This is an archived posting from my previous website “Chips Antidotal Wanderings” – a personal blog about family, creative moments, and pain management activities in my life. That blog was active from 2004-2011.

Well I can’t really show all the handmade gifts from this year as a few of them are for people who read my blog.  Don’t want to spoil any surprises.  Here are a few I think will be safe to share.

Super Easy Terracotta Flower Pot Gift

These are fun because they take about 15 minutes to make and you can fill them with all sorts of goodies.  Like lotions, pretty soaps, candies, craft embellishments, note cards, seed packets, etc.  After painting on your design (or you could use stickers or rub-ons if you prefer), simply spray with a glossy finish and fill with your desired extras.  What could be easier for the garden enthusiast on your Christmas list?

This particular design is one that even a beginner painter could do.  There’s no detailing or shadowing on this one at all.  The vines, the roses, and the leaves are all done in a faux style.  So nothing looks real, but offers a nice illusion of a floral heart wreath.

Botanical Trio

These framed botanicals were created using plants from around my yard and each piece of the ensemble holds a special meaning.  I call this set Whispering Winds and each one is going to a different person this holiday season.  Definitely not a good picture of these, but good enough for you to see that I designed them to be displayed portrait or landscape style, whichever pleases the senses.

The rose leaves were dried and flattened using the old fashioned phone book method while the prairie grasses were dried in my microwave.  All the handmade paper pieces I created using botanicals from my yard.

Altered Photo Frames

I purchased a stack of unfinished wooden photo frames when they were on sale at Hobby Lobby recently.  Using coordinating papers, stickers, and paint – I created several styles for gift giving this year.  An easy project with great results.  This one has a basic patriotic theme and not many embellishments – for one of our teenage grandsons.

A few of the finishing touches on this one included aging the paper edges with ink, adding faux metal stickers on the corner of the frame and adding a ‘handmade by…’ tag on the back.  The frame holds a 5×7 picture.  While this one has an obvious direction, some of the others I did could actually be displayed with the photo sitting to the right like this one, or in the opposite direction so the photo is sitting at the bottom of the frame.  The entire project takes less than 3 sheets of decorative scrapbooking paper, with plenty leftovers that can be used on cards and such!

If you are making gift items this Christmas I’d love to hear about them and see pictures too if you have any to share!

~Cindy
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