Handmade Holidays - Day 1

This year N. (Hubby) and I are making a fully committed attempt at creating a simple and joyful handmade holiday season. Throughout December each day I will post one or more of our ideas and projects in the hopes to eliminate some of the stress that seems to come during the season. Each year I always try to go bigger and better than the last...and the end result is always disappointment, stress and fights! Last year was the first year we decided to cut back and slow down and we had a much nicer holiday and really enjoyed each other and so this year we're going even further.

A simple holiday to us means no new ornaments except for the single yearly ornament we pick to commemorate a special memory from the past year, a major cutback in budget, a lower carbon footprint, less waste e.g. reusable wrapping and no paper gift tags (I'll share my ideas for that later).  And especially using what we already have I have so many stashed craft supplies and yarn that there is no reason why I need to buy more.

So that's our plan use less, buy less, slow down a lot, enjoy the season more, simplify and above all else appreciate the blessings of our home and families.

In preparation of this year's change I began very early to plan our budget, gifting and donation lists and decorating ideas. Which brings me to one part of our handmade gifts. This summer I made in addition to my regular batch of strawberry jam an extra batch to be stored and used as gifts for the holiday season.

These little jars will be topped with scraps of Christmas fabric and tied with ribbon as part of family gifts and unexpected guests and hostess gifts. And because I spent the preparation time in the summer, in less than an hour these will be fully ready to be gifted!  And really who doesn't love homemade jam?


Wishing you all a simple Holiday season!