Our Pinterest Christmas

It's Bob's turn to be sick in the Smith household.  I am so ready for this winter to be OVER!!!  What to do, what to do, what to do while Bob is in bed sleeping.  Hummmm.  Running the vacuum is out...too bad, that would have been big fun!!  I really am trying hard to be quiet.  I'm already bored watching TV.  It's way to cold to go shopping and get in and out of the car.  I'll have to go out soon enough to pick up Bobby from school and take him to occupational therapy before heading home.  Finally, I started looking through pictures on my computer and decided that I would sit down and blog about our Pinterest Christmas.

It all started in autumn when my mom saw a picture of some homemade snowmen on Pinterest that she said that she wanted.  Me:  "I'll make them for you for your Christmas present!!"  A minute later into the conversation, we decided that we would make homemade presents for everyone this year for Christmas (except for Bobby).  Afterall, why are we pinning all of these things on Pinterest if we aren't going to do anything with them!!

The snowmen were the first crafts that I made.  The crazy part is that I really enjoyed making them.  Bob had to help me because I needed wood cut.  He looked at the directions and said that we had that size lumber leftover from our pool deck.  Even better, it had been left outside for the past 2 years so it already had the weathered look that we were looking for!!  He cut the boards to the specific sizes and we had enough lumber to make three snowmen without buying anything.  Score!!  Bob even went downstairs and found a gallon of paint that was perfect for the snowmen again without buying anything.  So far, so good!!

 Glad that it was warm enough outside to cut, paint and glue the wood without any trouble.

 I found paint pens at Wal-mart that made painting the faces very easy.

The directions called for the face piece to be up and down (like the two in the back), but I tried the last one with the face sideways and decided that I liked it better.  There was another piece of lumber hanging around that was much larger and I asked Bob if he could cut the wood the same way to make a larger snowman....and he was successful.  It ended up being very, very heavy so I decided to keep it since it was going to be difficult to give as a gift.  Bob figured out that there were enough scraps from the first 3 snowmen to make one more, so I ended up making 5 snowmen total.

If you are interested in the blog posting with pattern for these snowmen:
http://www.soyouthinkyourecrafty.com/2011/12/4x4-no-melt-snowman-tutorial-guest-post/

The next craft that I worked on was not from Pinterest, but a gift that Grandma Carolyn has been receiving from us for a few years.  Kaitlin said that she wanted one too the last time she was visiting so this year I made two.

A scrapbook calendar from a kit that I get every year at Michael's.

 Everything you need to make the calendar is in the kit, except for your pictures and adhesive.  I have found that adhesive squares (or glue dots) and tacky glue make this process much easier.

 There are step by step directions for each page.

Here are some of the finished pages...

Next on my crafting agenda...wreathes.  I saw a few on Pinterest that I liked that you could purchase for $150.00+.  What????!!!!  $150, $176 for wreathes!!  Here are the two that I made for around $30...

I also made some Christmas tree ornaments featuring pictures of my favorite subject...Bobby...but for some reason I can't find the pictures of them on my computer.  Humm, wonder where they went??!!

Speaking of Bobby, I made get into the action of making homemade Christmas presents!!!  My favorite gifts that we gave this holiday by far were a Pinterest craft.  I never imagined how well that Mr. Bobby would do with his craft!!  He sat down and worked like a champ after I got everything ready...

 He sat down and completed 3 perfect snowflake canvases!!!

 Without any direction, he swirled the paint around and kept putting the side of the brush down onto the canvas giving the picture texture.

 The finished product...

I know that I am biased, but this is super cute!!!!!  I'm still amazed at what a great job he did!!!  Here is the Pinterest blog where I got this cute idea...
http://tenkidsandadog.blogspot.com/2010/01/preschool-snowflake-masterpiece.html

I also had Bobby help with one part of his teacher and therapists gifts...

Honestly, I didn't really even give him directions, he figured it out for himself.

He even stuffed the tree tops!

He then put the tree top on.  What a great job big guy!!!

Finally, my last homemade Christmas gift.  It wasn't a Pinterest idea.  Instead I decided to repurpose Bobby's table and chairs that he has outgrown and made it girl friendly for my nieces...

 
Here is Bobby's chair when it was boy friendly, but that just won't do for two little girls!!

Much better for girls.  Now the finished product...

Now the horrible part of this table and chair gift...it is still in my garage.  My family needs to stay well so that I can get this delivered!!  Oh, what a sick winter this has been in Bobby's World.

I really enjoyed making all of these gifts, but next time I need to start much earlier, so that it doesn't end up being a big 'ol chore the closer it gets to Christmas.  After all, there is baking, wrapping, programs...........all going on at the same time!!  Now, I need to find a spring craft to do.  Wonder if my family will be as involved??