Handmade Creations

The boys and I managed to complete several handmade gifts during the month of December.  Unfortunately, these weren't the only items on the list but at least we accomplished this much, right??

In early December, I was really excited to make a Mickey Mouse t-shirt for Jenn Downing's son, Isaiah, for his birthday.  I was especially excited because I know the Downing family is visiting Disney in January, so I thought it was the perfect gift!  And I have to say, I was super excited about how it turned out, especially with it being my first applique project!  Unfortunately, somehow this package was lost in the mail and Isaiah not only didn't get it in time for his birthday, he hasn't received it yet!  Dang USPS!!  I'm so disappointed!

  The next thing I wanted to do was make a couple of hooded towels for the boys. I made some last Easter for them and they really love using them, so I thought they should probably have a few more. Last time I made them the exact same towel, which makes it hard to keep track of which towel belongs to which boy. So, this time I made them similar but slightly different.

  I decided that I wanted to try to make some washer necklaces as well (an idea I found on Pinterest). Justin actually offered to help me with this project because it has multiple steps. What an awesome guy! How many guys would really sit there cutting out scrapbook paper in the shape of a washer while I glued the paper onto the washers?!

  I also really wanted to try to make salt dough ornaments this year. I have never tried it before and I wasn't sure how easy it would be. I have to say that I probably should have make the dough ahead of time because it was hard to get the dough mixed well with my littler helper. My dough ended up being way too thick. I tried to put their handprints in a couple of ornaments but it was hard to get an impression to turn out. So, I think I will have to re-do the handprints this weekend. But the dough seemed to work out ok to make cookie cutter ornaments and Garytt had a blast doing that! It was pretty messy though, so I couldn't step back to take any pictures.


The next day I let Garytt paint the ornaments. He loves to paint and he is really good at not making a mess! (I still took off his shirt as a precaution though!) I think you can tell from his face that he really likes painting!

  I was pretty excited to make the next project with both of  boys! I bought two 8x10 canvases, taped off the letters MIZ on one and ZOU on the other. Then I had the boys paint the canvas yellow. Garytt preferred to use paint brushes, while Westyn went at it with his hands.
 
  Westyn was a bit of a mess after painting the yellow (and he tried to eat the paint several times-yes it was Crayola kid safe paint but still)! So, I decided that Garytt could put the black dots on both paintings while Westyn watched.

  We waited for them to dry during nap time and then we could peal off the tape! The end result turned out great and it will be a nice addition to Justin's office décor!
 
  I have come to really enjoy making little projects like these, especially when I can get the boys involved!