Homemade Christmas Part 2

This post is all things homemade! To start out, my SIL asked me to make towel backpacks for her kiddos. I scoured Pinterest but couldn't find something exactly like what I wanted so I created my own design! Go Me! I bought beach towels and a coordinating hand towel and a washcloth in an accent color to make the pouch, straps, and outer pocket. now each kid can carry their own towel to the beach! I  had to kind of trial and error on this to get it the way I wanted it, but I love the final product! I plan to make a few more for my own kids and I when I do, I hope to write a more in depth tutorial on how to make one! But for now, here are some photos of the finished product!

This is a pic of the back including the straps

A side view, (you can sorta see the pocket in the blue color-perfect for sunscreen, waterbottle, book etc)

And here is the towel all laid out with a sunbather on it!

For  my next project, I wanted to make a sensory board for my son. So I headed to Lowes and purchased some fun locks, switches, mirrors, etc that I thought he would enjoy. I got the board at Michael's (with a coupon of course!). I painted it construction yellow and asked my hubby to attach everything in place.What boy wouldn't love a board like this?!

My niece was also having a birthday in December, so I saw these cute wooden peg dolls on Pinterest and knew she would LOVE them. Actually, both my children loved playing with them until I had to mail them out! They come in packages of two (1 boy/1girl) so I only made 4 princesses and came up with 4 male characters. There are tons of ideas on Pinterest as they are all the rage it seems! So you can be as creative as you want. I freehand painted these gems so I am SUPER proud of myself. I hope that my Niece really enjoys them!

I made Snow White. Rapunzel, Aurora, Belle, a Pirate, Doctor, Fireman, and Policeman

I chose princesses who were more moderately dressed since this gift was for a 2 y/o.

I also made each of my niece and nephews a wallet from this tutorial here. I added buttons to the outside after I took this photo. The picture is terrible but the I used a coordinating fabric for an inside pocket as well that I was able to use from my scrap fabric stash. 

And of course every little girl needs a purse to hold her wallet. So I made some of those too. I used the tutorial from here.

And I couldn't make a purse without adding a felt makeup compact! I pretty much made this pattern up as I went along but it's so darn cute!

And now for the adults, I found some super cute tea towels at Target for less then $2 a piece! Shhhhh! Don't tell. So I scooped up a whole bunch and turned them into aprons. Since when  I'm cooking, I always wipe my hands on the dishtowel, I though I just need an apron made from a dishtowel then I can throw it in the wash when I'm done! So all I did was add a ribbon to the top and viola! I have a cute apron, that also made for a great gift for my SIL's and friends! I unfortunately gave them all away as gifts before I could get a good photo. :(

And last but not least, I saw this idea for a busy bag felt pizza. I made a menu that was personalized to the kiddos I was giving it to. It was a little time consuming to cut out all the pieces, but it was very inexpensive and keeps the kids busy! And I made a coordinating bag to keep all the pieces together.

I hope you enjoyed all of my homemade gifts! If you like any of these or are interested in any of these items, please let me know! I'm thinking of starting an Etsy shop and need some encouragement to do so! :) Enjoy the last days of 2014!!