I had a lot of fun sewing and crafting this week.
First, here is a picture of the nightgown I made for my second daughter. Well, actually two pictures. The second picture is a close up of the pin tucks and lace on the collar because even a flannel nightgown can have a touch of elegance.
I also made pajama pants for two of my sons. It’s ridiculous that they were on my to-do list for so long since they only take about fifteen minutes to make. It felt good to get something so small crossed off my list.
Then this week I’ve had fun putting together a gift bag for my husband’s sister. I love to fill gift bags or baskets with lots of little gifts that I think are appropriate to the recipient. So I went on my “Gifts” board on Pinterest and started making a list of everything I wanted to do.
Follow Jennifer Schonhaar’s board Gifts on Pinterest.//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js
Here’s what I came up with…
The directions are here.
I love making these hangers and have done a lot of them over the last couple of years. It’s nice to have a hanger that’s non-slip and pretty. Plus it helps me use up some of my fabric scraps. The tutorial is here.
This was such a cool project to do. The tissue paper really does melt into the candle so that all you see is the design you drew. It’s a great project for the children to work on because tissue paper is so cheap they can keep drawing designs until they have one they like. You can find the instructions here.
My eight-year-old son had fun drawing designs on this pad of paper like described here.
I did these on my own. I’ve seen them around the ‘net. I just melted chocolate chips and dipped the spoons. Then I melted some caramels and drizzled them. Finally I added just a little bit of sea salt. I almost don’t want to give these away!
And finally I really loved this article. It was so encouraging to see the things that you could get done in fifteen minutes. And accomplishing any of these things would really make you feel like you had done something major.
15 Homemaking Tasks You Can Do In 15 Minutes
What kind of gifts do you like to give?
Intentional Simplicity 
Hi Jennifer, you have a great blog and some fun suggestions for activities to do with our children. Thank you for sharing the 15 Homemaking Tasks You Can Do in 15 Minutes post with your friends. All the best.
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I love doing gift baskets or gift bags with some kind of theme! I tend to do them mostly for Christmas, like I’ll give a couple a “date night” basket with a DVD I think they’ll like, some microwave popcorn, hot chocolate mix (homemade if I have time), and some kind of baked goodies. I LOVE those candles — I’m going to have to try that. So pretty!
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I like that basket idea. I’m always so worried though that what I think might be a good movie the recipient won’t. 😛
Do try the candles. Your children will love doing it. I did find I needed to wear an oven mitt because the blow dryer was so hot.
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Thanks for the tip! My mom’s birthday is next month, and I know she would LOVE to get these from my kids.
Yes, the movie selection can be tough. I tend to only do those for people I know really well, and whose movie collections I have at least a vague idea of, so I’m not getting them something they probably already have. Gift receipts are always helpful if I’m not sure. Sometimes I give people a movie I just want them to see and don’t think they’d watch on their own — I do that for my brother a lot. “You need to see this, and if it’s on your shelf, maybe you will.” Other times, I just find out a person hasn’t seen something and I tuck that away for future reference. I gave Mr. Mom to some friends who have little kids and like comedies, but who had never heard of it when I quoted it to them. Our pastor and his family have a tradition of watching westerns together while eating chili every winter, and I just so happen to have seen a ton of westerns, so a couple of years ago I gave them a few family-friendly westerns with a chili spice mix and a cornbread mix.
But yes, the movie gift thing won’t work on just anyone. Ditto with books.
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That’s a cool family tradition – chili and westerns. Westerns are great when you have a wide age spread in your family. There is something for everyone. Even the little ones enjoy a good cowboy movie.
I’ve given away a few movies but I’m super careful. I guess I’d rather give baked goods. 🙂 They always win.
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