Handmade Christmas

Christmas has never been easy for me, even when I had all the credit cards at my disposal. I often started my holiday shopping in the summer and tried to spread out the damage. I do enjoy picking things up here and there as I go throughout the year.

This year I am also working on several handmade gifts. Now anyone who crafts, knits, scrapbooks, etc. knows that handmade gifts do not mean less expensive. Usually a well-made hand-crafted item is as expensive or more so than its commercially produced counterpart (i.e. a handmade sweater is usually twice as expensive as the ones made in China and sold at Macy's).

The great thing about handmade gifts is they serve as both an activity for you and a gift for someone else. You pay for the supplies and you get hours of entertainment from making the item and at the end you have a lovely gift. You can work on items together with friends, creating social activities that are productive and less expensive than shopping outings.

And, the best part for me is the amount of time you spend thinking about your loved one as you create their gift. Often in the frenzy of the holiday season we rush to buy things to wrap and put under the tree. When I am knitting something for someone I think about them the whole time, I am creating something specifically for them, I can tailor the color and the texture and the design to best suit them. I think about them wearing it when it is done and by the time I finish I am closer to that person than I would have been if I had thrown something in my cart at Target.

I want this Christmas to be peaceful and reflective, it will be almost halfway through the first year of this journey and I do not want to go into it rushed and stressed, but happy and joyous... with some cool handmade gifts to share.