made and gifted with love :: handmade christmas 2016

This past Christmas, I found myself challenged with a limited budget for gifts. At first I felt stressed out and worried, that I wouldn't be able to give nice gifts to friends, or to the kids for that matter, but after discussing these challenges with friends, I realized that I just needed to find the inspiration to make my gifts.
In the past, I have always enjoyed making gifts for family and friends, so I decided to take a look through some old pins on my Pinterest boards and get inspired.
These really cute and simple wooden houses came to mind, so I asked Winslow to cut some up for me and I made up some simple villages and Christmas tree ornaments.
My second challenge was that I really wanted to buy this play campfire for the kids, but couldn't justify the price. On top of the exchange rate, I'd have to pay shipping, duties and taxes. So I just couldn't afford it. My friend sent me this pin, so I took a look at it and adapted it to my liking.
In the end, I am very pleased with the play campfire I came up with, and love how it promotes open ended play (camping, storytime, ect). Also, it was made with love, by me. I hope the kids know that it was made especially for them.
A few other simple gifts I made and gave this year (no pictures sorry), were homemade potpourri bags like these (for neighbours) and some peppermint bark (to give to Scouts/Sparks leaders and bus drivers).
Hope this inspires you to make and give some handmade gifts!
xox