Recent gifts

I am rather proud of a few things I have made recently so I wanted to share them.
The first was a Christmas Eve inspiration for my husband. When he cooks or does dishes he puts on his headphones and listens to his ipod, so.... I used a black pillowcase and made him an apron. The colors and map of Africa refer to his reggae obsession. The pocket has a side perfect for the ipod to go in.
The second is a thank you to a friend who loaned me her sewing machine for an entire year! She is a wonderful artist, and I tend to get quite inspired making customized pot holders (who knew, this could very well be my niche!)
Fun fun fun! My New Years goal is to make more things for my own house (no more craft sales for a while), but there seems to always be a birthday or thank you present to make. But it pleases me immensely to be able to make people things. And customize them to their interests. Which gives me an idea: any creative people want to do some bartering?
I am making small attempts to have Lupe not grow up in a consumeristic way. I hope that she will grow up remembering her mom announcing an upcoming party and heading to the sewing machine. Not that there always needs to be presents, but making them is a good thing. I have spoken to a lot of moms recently who are all on different points of the scale between fullout buy buy gift giving, to none at all. I think the best is to feel comfortable with where you are at personally and to have small goals if you want.
I got a Barbie Dream House as a kid and I turned out all right!

Rainy Day Crafts

For almost a month now lupe has been playing with her tiniest animals in a Leggo house. They are there for a fiesta, and have been waiting for their pizza for a LONG time, alas, it is always too hot to eat.
So that inspired a craft today, while we watch the rain that never seems to stop!
Materials: Tin can lids, construction paper, scissors, hole punch and glue.
The hole punch makes easy and tiny tomatoes and olives, shredded paper for the cheese. They were really tasty!

Grandpa has promised to make a kitchen for Lupe, but xmas is too soon, so it'll probably be a birthday gift in May. Meanwhile, I saw a cool kitchen on the web (I think it was Family Fun mag), made from cardboard boxes and plastic lids.
If I can find a dry box, that's our next project!

Gift wrapping and Holiday Creativity

It's been a while since I have posted- we all have that Holiday excuse to give, but I have an additional one: every day I fall asleep putting Lupe down for her nap, and every night I fall asleep when she goes to bed. Why? Have you guessed already? Yes, Lupe is going to be a big sister and the first trimester is EXHAUSTING! Or maybe it's just my two year old who is exhausting!
Yet still, I have managed to finish a couple of gifts, and wrapped them. I knew there was a reason I have been saving cereal boxes (a weater fit nicey inside a box of Cheerios) in a kitchen cupboard, and tp rolls (perfect size for a couple of flower pins I made) under the bathroom sink! They are all being used now to wrap presents. So, REUSE the cardboard instead of RECYCLING it, have your child go crazy with the paints (I used old life drawings from my college days), and you have fab gift wrap!
Another thing I did was use those mailers that come from craft stores telling you about all their Xmas deals on fabric, ribbon, scrapbooking, etc and cut them up into little flowers with leaves (can you see this detail in the pic?)
One of the childhood Christmases I remember most was when I was about 12 I think, and we used old paper we already had, and went crazy with litter and glue, each package had a unique design. I don't even remember what I got that year, but I have a picture of the boxes under the tree.
I made one gift splurge for my husband, but other than that, I have made them all mostly. And today I found building blocks, a toy house, books and a video at the thrift store- Lupe's gifts, all for under $7! This makes me feel good, not just cause I'm poor, but gifting this way is MORE CREATIVE!!

What is your most creative gift idea you have given/received? What are you doing this year? Respond to this post, and I may just make something for you!