Wednesday, November 18, 2009

My Article in the Paper

The following is the article I submitted to the paper for the National Family Week Insert. It is the second article in the insert if you get the paper. Here it is for the rest of you who don't get the RJ.

My most cherished childhood Christmas present wasn’t wrapped in a pretty box or purchased at a fancy store. My favorite Christmas memory was the year my parents did a completely homemade Christmas.

I spent several afternoons at my grandmother’s house that fall. She helped me paint porcelain gifts for my parents, friends and siblings. Meanwhile my whole family was busy at home making a present for me.

Each of my siblings also got handmade gifts. Santa brought bulletin boards to frame each child’s treasures. My older sister received shadow boxes to showcase her dolls. We made wooden blocks for my younger twin brothers. My older brother still has the wooden puzzle of his name that we made for him. He even made one similar to it for his own son a few Christmases ago.

But I think my present was the best of all. Under a sheet with a bow on it Christmas morning was a homemade Barbie dollhouse. It had four rooms. The walls were wallpapered with extra wallpaper from our house. The floors were carpeted with extra carpet fragments. It was totally unique and the coolest toy on the block. I loved that each member of my family helped make it for me.

With money being tight this year, this may be a good Christmas to get creative and go homemade. While I am not crafty by nature, I have been taking sewing classes and I know people who can help me make fun wooden creations.

With all the crafty blogs and websites out there, it has never been easier to find and learn how to make wonderful gifts. The best gifts are the ones that show you how much you are loved. Thoughtful handmade gifts can show our love without the high price tag.

5 comments:

Melanie said...

I love this. Thanks for the reminder that the best gifts come from the heart!

Anonymous said...

I couldn't agree with you more! I have ALWAYS thought that a homemade gift comes from the heart. It takes more time and energy, and shows you love that person enough to stick with it. Thank you for bringing up this subject at such an appropriate time.

Rhonda said...

great article. AND SO TRUE! I think that a lot of us will be having a smaller scale, home made sort of Christmas this year.

Pam said...

Good idea. Another good idea is to give service coupons. For example 5 nights of babysitting, or help rake yard a couple of times or wash/clean car so many times a year. Thank you for sharing.

Pam

Gina Rochelle said...

Awesome! My favorite Christmas gift was a homemade Barbie house too (with leftover wallpaper and carpet). So last year I made one for Emma and had way to much fun with the possibilities

Here's the pic-http://themomclub.blogspot.com/2009/04/myrtle-saves-world-paper-and-scraps.html