORE!!)

The Back looks like this...

You just wipe it off when they;re done and I swear it's the prettiest, most functional bib I've ever seen. I love it!

For Mom We made something a little different. Last summer I had all the grandkids here... remember that craziness?! It was awesome. I had all the kids write their name and draw a little picture around a GIANT table cloth with some washable markers. Then I embroidered everyones names in by hand. (Again, FAMILY can someone take a picture of the finished product for me?!) I think it turned out pretty awesome!