Homecrafted gifts for the holidays!

I've been scrambling this past weekend to get this year's Holiday Season events organized and scheduled! Making lists, checking them twice, and thrice in most cases... I thought I would post some of our favorite crafts from last year to share. I know I've really enjoyed the abundant creativity I've found through everyone's blogs the past few years. For all of that, I am grateful!

Here's a game the kids love to break out around Thanksgiving, right about the time that we're watching "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving".
This Native American game of dice fits well with the Thanksgiving themes that work for our family's yearly tradition. A really great tactile experience as well as a lesson in history, economics and counting! A simple but engaging game. Check out the tutorial HERE.

Dea made these cute angels with her 6th grade class a few years ago and re-created them last year for her grandmothers. Simple materials and process resulting in a surprisingly beautiful gift! HERE's the tutorial.

A couple years ago, Huz made a set of kindergarten wood unit blocks for Lo. It was so simple! Just a matter of buying 2x4s of pine, following a spec chart, doing the math, ripping the wood and sanding with a belt sander. Lo was amazed with this gift handmade by Daddy and has been incorporating them into her play almost on a daily basis since.

Block tutorial

Dea made these beautiful eco-friendly Japanese style hangings with handmade specialty papers from around the world. Click HERE for the tutorial.

The possibilities of silkies are only limited by the imagination! One of the cleverest ideas that Lo has had with her silkies was to make a basic doll with a hooded cape over it's head! More HERE.

Magic crystals abound in our wonderland! A fun activity for the kids...or, perhaps the "gnomes" can surprise them with a bunch of these treasures when they next go outside to play!