DIY Christmas Gifts with Kids

Dear Em,
Last year we didn't make a whole lot of Christmas gifts. You were little & didn't have a very long attention span. It was hard enough to get you to color more than one line on each page of your coloring books. Now you're excited to craft. Once we start to paint, you want to paint everything in the house. I love it! It was so fun for us to make gifts together this year.

Remember the personalized canvas bags/beach bags we made for your teachers, Nonnie & Grandma? Your Aunt Andrea lives in Florida, & we thought a personalized beach bag of her own would be the perfect Christmas gift. We used your cute little hands to make adorable little crabbies. I love how they turned out.

Back in October we were in A.C. Moore looking for craft ideas for Halloween. We didn't find much for Halloween, but we did find lots of fun for Christmas. They had a ton of wooden Christmas ornaments for a dollar. I bought a ton & saved them for a rainy day...OK, let's be honest, I mostly forgot about them. Luckily, I remembered. We painted a couple each night this month & added glitter. 

I'm not sure how many we made. It was A LOT, & you had a blast painting (although I think we were both over it by the end). You did a great job! In the future, I would choose things like snowflakes & Christmas bulbs over things like angels & snowmen. The snowflakes & Christmas bulbs you could paint on your own. The angels & snowmen had more details, & I ended up finishing them up once you were asleep. Maybe it's just me, but I prefer the ornaments that were all your own artwork.

We saved the pink gingerbread man for our tree (notice the pink, yellow, & blue colors...yours, mine, & Daddy's favorite colors), & the rest were gifted to people everywhere. I think they're a fun, cute, & cheap thoughtful gift for our friends & family.

Thanks for being my Christmas crafting partner this year.

I love you so,

Mommy