Christmas DIY

If I were to pick a word to describe last year, it might have to be "DIY".  I spent much of the year discovering new DIY options for things I use every day, everything from homemade vanilla extract to homemade detergent.  I made more things last year than I probably ever have before.  And it was so much fun!  Mostly I love that I can find a recipe for just about anything by searching it on Pinterest.  I discovered Pinterest  in the fall of 2010 when I knew about 2 people on it.  Now it has exploded and tons of people are pinteresting that I know, which is cool because, well, the more the merrier.  When it came to Christmas gift giving, I focused on that same idea of DIY.  Here is a sampling of some things I made to give ...

Luxury Lotion Bars-- I am so glad I made these!  They are awesome and work better than anything on our family's excema issues.  My friend Tracy came over and we made these together using candy molds.

Recipe is HERE if you want to try it for yourself. :)

Lip Balm- Recipe HERE.  We played around with the ingredients, you can do that when you do it yo-self, ya know. I liked the almond oil because it is really moisturizing.

Caramels... this recipe is from a friend at church.  So delicious!  I got the recipe a couple years ago but saw you needed a candy thermometer and for some reason that totally threw me off.  Made the whole project seem much more complicated, haha.  But I decided to dive in this year, and went to my good friend Hobby Lobby for the candy thermometer, along with my 40% off coupon.  I was thinking it would be super expensive (yes, I am ignorant to such complicated gadgets), and what do you know, it was like $4 before my coupon.  So yeah, much ado about nothing.  It was totally worth it.

My first time making a wreath.  Loved the process, it was very fun to do and I honestly had a hard time giving it away, I almost became an indian giver on this one... just kidding.  My mom in law is totally worth the time and effort put into the pretty lil wreath. 

No recipe here, just playing around with yarn and felt, and random Christmas-y decor.

It was very fufilling to give handmade.  Looking forward to doing it again in 2012.