Sunday, November 12, 2006

The Loveliness of Homemade Gifts


Dawn, from By Sun and By Candlelight is hosting the next Loveliness Fair .

The Loveliness of Homemade Gifts.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not crafty.

And while I list cooking as one of my hobbies, I don't mean real cooking. I mean making things like fudge and coconut ice and chocolate crackles with the kids.

So, we don't do a lot of homemade gifts.

We do, however, make home made cards.

The kids enjoy it. Making cards has become one of our traditions.

Yes, we buy cards, too - funny ones, artistic ones, pop art.

But there is fun ( and learning) in both making and receiving a homemade card, one tailored to the recipient.

Here are some cards the children made for one of their brothers, on his birthday. Reflecting his interest in Lord of the Rings and in Harry Potter.

Last year, Anthony made a pressed flower card for a priest on the priest's birthday. He also made some pop up cards for his pen pals.

Anthony is our most enthusiastic card maker.

Some helpful card making sites -
printable all purpose cards
Billy Bear's post office
making friends - card making

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Leonie

Every single year until they were around 12 or 13 my boys made cards for John and me for birthdays and Mothers and Fathers Day. They are precious. I still have them all (somewhere). I do miss getting them, but that is ok. The last few years instead of drawing they showed their creativiy on the computer. We had some funny ones!

Thanks for the memories, and your cards sound wonderful!

Leonie said...

Love to see some of the cards - sweet!

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Leonie! I'll check out the websites.

I personally love homemade cards - the effort, the thought involved.

What a good idea to post about it!

Leonie said...

Well, cards were the only homemade gifts I could think of for the fair. :-)

Anonymous said...

We love making cards too Leonie. Almost any art lesson or new art technique can be practiced on a card for someone!

Leonie said...

We are thinking about making Xmas cards - some years we do and other years we buy the cards.

The bought ones are easier to post!

Anonymous said...

hahaha - that they are. they certainly don't get confiscated by the dep't of ag ;-) we are planning on making them this year, they actually do sell card sized envelopes now....

Anonymous said...

These are really neat Leonie!

Anonymous said...

Our favorite babysitter turns 16 today. We're going to make the mosaic heart card from your link!

Thank you for the inspiration, Leonie! Have a lovely day!

Leonie said...

Beate - we remembera lovely card from the US, homemade with seeds and flowers, that was sent to us abut first confiscated and sprayed by the dept of agriculture! :-)


Margaret, we haven't tried the mosaic card yet - hope it turns out well!

Anonymous said...

You know when you read something and in your mind it registers totally different than intended? I found myself thinking, "well, of course, no one would think of Leonie as crafty!" as in "skilled in or marked by underhandedness, deviousness, or deception." LOL

i hope to make some cars this year also.

Leonie said...

lol Sabine - I nver thought of that definition of crafty.

Anonymous said...

I love making cards too and have posted some pics on my blog in the past. I love the individuality of them, and that we can make them for someone specifically in mind. Your ideas are lovely! Thanks for sharing.