Favorite Homemade Treasures-NieNie Asks

Today NieNie Asks, "What's your favorite homemade Treasure?"
Go here to answer her question.

Of course, this Tree of Life is my favorite homemade treasure.
Check out the full post here.

My favorite treasure that I made for Kevin's parents for Christmas 

happens to be pictures that I took of all their grandchildren.

It took all year and a lot of work. But I'm so happy with how it turned out!

I actually had all of their pictures put on a fleece blanket, which is on Grandpa and Grandma Jones' bed.

All 13 nieces and nephews on the Jones side. 

It doesn't have to be perfect as long as it's made with love.

Tree of Life

And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God.

1 Nephi 1:11

This present made me cry when my dad brought it out. He spent so much time making it for me. Can you believe that it is homemade? I was in shock and yet felt so grateful. I didn't realize it until that moment that what I was searching for was some extra love. I then remembered that God loved me and especially, that my Daddy loved me. He gave me a hug and held me for a long time. It was a blessed moment. This is going to be in my home forever. Kevin and I have had long discussions about where we're going to put it and I think the dining room table (once we buy one) may be the spot and we'll leave  it there all year long. 

"Hold to the rod, the iron rod. 

'Tis strong and bright and true. 

The iron rod, is the word of God."

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41 of these continuation

Before I forget, don't forget to enter the giveaway! Just leave me a comment and that gets you entered. You don't even have to be a follower, but we'd love for you to come by and visit every once in awhile.

In November, I posted a little blurb how I was making 41 of these. We had a homemade Christmas and it actually turned out well. We saved a lot of money and felt that we actually gave more gifts this year than last year. Kevin says that we should make gifts every year.

Well, you finally get to find out what 41 of those are! :)

Drum roll, please. 

Now also remember, that we're just two poor college students trying to live it up!

Homemade Vinyl Name Mugs

I first read about this idea from the gals at How Does She? and thought it would be a great for everyone. And it turned out to be a hit.

Kevin cutting out the vinyl. 

The end result? Lots and lots of Christmas presents under our desk since we didn't have a tree.
You should have seen the car when we left to be with family in Bountiful. Our clothes sat on my lap during the drive over because there wasn't any more space! It was quite the adventure.

Now how can two college students afford so many presents? 

Dollar Tree. That's right, we went to the dollar store (about every one of them in Salt Lake/Bountiful) and bought almost every single mug in the store, twice. It was pretty funny and everyone kept staring at us wondering what we would do with all those mugs. I think I gave a smart-alicky answer of, "I really love hot chocolate and I'm going to be drinking lots of it and so I need all these mugs." Picture of scared cashier {enter here}. 

The vinyl was bought from a friend and well, it kept us in budget! :)

Next year, I think I'll have to invest in my own vinyl machine for projects like this. 

There's something special about a homemade present. All the time and effort they put into it and they really do think of you while making it. At least I think of them while I make my specific gift. Wait till you see what my dad made me for Christmas! It's absolutely the most amazing gift I've EVER received.

~Lis

What were some of your homemade gifts 

this year?

Happiness is...

On Christmas morning, Lisa showed me a Christmas gift that she has been working on, but hasn't quite finished yet. It was a Peanuts-themed photo album that, when finished, will be full of memories from our life together. The classic comic strip has come to form a fitting analogy of our marriage. Some days are Charlie Brown days, with their kite-eating trees, rained-out baseball games, and footballs snatched away at the last second. Some days are Snoopy days, with their Joe Cool moments, epic novels, and Red Baron dogfights. As long as we keep things in perspective, though, and keep a light heart, we can enjoy time with friends and remember what's most important in life, never losing the hope to kick the next football, win the next baseball game, or sit next to the red-haired girl at lunch.

Sometimes, it's the simple things in life that help to keep things in perspective. Once we figure out how to make sense of them, simple object lessons can teach powerful lessons. For me this year, it was a box of tamarinds. For those of you not familiar with exotic foods, a tamarind is a fruit that is rarely eaten in the United States, but is very commonly used for flavoring in Mexico. Occasionally, I will get some tamarind soda or make some tamarind drink mix to take me back to my days in the mission. Somehow, Lisa managed to find a box of sweet, ready-to-eat tamarinds. On Christmas morning, I woke up to find it in my stocking, the first such box I had seen in the United States. She was excited to see me open it, and she even tasted one, though I can't imagine she was very excited to actually take a bite. She was happy, though, because she saw me happy. What better way to find joy then by sharing with those we love the things that make them happy. It's something that I need to learn to do better, but I am grateful for a wife who does so much to make me happy. She is truly an incredible woman.

With that, I would like to thank you, readers, whoever you are, for sharing with us our experiences for the year. We are glad to be able to share with you the things that bring us joy, and it means a lot to us that there are people out there who care enough to share it with us. While I know that I haven't always posted very regularly, I do appreciate your interest in Lisa's work. If you do want to hear more from the more literary-challenged member of the family, feel free to let us know. Who knows, if people show some interest I may start posting more. Merry Christmas to all of you, and a very joyous New Year!

Homemade Christmas

Friday after all the shopping and a little decorating at my parents house, we all ended up at IHOP (International House of Pancakes) for the traditional breakfast (even though it was dinnertime). Some (like me), still ordered breakfast while others actually ordered dinner. It was nice because normally it is just my mom and I getting breakfast at about 5am when we're done with our Black Friday shopping.

I love spending the time with family and the more, the merrier!

On a side note . . . I received my copy of Holiday with Matthew Mead and I absolutely love it!

You can order yours here.

There are some amazing ideas inside the magazine. One of my favorite ideas came from NieNie. She wrote about how her kids are only allowed to give homemade gifts to each other. I thought this was great and could really keep Christmas in perspective.

Granted, Santa will still come and there will be plenty of toys made by his elves.

After I had read the small blurb, I mentioned it to Daddy. He then said, "Why don't we do something like that this Christmas? We could draw names." Brillant.

So Friday night at IHOP, we drew names. I'm really excited to get started on my little project next week after my major finals are done. Cross your finger for me, four huge projects and a paper are up ahead. If you see me looking a little frazzled this week, wait for next week or maybe even the week after when I'm completely done. I'll look better then. In meantime, I might just need a hug.

Now the CHALLENGE:

What can you make this Christmas? You can buy the supplies at the store, but you have to make it yourself. It really makes you think long and hard about what someone really wants.

Please COMMENT:

Do you have any homemade Christmas gift ideas? I want to hear about it!