Synergy Mom: Homemade gift ideas

Yep, it's now after Christmas and I'm posting homemade gift ideas :) I received a bunch from friends and family and gave a bunch so they had to be kept secret. I still have several "New Year's" gifts to give this week -- my way of giving neighbor gifts that I wasn't on the ball enough to give before Christmas. Still, these ideas could be put to use as early as Valentines Day, and that's only a month and a half away ;) You would think it was sooner considering the fact that the stores already have their heart shaped boxes and stuffed bears on display. No joke. Who buys THIS EARLY for vday? Especially stuff like chocolate? Hmm... anyway, here are my favorite homemade gift ideas:

My friend Michelle gave me this awesome notebook. It is one of those black/white covered notebooks you buy for school. Well she totally jazzed it up with some glue and scrapbook paper and I totally love it. I am definetly using this idea next year ...

This is also from my creative friend Michelle. This is OFFICIALLY on my Top Ten of homemade gifts of all time. I don't know how she made it ... computer program or creative text genius? I dunno. But I absolutely love it. I also love that she used the word "sparkly" to describe me. I'm not gonna lie, that made my day. I was hesitant to post this because I want to make one for every sister and friend in my life now :)

This fun and adorable cookbook was made by another creative friend, Jasmine. She is absolutely incredible when it comes to computer/clip-art/printing type gifts. This fun cookbook was in full color with gorgeous photos and fun pictures. I can't wait to use it each holiday season. It also came with a super cute cookie plate which is a fun bonus :)

This is a gift basket I made for my in-laws. It was incredibly simple and inexpensive and hopefully fun and useful for my in-laws. I personally think that parents are THE hardest people in the world to shop for. They have spent a lifetime reading books, decorating their home, etc., so it's impossible to come up with something new or different to give them. This year I decided to simply make a gift basket of our "favorite things." Below you will see the gift tag explaining:

This is the whole wrapped package. Inside the basket was a muffin mix for our favorite muffins, a bottle of martinellis (the only actual purchase necessary aside from the ribbon and basket), some magnets you'll see later, a compilation of our favorite Christmas stories, an updated family photo for their wall along with a picture my toddler drew of them and some of our hand-dipped nuts that we always make. With each item was a tag explaining what it was and why it was one of our favorite things.

These are the magnets I was talking about. I hope my mom doesn't read this becuase I would like tomake her some for mothers day ;) They are flat business card magnets that are sticky so you can easily put a picture on top. I printed mine off my computer and then covered it with packing tape. You can't tell it is packing tape, it just looks laminated :)

This is a cute neighbor treat that I received in a paper craft swap. The tag says: I wanted to get the perfect gift for you, but couldn't decide just what to do! I almost sent you a dozen roses--instead here's a bag of reindeer noses!" Inside the bag were red M&M's and malt balls :) She used a Cricut to cut the reindeer and simple paper folding to create the container.

These super cute boxes were made by my sil Tammy. I love the paper she used and I think that a beautiful homemade box really gives a small treat/gift a special touch.

This is the gift that I gave my husband this year. I know you were all dying to see what I came up with right? Well, I bought a simple bed tray and put a note on promising him bed in breakfast every Saturday in 2009. I thought a gift of service would last longer than anything else I could make and I know that he loves to sleep in on Saturdays so I'm hoping he'll enjoy it. I think this is one gift that would be great for any husband -- and they are hard to make gifts for if you ask me!

These two clay pots stacked on top of each other are actually ......

A garlic roaster! My girlfriend Amy wrapped this up with a cute bow and included the garlic and recipe on how to roast the garlic using the two clay pots! I thought this was so unique and a perfect gift for our garlic-eating family.

Here is a snapshot of some more neighbor paper crafts that I made and received as part of my paper craft swap. From left to right:
The cute little package looking treat is actually two Hershey's nuggets wrapped up using paper punches. To the right is a paper sour cream container filled with Hershey kisses. To the right of that is a simple Hershey bar wrapper made out of festive paper. Just below that is the awesome day planner that was made special with a customized scrapbook cover (slipped inside the plastic that housed the original cover). I loved that idea so much that I made them as New Years gifts for a few friends. To the left of that are some adorable York Peppermint patties sandwiched in between two scallop punches with snow men faces and finally, the cute tic tac holder that ties closed like a little book. SO CUTE. Thanks to my mom, sister and Delaina for the fun projects! Btw, if you want more instructions or links for any of these projects just let me know!

These are some of those handy glass magnets I made for my friend Amy. They are made with Rooster paper to match the theme in her kitchen.

I also made this handy-dandy FHE-in-a-jar kit for her family. Inside the jar are 54 slips with an opening song, scripture assignment, and topic for discussion. The tag on top explains how to use the gift and the tag underneath has a quote from the First Presidency about FHe. I got all of the materials from www.mormonshare.com so it was simply a matter of cutting and folding the lessons to fit inside the jar and making my tags. I also made the jar cutesy-and roostery so that it would match her kitchen. I figure it was more likely that the jar would stay out in the open to be readily used if it happened to match the decor :)

This super huge and awesome cookbook was made by my mil. She compiled family recipes and dedicated the project to her mother.

Each recipe is housed in protective sheet covers. I loved this gift -- homemade gifts really truly are MY FAVORITE. I could tell she had put a ton of time and effort in to this project and I can't wait to use it.