We are blessed, really. Even though we intentionally had a down-sized bounty under the tree this year, we were overwhelmed with the generosity of friends and family. I don’t want to disparage any of the amazing and thoughtful gifts we received this Christmas, but I would like to highlight some of the creative homemade ones.
Caveat: I just thought about the theme for this post today, and so many of the edible homemade gifts are no longer available for me to take photos!
Our kids were very active and crafty this year. For me, they found a toy John Deere tractor at the dollar store, then decorated it with “Sculpey” clay. It features Jessie the Boer Goat, Doc the Duck, and Chuck the Chicken Duck.

Our tractor, complete with farm animals
For my wife, one daughter used Sculpey, a reclaimed salsa jar, and imagination to build a snow globe.

Winter Wonderland
One of the big hits was something my dad made for our youngest… an old-fashioned slingshot.

Davey Crockett and his trusty slingshot (aiming at trees, not chickens)
And as always, our friends and relatives knocked us over with an amazing variety of homemade treats. These allowed us to keep plenty of snacks and sweets available, as our house was blessedly full-to-the-brim with visitors from before Christmas to yesterday afternoon. On display here: the few remaining cookies, buckeyes, toffee, and homemade apple cider wine!

It still amazes me that we are down to just this!
Of course, we made a lot of the gifts we sent out ourselves as well, mostly canned goods from this summer. However, we also gave some store-bought gifts (including a trio of $5 disc sleds for the kids that were an absolute hoot on Christmas day). A friend told us she’s thinking of doing a 100% handmade Christmas next year. We’re wondering if we’re up to the challenge!