Handmade...always warms the heart...

We made a little rule a month or so ago... only homemade gifts amongst ourselves.. which really meant, don't spend money on stuff for us, cause you have none... My creative children took this to heart and made gifts for each other and us.

Stephanie made this sweet apron for Michelle, the baking fool, in our house. It is two sided and is adjustable as to how long it is. Michelle loves it for its length, its color and its pockets.. and she tried it out today while making cupcakes... worked so well, she didn't get a drop of bleck on herself at all.

Stephanie knit me a spectacular pair of socks which are in the laundry right now, and gave me a handmade pottery mixing bowl made by Helen Stanley, an awesome potter in New Brunswick and also her future Mother in Law. I gave my old favorite mixing bowl to my s-i-l, Kelly a couple of years ago, as it was her grandmothers, and I thought it was appropriate for her to own it. But that left me lacking in the mixing bowl department. Stephanie shopped through Helen's pile of pottery bowls and this one fit my needs just perfect. It is smooth, light and deep. It is earthy colored and feels just right. It is truly perfect and I love it already. Michelle used her creativity and produced a wonderful book for both Stephanie and I filled with pictures of all our family pets... it is a wonderful collections of both funny and heartwarming pictures of our beloved dogs, cats, piggies and even fish!!! I think we need to make this rule every year... handmade is the way to go!!!