the perfect gift

Let's talk about gifting! Remember waking up Christmas morning and having no idea how hard your parents worked to put together those presents under the tree? Long gone are the days of leaving out the cookies Christmas night and going to bed! It seems like forever ago, but there was a time where you would march into your elementary school with $5 and buy all of your presents in the Lil Shoppers store. I'm talking about the stores that the PTO set up to help all the little kids buy their parents knick knacks and decorate ornaments that they made. Does anyone else remember those? I loved those days, and I know for a fact that my parents still have a little trinkets from those days. They were such tiny gifts, but we picked them out, wrapped them and made them the best gifts ever!

I am still a lover of homemade gifts. Especially ones that my 2 year old makes! His attention span is somewhat limited, but he does love arts and crafts for about five minutes. We totally capitalize on that and have him make as much as he can throughout the month, to send to our family. This year I got a few wooden pieces from Michaels and let Luke (and Ryan) use their imagination to decorate them. I love how they turned out, and wish we could be there to see them opened!

Supplies:

Small bird house

Kid's washable paint

Clear sealant to use after the paint dries

I also love the idea of putting my son's face on everything. So, family expect to open a lot of coffee mugs with Luke on them. My MIL never waits to open her presents, so I am sure she is happily sipping from her Luke face coffee cup! Calendars are usually on my mom's Christmas list, since it is an easy chance to get lots of pictures up on the wall, and completely useful. We opted to use Shutterfly this year, because they have some insane sales throughout the month, and it is super easy to ship to other addresses.