UPDATE: Homemade Christmas Gifts

I am done. Finally done. I have finished making Christmas gifts for all recipients on our list. This is the latest I have ever finished wrapping my presents. I learned a few important lessons this year, while undertaking this (larger than anticipated) task:

1. Making gifts can be very rewarding, but very time consuming. I had no idea how many late evenings I would be spending in my craft room.
2. Some people value homemade gifts more than others. Take my daughter for example, who was much less excited than I was about the dollhouse bookshelf I made for her, as seen in the video below:

3. It is a struggle to think of ideas for homemade gifts that people will actually like.
4. I did not have the courage to just give a homemade gift, so I ended up buying gifts as well, as not to look like I was taking the inexpensive route.
5. Making gifts is rarely cheaper than buying them. And a lot more work. Making gifts was NOT a way to simplify the holiday season.
6. I can get by on a lot less sleep than I thought, staying up late to make gifts.
7. I am much more excited to give my gifts than I am to get them, but that is also the case when I have purchased gifts.
8. I could literally spend hours (ok, days) on craft blogs looking for ideas...And I did.
9. When using superglue, it is a given that I will glue my fingers together. Every time.
10. Leaving a hot glue gun on all night will not burn your house down, but it will create a sense of panic when you realize that it could have.

Would I do this again??  I would focus less on making something for every person on my list and just make things that I think people would like. I would also try not to learn new skills/crafts and do the crafts that I already am familiar with and enjoy. All my "research" on craft blogs gave me some great ideas for next year. But for now, I really need to update my own family scrapbook and will enjoy coloring with my Bundle.

~Angela