Friday Favorite- Home Made Gifts

This week for my Friday Favorite I'd like to express my love of home made gifts. There is nothing more special (in my opinion) than getting a gift from someone knowing that they put their time into making it. They are the most cherished in my possession and I tend to use it more often and comment on it more to strangers and friends. My grandmother has made my children (and future children) five blankets total. I love the idea that even though we are far away, we still have a daily reminder that she loves us. *To my cousins who may not have enough blankets for their children, let me know if you need one of my blankets, I doubt I'll end up having five kids and I'd much rather let you have one so that every great grandchild has a hand made blanket by Grandma than keep them all for myself. (in the future of course since I'm one of few cousins who has children as of yet!)

I am also a fan of making gifts for friends and family (surprise). I mostly make scrapbooks or scrapbook pages, putting more effort into them than the pages I keep for myself. I also made the majority of the items in my neighbor's baby shower.


This is a burp cloth that my sister made for me. It's one of six which I'm so thankful for because I made about six and without hers, I would run out much too quickly! (I placed this one on the changing table to show its size in case any of you want to make your own.)



This is one of two receiving blankets my neighbor made me. They are wonderfully large which is great for the nights Glenn is in a thick fluffy sleeper and all I need is something thin to swaddle him. They are also a great size for putting on the floor with the boppy over top (I do this in the kitchen when I'm cooking so I can keep an eye on him). She also made me a nice crocheted blanket which is super soft.



Tip of the day: if you have a dog who demolishes stuffed toys quickly, make your own toys to save money. Buy a package of squeekers at the pet store (a pack of six is about $2). Grab some old jeans (I got a hole in the upper thigh of a pair of pregnancy jeans, so they are perfect!) and make a toy out of them! I saved the toy stuffing from a few toys before I started making my own, so I keep a plastic bag of stuffing in my sewing area and just keep reusing it for the toys I make Gus. *tip- stuff the toy half way with stuffing, add the squeeker, then finish stuffing it. And, the great thing about dog toys is that they don't have to look good!