A Handmade Christmas

This year, I decided I wanted to hand make as many of my Christmas gifts as possible.  I decided this in November.  Call me crazy, but I don't think I ever really recovered from the DIY extravaganza that was my wedding.  *shrug*
Anyway, the madness all started when I stumbled upon the Bernat Mystery Afghan Crochet-along.  I'd been wanting to get back into crocheting, so why not an afghan?  The CAL was fun because you got no clue as to what your finished project would look like - they simply gave a clue for a new square each week.  I played it safe and stuck to a simple color palette: white.  It turned out fabulous, if I do say so myself (although this picture is terrible), and my mom, the recipient, LOVES it:

While I was waiting for my next week's clue (when I was about half-way done with the afghan), I decided I really wanted to make a sweater for my niece, Frankie.  Thanks to a snow day, and an NCIS marathon, I whipped up this adorable hoodie in just a few days!  It looks sooooooo cute on her, and my brother & sister-in-law were blown away.

Love.  But that wasn't it for Frankie.  I had a feeling that a 21-month-old wouldn't care too much about clothes, so I wanted to make her some kind of toy.  Then my mom mentioned that she'd be getting a play kitchen from Santa, and I knew what I had to make for her: felt food!

Somehow the adorable milk carton I also made, didn't make it into the picture.  Ah, well.  For my sister-in-law, I made this clutch:

It's sitting on top of my mom's afghan. =)  Also for mom were these slippers (I love the buttons!):

And for my in-laws, I made another afghan.  Yes, this was a lot of crocheting.  Yes, my fingers still hurt.  But, yes, it was worth it:

And I didn't stop here.  Not pictured (sadly) are some awesome fingerless glove/mittens that I made for my brother, a hat I crocheted in secret for my husband, and a felt flower pillow that I made for my dad & step-mom.  I will have to try to get pictures of each of those, especially the glomits.  They were probably my favorite gift of all.  Oh, and don't worry.  I made something for me, too!  I had seen these yarn-wrapped wreaths all over the interwebs and I knew I had to have one too.

I love the red & white against our green door!  Right after I hung it up, my neighbor came home and told me she loved it, and asked if I bought it at Anthropologie!  I can't tell you how giddy that made me! =)

In addition to all this craftiness, we also hosted a Christmas Eve dinner for our families, and boy am I glad the holidays are over.  They were great, but I am tired!  Fear not though, my fingers won't let me take a break from crafting.  I already have some new projects in the works!