Homemade Christmas

Most years, my family would get many homemade gifts for Christmas. We have many stories about my mom trying to hide the gifts she was making. Often, they would be found, or she would slip and tell someone, and then come up with some white lie to not blow Christmas. Many of the homemade gifts are still around my mom's house as grandkid toys. Every year, my parents give us money for Christmas, instead of buying gifts. They ask us to let the kids know which gifts are bought with the money, so the kids will know that their Grandma and Grandpa love them, and did think about them. Many years, we haven't planned ahead, and the money just ends up getting sucked up into paying off the Christmas bills. This year, I wanted to make sure my kids had some great presents from their Grandparents, and I wanted to make sure the money stretched as far as possible.

I decided to follow my mom's example, and make some of the homemade toys for my kids, that I enjoyed while growing up. My mom still has a tee-pee that she made when I was young, and I thought that my boys would love one to play in. I love the fact that it folds up to practically nothing.

On Christmas morning, my boys got up to find their tee-pee, taking up most of the front room. It had a large note pinned to it saying "To: Allen, Michael, and Morgan. From: Grandma". Makenzie curled up on the couch, and started to cry, heartbroken that she wasn't included in the present. Under the tree was a letter for her. I gave it to her, and after reading it, she brightened right up.

We sent her on a treasure hunt to find her part of the present from Grandma. She kept announcing to the whole house, "I'm going on a treasure hunt for MY present."

When she came to the last clue, it told her to look in her closet. She spent about a minute, looking all over the floor of her closet, trying to find the envelope for her next clue. When she finally saw the note, she was delighted to find a closet full of dress-ups.

It took my mom and I several weeks to sew the dresses. There were a couple that weren't quite what we were looking for, and we got some great advice from my baby sister, who is an amazing seamstress, on how to alter the dresses.

Here is Makenzie, modeling her Cinderella work dress. (She is actually upstairs in it right now, cleaning her room. Hey, whatever works!)

And in Cinderella's ball gown.

Snow White, of course.

Tinkerbell- I would say that this is one of my favorites, but I think they are all my favorites.

Sleeping Beauty

Ariel

And, a generic princess.

Each of these dresses is made with sheets. The material is so sturdy, and they are completely washable. I love that!! Makenzie has had many dress-ups, but they fall apart so quickly, and most of them are not washable. They look like they have been through the war after just a couple of months. I love that these dresses will last forever, and that they are big enough on her that they will be able to fit her for a very long time.

When Michael found out I was blogging about Christmas presents, he asked if I would put him on with his favorite present, so here are Michael and Allen with their favorites.

In our family, for Christmas, each of the kids gets something to wear, something to read, and something to play with. It is amazing how much flexibility this gives us. When we have extra money, the toys and outfits are more elaborate, and when funds are tight, we are able to buy things that fit within our budget. The first year, I was worried that my kids would be disappointed that our Christmases are so small, but they have loved it. I love having a stopping point for my shopping, and I love having my kids not go "hog wild" with their wish lists. We had a very nice Christmas!

Links:

Tinkerbell Pattern

Snow White and Cinderella- This pattern looks different from the ones we used (and my mom is not available to get the pattern number right now) but the dresses look like the ones we made. The pattern we used had Snow White, Cinderella and Ariel. We also used this pattern to make the Cinderella work dress and the generic princess dress.

The Sleeping Beauty pattern is no longer available.