A little bit of Christmas to share.

Now that Thanksgiving is officially over - I can share the gifts I made for each of Ben's sisters as birthday gifts. They each had birthday's earlier in the fall, but we were waiting on a) 2 paychecks and b) closer to Christmas, since they are technically Christmas decorations.

The project was meant to keep me busy during Ben's frequent travels for work, but I think they permentantly raised my blood pressure a notch or two - but I enjoyed myself to say the least. My strategy was mostly as follows, I kept an eye out on the ad's at Hobby Lobby for items that had been marked 50% off during the pre-holiday season, worked on weekends and evenings when I was home alone, and consulted Ben as frequently as possible on edits and other suggestions.

Each is a 27" inch wreath purchased bare and I collected and added all the decorations to fit the theme I selected for each wreath.
I have to say, this wreath is my favorite. Anna (the red head for my side of the family who can remember the girls by their hair color), got this wreath. Inside the wreath is a 6" gold snowflake and all the ornaments have gold designs on them (they are shatter proof, my favorite part of the modern Christmas decorations). There are also jingle bells around the wreath, in case she wants to put it on a door.

This cowboy country wreath was made with Amanda (the blonde) in mind. There are also large bronze jingle bells in the center and a cowboy snowmen on the outside. I used rustic inspired decorations and rust red ribbon to frame this wreath!

The whimsical wreath was given to Lyndsey (the brunette) in mind. I loved this ribbon and was glad to find the mittens had the same design as the ribbon. I tell you what, I am very excited about my developing bow making skills, courtesy of the DIY instruction manual I picked up for FREE at Hobby Lobby in the wedding section! I knew Lyndsey already had an indoor wreath and I think with these materials, she can put it on the back door and it'll brave the elements just fine.

This wreath was the last one I made, just in case. I ended up keeping this wreath, partially because I couldn't decide whether I liked it or not (I reworked this wreath several times before this final product) and then I couldn't decide who would like this one. It matches the bulbs on my Christmas tree and I like the warm, dark bronzey colors. So now its hanging above our couch!

I know I'm opening up myself for a big can of worms with my side of the family. But if you talk nice, I might be able to make one for you!