Busy Crafting....

This year I have decided that I am going to make most (or at least a really good portion) of my holiday gifts myself. I decided this for many reasons, one being that since we don't have a ton of money to spend of gifts this year (who does?), something handmade is much more meaningful than something store bought. But, even more importantly (to me), is the fact that my handmade gifts are much more sustainable and much less of a burden on this earth. Homemade is packaging free, child labor free, and has a much lower carbon footprint because things are not being shipped back and forth across the country to be assembled. I do realize that the yarn or fabric that I purchase does have issues along its own life path, but at least the path stops there.
So, the past few weeks I have been trying to tackle the job of coming up with and creating gifts for the important people in my life. The fact that November, December and January are filled with baby showers, and birthdays of Finn's friends and relatives has made this task a little more daunting, and I am slowly realizing that I should have started my crafting months ago. But, I will do my best to make what I can and try to buy local and/or sustainable gifts for the rest. And in the meantime, I will be crafting my nights away (at least as long as my pregnant self can stay awake).
Unfortunately, I won't be able to share many of my creations here until after the holidays (as I dont want to spoil any surprises), but below are a few pictures of the baby shower gifts and birthday presents  I have recently completed.
I hope that you all are finding ways to make your holiday special (and maybe slightly more eco-friendly) this year. I am still trying to come up with some ideas for holiday gifts, so if anyone has any great ones they are willing to share, let me know. And, I will now vow that one of my New Years resolutions will be to start my holiday craft making earlier next year (yeah, right).