Holiday Handmades...

Alright. Now into the new year we go. But not without first revealing some of those holiday handmades that I hinted at before Christmas. I learned two things from my little handmade holiday experiment. 1.) Making that many gifts is very time consuming. 2.)It's worth every minute.
My kids got on board too and did an excellent job. They were very generous and thoughtful this year. It's really the first year that all three got truly excited about the giving. There were hand built toy dog houses, a crocodile, pictures were drawn, and cards were made. I was very proud of them.

Here are some of their handmades to each other:

We had so many handmades that I loved and that were loved by those that recieved them. But the gift I was most excited about and most nervous about was the dolls. I decided to make dolls for the girls. I wanted them to have a soft and snuggly rag doll. There are so many cute patterns on Etsy. There are also so many cute premade dolls on Etsy. About halfway through making the first one I started thinking I wasn't cut out for this and that I should have bought one of those lovely premade ones from one of those lovely and talented Etsy artists. But I forged ahead and I'm so glad that I did. They turned out beautifully. Granted they had a few flaws, but the girls haven't seem to notice. They turned out just as soft and snuggly as I wanted. They already look well loved from several nights of soft girl faces snuggled hard agaisnt them.

I think I underestimate my kids. Because of all of the bright plastic toys that they see so often I assume they won't like the handmade toys as much. But I think they love the personalization that they can put into the handmade toys. They love the softness of the cloth and the wood. They love that it's unique and they appreciate that it was made just for them. That last one is what gets me. That's where I truly underestimate them. My kids seem to understand that love went into the crafting. They get that someone spent time making something just for them. And I love my kids for loving these things.