Christmas Craftiness :)

Before leaving to my dad's house on Tuesday, I spent a few days finishing up some Christmas presents and also making cards.  Last year and this year almost all of my Christmas presents were handmade, and it was such a different experience.  It brought me so much joy to make gifts from my heart.  My siblings and I draw names for Christmas, and this year I had Julie.  I started crocheting her a blanket in the spring and finally finished :)

I made myself a really cute recipe box a few years ago and thought it would be a great idea for my mom and Bill.  I made it at the end of the summer during a crafy night with my friend Elin.

I also finished up a scarf that I started crocheting for my mom over the summer.  I made Bill an "eye-sock."  The story of the eye-sock goes back to my childhood lol.  My mom would often put a black sock over her eyes in the morning to block the sun from coming in.  So a couple years ago, I sewed her an "eye-sock."  It was black with flower lace around the edges and I embroidered "Julz" in pink.  I've been telling Bill I would make him one for over a year now, so I finally made it the Monday before Christmas.  After making that for Bill, I spent a few hours sewing a little apron for my little brother Jesse.  He is starting to help bake a little bit so I thought it would be fun for him to have an apron of his own.  It was blue with baseballs on it and I embroidered a big "JESSE" on the front.  It was fun to make.  And it was fun to spend time with my sister Julie since I made it at her house :)  Thanks for letting me use your sewing machine Julie!!!  I made my dad and Heather a cute picture frame...which means we should probably take a new family pictures soon.  It's been a while.

I spent about five hours on Tuesday making cards while watching "Little Women" and the Food network haha.  I love making cards but don't give myself time to do it during the school year, so it was fun for me to make a few different kinds of cards.  My sister and mom bought some of them from me.  I had fun showing them to my family :)






My sisters and I are going to have a card-making night on Wednesday and I am super excited for it.  I've been trying to stay busy during the break.  My niece Aliyah was blessed yesterday in my blessing dress, which was really neat.  She's so adorable.  Then I had a Barton family dinner at my aunt and uncles' house.  It was great to see the family and spend time with them.  I'm excited to start school again in some ways, but I also wish I had more time to work on developing certain qualities in myself.  I guess that's one of the challenges of life...figuring out how to grow and develop good qualities while we are busy with school, work, and many other activities.  It's a challenge, but I'm excited to learn how to do it better :)