Handmade Holiday

I hope everyone had a great holiday and a relaxing and fun weekend.  We had a very nice time visiting with family, preparing for Santa Claus, and watching Gus rip open anything with wrapping paper, whether it was his or not.  Seriously, I've never seen gifts opened so quickly, except when he had to pause to play with something new ("Mama, we need to open this!").  Oh, and just as an aside- if you're going to give a toddler a toy, the less packaging, the better.  Gee whiz, some of those toys are basically glued to their boxes.

Anyway, I have been trying to think more handmade for gift-giving, but it's not always easy to convert those who are used to shopping in the big stores (not that they don't have great things, too- we certainly hit up Wal-mart for a few stocking stuffers).  I decided that personally, I'd like to make sure Gus and Greta get at least one handmade gift when it's time for gifting.

 Gus and the entire CAT fleet that he acquired this year

I don't know if some of you remember this post with the dump truck/heavy machinery flannel that I found at Joann's, but I finally used it and actually have the results to share with you!  I got a lot of great ideas from you readers, but ultimately ended up with the minky-backed blanket that was my original thought, but the design came out differently that I had planned.

Over the months I have been acquiring remnant fabrics to make various things with (all still in the planning stages) so I ended up using a bunch of different flannels to make a block-style blanket.  The back is white cuddle plush minky, which is just the softest stuff ever, and has a truck border.

Check out the angled corners!  I even tried my hand at applique, putting Gus's name at the bottom.  I really wanted him to have something special at Christmas because he's been a real trooper what with the storm, the new baby, etc.

Greta was going to get one, too, but I ran out of time, so that will be a project for another occasion.  But she did get a handmade gift- a ribbon tag lovey from DeMoss Designs, which is so cute:

And guess who else had a handmade holiday?  My mother-in-law asked for some suggestions for myself, and so I knew just what to tell her:

The lovely handbag from Tannei Casey mentioned in this post, and this lovely necklace from Constant Baubling mentioned in this post:

Both are lovely, and I'm so excited to have received them as gifts.  I'd definitely like to continue incorporating handmade gifts into our Christmas and birthdays.

Anyone else make or receive a handmade gift?