Handmade Holiday 2014

Last week I touched upon buying handmade and unique holiday gifts.  I couldn't very well ignore the option of DIY gifts as well, now could I? Admittedly, this year I haven't made the time to make personalized items for the special people on my list, but I certainly have an arsenal of DIY ideas in my archives that could be pretty awesome to unwrap.

My personal favorite for ease of creation, coziness, wearability, and all around utility is the infinity scarf.

Once you get the hang of making one, you can bang each one out in 10min or less with my infinity scarf tutorial from last Christmas.  All you need is a yard of fun jersey fabric and a sewing machine!  (side note- Girl Charlie has some stellar jersey fabrics available)

For the lover of tech and all things beautiful, how about an iphone dock made from an old book?

or maybe a custom ipad case?

For the Christmas decor addict, you really can't go wrong with a chic ornament like these rustic wooden bead ornaments or clay patterned ornaments.

Invited to an endless number of holiday parties and don't want to show up empty-handed?  How about a cute leather tassel keychain as a hostess gift?  Or take this to the next level and attach a tassel to napkin rings... or remove the ring and add a hook for a Christmas ornament.  Oh the possibilities!

That's the fun part about handmade gifts, isn't it- the possibilities?  You can really customize something that your loved one will truly appreciate.

Overcoming PTCD

Christmas decorating is going to be a little bit more exciting for me this year- my wheels are turning with ideas!  Why so different?  Well, for the first time in 5 years of living together, Humbug Hubby has given the green light on white lights- on our porch. As a young Jewish boy working in retail during the holiday season, Hubby was traumatized early by Christmas music on repeat and garish, in-your-face decorations.  Being the good wife that I am, I have tried to be sensitive to his PTCD (post traumatic Christmas disorder) and kept the decorating rather simple.  The extent of our previous exterior decorations was a kissing ball.  Last year, in a moment of clarity (or slip of the tongue) Hubby mentioned how nice tasteful white lights can look.  Yes Dear, I agree, we should totally have tasteful white lights on our porch this year!  What a great idea!

Oh the possibilities!!!

So I was thinking of doing something simple like this:

Too much?

I can only imagine what our electricity would cost with that on!  I kid of course, I was more thinking along the lines of this.

The puppy completes the ambiance.  Think I could get Charlie to pose in a Santa hat?

I love the not-too-traditional-but-still-traditional look of magnolia garland.  Mix in a few metallic leaves and it would be magical (IMHO)

No lights that I see here, but if you imagine this simple garland with lights, I could see that working on my porch.  I also love the wreath (I see a non-traditional greenery theme emerging)

This is also a leading contender.  Take away the large red bows and maybe add a simple burlap bow and now we're talking.

I know it's probably taboo of me to say in blogland, but I have no desire to spend exorbitant amounts of time and money decorating when it'll be mainly Hubby and I seeing it.  I'd rather have a few festive vignettes that put a smile on my face and get us into the holiday spirit.

I'll probably bust out the tree and ornaments and get started this weekend- I may even force Hubby to help.  It'll be good therapy for his PTCD, I think.

sources 1/2/3/4/5 If you know the original, non-pinterest sources, please share- I'd like to give credit where it's due!