Home made gifts

Due to peer pressure I am going to post these. I have been working on making my gifts for a while and they are finally all done. So here are some simple ideas that are very budget friendly.

This is a "build your own snowman kit". I saw his last Christmas and loved it. Started making it in May and got the bag and things done in October. It includes bag, scarf, pipe, heart, 3 buttons, and nose. I am also adding hot co-co and a box of girl scout cookies to make it a total family event. All the pieces were from the wood cuts and I had to drill a few holes to add the dowel rods, really easy and fun.

This was one I fell in love with. Magnet Boards they were cheep, cute and by adding a few small items a wonderful gift! I ordered the metal as the unfinished kit, painted and put them together myself, ordered boxes that fit the board (a friend and I ordered 50 and split the costs of the boards and the boxes). I got an easy recipe that I could include all the ingredients in the box and stamped the box. It was fun to make and so easy. I got a couple for my girls to give their friends and will include a photo in a bag that the girls can stamp and make themselves.

Christmas Cards

Happy to say the cards are all made, addressed, and waiting with stamps for December 1. I have found a pattern in myself when it comes to my card making. I see something I just love this season, get the stuff have all the cards made by May and then wait. So far its worked out pretty good and I am on top of my Christmas cards.

It's SWAP time again!

With the Holidays right around the corner and all the cute Christmas/Winter things hitting the shelves we thought now was a great time to do a swap! Wanna play with us??

There are a few simple steps, "rules" if you will, to play along:

1. Send an email to withandwithout AT gmail DOT com, indicating you want to join this swap. Include:
Your Name
Your Address
Your blog address (if you have one)
A description of likes/dislikes to give your swap partner some direction(This information will only be sent to your swap buddy)

2. Send the email no later than November 16. Swap partners will be assigned by November 17. You MUST ship your swap by December 17.

3. Swap items must fit in an average sized shoe box. We don’t want people going too crazy but want to have enough room to fit some cool loot.

4. This is a Christmas/Winter swap. Everything you send needs to somehow tie in to the theme. Whether it be colors, actual Christmas items, whatever, just make sure they tie together somehow.

5. Again, cut-off to sign up is November 16. Please send us an email before then.

6. Please read #2 again. It’s important you stick to the ship date to not ruin the fun for your swap partner. Please let your partner know when you ship your package. If your partner doesn't get their swap due to being lost, that is one thing, but if you fail to ship and you receive yours, you will banned from playing again.

7. Have fun!! Feel free to invite anyone you’d like. We don’t have a cut-off and would love to have as many participants as possible.

We have created a Flickr group that we would love for you to join. This will enable us to share pictures of all the great things we receive through the swap, check out our past swap and have discussions about the group.If you have any questions, please feel free to email or leave a comment! We look forward to swapping with you!

11/16 UPDATE:: Buddys have been sent, have fun shopping!

Very small makeover

When I moved into our home it was me and the girls, 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, 2 family rooms, game room and more space than we knew what to do with. That was 7 years ago. Moving forward in time, we added a man to the house, the kids grew, their junk takes more room, the man needed a cave, on and on. My point is I started out with a whole basement and office area to myself and now I have a closet.. the coat closet in the main hallway. The person who does all the planning, the crafts, the volunteering, gets a closet filled with coats. I couldn't take it any more, I had to request.. nay.. demand a space of my own! While at Ikea the other day I found a shelving unit that would fit in the space and live happily with my scrap bag.. hark.. life is good! For less than $30, the space is mine (well there are 2 coats, but those will come out as soon as it snows). I am happy, I am organized and feeling very functional.. yippee for me!