Homemade Christmas Gifts

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

We always enjoy this special time of year with friends and family. On Christmas eve, I rounded up my little ones and we watched The Nativity Story. I love that movie and was so happy to be able to do that with them. Great way to begin all the festivities.

Today, I just thought that I would share a few of our "homemade" gifts that we did this year. We had fun coming up with ideas and putting them together. Brett had to do most of the work and he did amazing as always. Love that man!

So, here's the gift he made for his mom...

I got this idea from KariAnne at Thistlewood Farm. She has made some fabulous letters out of pallets. We decided to do a rustic letter A (for Arganbright of course) out of some salvaged barn boards we had on hand. We made it on a very large scale because his parents live in a timber-framed home and we pictured it up high on one of those beams.

For my sister Alana, I decided to make a vintage hostess set. I've made one before... they're just a really fun and festive gift that you can be creative with. Here's how it came together...

The items I included were: vintage soda crate (for a tray),  mason jars (for drinking glasses), carafe, paper straws, vintage mason jar with candy canes, notebook and some tree trunk slabs for a rustic centerpiece. (things that I added that are not pictured are a bar of hand-soap, some ribbon and a recipe for hot coco). My sister is such a great hostess, so it was fun to put this together for her. I loved the festive pop of red with this gift! It was perfect for Christmas. (if you want to see the other hostess set i put together you can do that here.)

The last gift that was homemade was a new stable/horse stalls for Little Miss. She's in that American Girl Doll phase and absolutely loves her horses that go with the doll.

Brett made it to fit in a little closet/storage space in her room. It turned out perfect! The doors open and close and the kids spend a great deal of time playing in it themselves.

It was a great Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by! 

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" Luke 2:11

Linking To:
The Scoop ~ Mod Vintage Life ~ Knick of Time ~ 
The Chicken Chick ~ The Dedicated House ~
 Savvy Southern Style ~ Give Me the Goods ~
French Country Cottage  ~ Rooted in Thyme ~
Frugal Friday  ~ The Cottage Market 
The Vintage Farmhouse ~ 

Farmhouse Table

I was so excited when I saw this table listed for sale at Furniture Zone  in Boone, IA. You just never know what treasures you might find there.

It's a fabulous reproduction farmhouse table. I love these!

The husband agreed, so I bought her and sold my other table.

Here's the table that I bought via Craiglist and painted before this one...

She was great but my painting has improved and I was ready to move on. Especially when I found the style I love and the farmhouse table fits our dining room space so much better.

Since my husband was home for 4 glorious days over Thanksgiving, we went to work on some house projects. I decided to try a little something new for the table top. I didn't want to have to buy anything so we worked with the materials we had on hand...

I started by mixing some of my French Linen Chalk Paint with water to create a wash. I didn't measure or anything... just mixed till I thought the consistency was right. Then I applied it with a brush... (warning: the lighting is not great in the work pictures because i work at night when all the babes are sleeping)

Here's the completed French Linen "wash" on the tabletop...

Then my husband applied a coat of Sherwin Williams Pickled White Oil Stain over the French Linen wash...

When that was dry, I did some sanding...

This is where all the work photos stop. I forgot to keep that up. After I sanded to get the look I liked, Brett finished the top by applying two coats of the Minwax (water based) Helmsman Spar Urethane. For the rest of the table, I painted her using the French Linen Chalk Paint.

Here's how she turned out...

The chair dilemma remains. I love the wood tones brought into this room but I'm not crazy about these chairs. I have a few ideas of what I like but we'll have to see what I can find.

and truth be told... i will never be cured of my love for Darcy :)

This chair is by Rachel Ashwell and can be found here.

It's my "someday" dream chair... after I work really hard and sell some big projects.

Always good to dream!

Thanks for stopping by.

Linking To:
Mod Vintage Life  ~ Savvy Southern Style ~ Give Me the Goods
The Inspiration Exchange  ~ Rooted in Thyme ~
 French Country Cottage 
The Inspiration Gallery ~ Miss Mustard Seed ~ Frugal Friday
The Cottage Market   The Vintage Farmhouse ~