my handmade holiday...

So here it is, the review of my handmade holiday. This really was the nicest Christmas I can remember for a long time. The family attributes this to keeping relaxed about things and not feeling like we had to try and do everything. The things we did do, we all enjoyed.

I made all of my gifts this year, and there were very few times that I started to feel stressed about it. Here are a few of my favorites:


(for my sister...made in Elsie's class)


(for my dad...using Hillary Lang's pattern)




(both for my brother)







(these were the big favorites of everyone...for my brother, sister and mom...made in Elsie's class)

I had really good intentions of baking up all 12 kinds of cookies that I have in my Cookies for Santa pattern. I even had these custom cookie cutters made. But alas, it didn't happen.





Lots of cookies were made, but I think these are one of my favorites. Lemon Knots. Mmmm.

And I got lots of lovely things...DVDs, books and more. But these pencils are what I really wanted. Am I crazy? Well, yes. But you see, I discovered that I really like the way this kind of pencil writes, and they have fantastic erasers on them too! So I asked "Santa" if I could have some in my sticking. Even just a few. Fortunately, Santa found some for me, and I got a whole bunch!



I swear, these pencils (or actually, their Easter counterpart) are what made last year's resolution possible for me. Speaking of crazy, you should have seen the look on my friend's face when I told him that this was one of my resolutions. I'm sure he had his suspicions before, but now knows for certain that I've got issues.

maybe it's just me...

..but I really think that there should be more time between Christmas and New Year's. This is the perfect time to be crafting, but my days have been filled with seeing people I love! OK, that's not so bad. It's great, actually. But I do have a list a mile long of things to do before January 1, and the day is closing in!

Tomorrow I plan on a bit of a Christmas photo recap, and then on to big plans. In the meantime, I hope that you have been enjoying some crafting and fun in this holiday-heavy week!

happy christmas!

May your days be merry and bright!

things to come...

If you're a regular reader, Make. Do. Create. is something you seen here before. Well get ready for a whole lot more of it!

In 2008, the holiday and seasonally themed Characteristics came around each month with a calendar desktop and printable. In 2009, those Characteristics will have a more crafty theme...they'll be here to Make. Do. Create. And you can too, because they'll all have their own special projects with tutorials.

Also, coming in 2009 to the Wild Olive shop, new embroidery patterns, scrapbooking collage sheets, artwork, and something extra special. Come back on January 1st for that announcement!

Now, since we're approaching Christmas and New Year's, I'm figuring on the blogging being intermittent. I'll still be here, but I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself...so see you soon!

wavering cranberries...

In my Harvesters illustrations I made "Unwavering Cranberries," you know, the canned cranberries still in the shape of the can. But for a gift for a few folks this Christmas, I made these Jellied Spiced Cranberries that are, well very wavering. The consistency is much softer than I expected, but it is so yummy! My mom says that it tastes like Christmas.

The jars are some that I saved, so the cranberries need to be refrigerated. But the shape was nice, and the lid was easy to paint. The tops have a happy little cranberry that I painted on. Then a hand-cut, hand-lettered tag...and a sweet and spicy gift!

super simple wrapping...

I'm up doing a bit of late night crafting...painting Christmas gifts. Anyway, earlier today, which is actually yesterday, I wrapped my first batch of presents. Because everything is handmade, the shapes are mostly unusual, so I wasn't sure how I was going to package them. But then I got this idea to basically sew envelopes to fit them.

I tore (no scissors!) a piece of kraft paper, folded it in half and started sewing. One side, turned the corner to the second side, stuck the gift in (while still on the sewing machine), and sewed the last side. A bit of paint for names and decorations, and done! I can't tell you how fast this went! I may never use tape on presents again!

recycled baskets...

These fun little baskets are the last addition to the Christmas tree. Well, actually they are under the tree, just for fun, but they seemed to go well with the tree.



About a month ago, my mom got some new nesting earthenware mixing bowls. The cardboard stars/flowers were the packaging that protected them from each other. The moment I saw them I knew they had potential, so I saved them.

Baskets, I thought. Yarn or string sounded like a good way to weave them, but when we decided to go "recycled" for the tree, I remember something I had been hanging onto. This yarn that I used is the inside of a baseball. (My brother had one come apart and gave me the insides. Cool.) The texture is a bit odd for other things, but for this? Perfect!



I tried a few ways to weave these, but ended up tying the string around one "spoke". Then I wrapped the string around each "spoke", one at a time, and kept going until I had reached the top, and tied it off. They aren't too sturdy for holding anything substantial, but they are kind of cute and make nice display baskets.

Now, go get yourself some mixing bowls and a baseball, and you can make a basket too!

ship 'em out...

