Handmade Christmas | oliversfancy

Well I meant to get a few more things blogged over Christmas break but you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men…. I am embracing the clean slate of a new year and hoping to settle into a good routine of sewing/blogging/home and family management and check in here more regularly than I have of late. Now that the little man is 7 months old, I am losing my excuse for not getting things done!

Here’s a few pics of the remainder of my handmade Christmas decor…including cute baby, of course. 🙂 Next up are a few of my handmade Christmas gifts- yes they actually happened this year- along with a semi-fail that I am sure you will be interested to see. 😉

of course E had to have one of my reindeer onesies…sold quite a few of these over the Christmas season- aren’t they just so cute?!

Some stockings I made for us a few years back using the rag quilting method…I made an extra that didn’t quite turn out as planned and guess it worked out because E got a stocking too this year. Maybe next year, he’ll get one that coordinates better with the other three.

A few of the monogrammed ornaments that were so popular in my shop this year. So popular in fact that I sold the ones I made for the boys!

Things have been super crazy behind the scenes here. Christmas orders have been coming in in abundance. I am so very thankful for the work and income that it is bringing in, but I must admit to being ready for a nice Christmas break. As of this morning, my etsy shop is on vacation and my local store is not taking any more custom orders. So all I have to do is finish up the 5 or so orders I have in queue and then I am on break!! Maybe then I will actually be able to get to those handmade Christmas presents I have on my list. 😉

Speaking of handmade, I thought I would run a little series on Handmade Christmas. Over the years, I have been curating a collection of my own handmade items as well as those from others. I will showcase some of my favorites over the next week or so. Today we begin with wreaths. I don’t know about y’all, but I love wreaths…but not necessarily in the way you might think. Sure, I do normally have one on the front door, but no one ever uses our front door so I think of that as a bit of a waste. Instead I like to put them inside the house at various places where I can see them on a daily basis. Here are a few of my current faves.

First off is the plastic baggie wreath. This was made several years ago with some good friends. This wreath is simply plastic baggies tied around a metal hanger with some ornaments added to it. The bags were given to me and I am told that these are special bags that can only be found in northern stores because they have no closure at the top- making them perfect for this craft. This wreath hangs on the inside of my front door.

Next, we have the empty frame wreath. I made one for myself and my mother last year for Christmas. We used a pinterest pin for inspiration which I tried to find for you but the link has been broken now for some reason. 😦 I really love this simple, yet fun “wreath”. We thrifted some picture frames, took out the insides and glass, painted the frames, and then added ornaments and a bow to finish them off. Mine sits on my mantle this year.

Lastly, we have my newest addition to the collection- the fabric wrapped wreath. I have always wanted to try this technique out and a wreath-making party with our church’s young families’ group last weekend gave me the perfect opportunity. I cut approx. 2.5 inch strips of a red polka dot fabric, wrapped it around my straw wreath form and then strung a felt bunting along it for some fun. It’s not necessarily super Christmassy looking but it is fun and I love it. It was also very quick and easy to make. If I had more time, I would take more care on the cutting and stringing of the bunting strips (In fact, I’ll probably redo it at some point) but I’m ok with the carefree look they are currently portraying. 🙂 Right now this wreath on my mantle also, but I think I shall move it to my sewing room once Christmas is over so I can keep it up all year long.