Have you shipped all of your gifts off? I need to tomorrow, but now I'll be doing it in style with Modish Mailbox shipping labels! If you're on the Mailing A-List, you should have already received your printable file, but if you not on the list, join! Then you'll have access to this and previous Mailing A-List files! The subscription box is in the sidebar. Thanks!

the stockings were hung...

...in the kitchen with care.



It may seem a strange place to hang your stockings, but this year ours are in the kitchen doorway. We went with bright colors there, as opposed to the muted naturals of the recycled tree in the living room. I decorated these as a project in the class I'm taking, and they were so fun! I hope to add more little decorations to them next year and beyond. You can see more pictures on flickr...six in all.

This time of year I tend to think that I can do everything and never run out of time. Not so. Today I started looking at what I need to "die" to. All of the kinds of cookies I wanted to make...extra little gifts...etc. Kind of sad, but also a little freeing. What are the things that you know you won't get done in time for Christmas?

a recycled christmas tree...

At last, a few pictures of our tree decorations! My sister Anna and I make new decorations each year. This sounds crazy at first, but each year we get better at making it simpler than you'd think.

We start by choosing a theme. Sometimes it involves a color combination (white, for example), sometimes materials (last year, candy), or it could be a thing (like "mittens"). Then we come up with a few simple ornament designs and a garland. Then we make a lot of those few designs. Simplicity repeated all over makes for a very lovely tree.



Our theme this year was "recycled", so we used some materials that we have collected "just in case" we need them. The birds were cut out of cardboard packaging, like cereal boxes. I cut them looking both directions, then hung two together with brown sides out. Just a tiny bit of color peeks out.

The little whirlygig type ornaments were cut from Urban Outfitters catalogs using the template and idea that Jessica showed on How About Orange. I really like them assembled as snowflakes too, but for the size we wanted, an individual point was just right.

Anna punched out two sizes of circles (I'm in love with the smaller scalloped Martha Stewart punch) from Anthropologie and Free People catalogs. She double-stick-taped them together on lengths of crochet thread. There is a lot of garland, and it took a lot of punching and taping. But the colors of the pages were so pretty, and Anna looked for ways to create contrast, which adds a lot, I think. We also like looking at the fun crops, and finding words here and there.



The tree topper also used an Anthropologie catalog, and I followed this tutorial. Really easy, and I think, just perfect.

To complete the look, I just need to make some of those newspaper snowflakes, and some woven baskets out of some fantastic cardboard pieces I found...

in progress...

It feels like I've not been sharing much of what I've been doing lately. Part of that is because the things that I've actually finished can't have pictures shown yet...no fun ruining surprises! But the other part is that so many of the things I'm doing are so unfinished. It's like I'm living in a world of craft supplies. Which isn't so bad.

So anyway, above are three things that I'm working on in Elsie's class. Stockings for the family, mini envelope books and clay charms. SO much fun to be had that I'm a little behind.



I stitched up this little cupcake patch to go on my sister's stocking...and I didn't even draw it out first! Risky, but it worked out.



PJ has been busy too. He commissioned this embroidery pattern and stitched it all up. He learned how to do a backstitch for this, and apart from a few reminders that his stitches shouldn't get too long (boys...wanting to finish quickly), he did so well. I'm going to add a hanger of some kind to make it an ornament he can give someone.

Tomorrow, pictures of our "recycled" tree.

file it under...

...I wish I'd thought of it. Newspaper Snowflakes. I'm all over it.

so tired...

I told my sister yesterday that I need to find a way to sleep less. Because, there are just so many things to be done. Today I made two kinds of Christmas cookies, and worked on a few other things, but now, I'm ready to sleep. If only I could stay up all night and not have it affect me...

garland up...

The decorations are starting to up around my house, and I'm kinda liking it. At least if it looks Christmas-y, the cold feels like it has a purpose. This garland was something that I made as a project in the class I'm taking from Elsie Flannigan. Simple yet wonderful. The strand hangs over the computer desk and goes well with the kitschy Christmas music we love listening to.

The tree is also up and is nearly finished being decorated, but tomorrow my sister and I have to finish making a few more things for it. But, pictures soon. I can tell you, I love this tree.

stitching up a snowflake...

This year for our Christmas cards, I hand cut snowflakes for each one. Actually, it didn't take as long as I was afraid it would. The hard part was sending some of them off because they looked so cute. To preserve one of them at least, I made it into an embroidery pattern, and I'm sharing it with you. I think it would look so nice stitched on a dark fabric with white thread. Or even light blue on cream fabric.

To download your pattern, just click on the pattern above and download through Flickr.

adorn your gifts with an ornament...

Optimistic Ornament would love to adorn your gifts...and your tree! This month's printable is a gift tag/ornament. Download and enjoy! (If you like this, you might also like the Cookies for Santa gift tag/ornaments in my shop!)



And because I'm on a roll with things for you to download, tomorrow...a very special snowflake embroidery pattern!