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Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.

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Topic: What are you making this year for gifts?

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JenPre
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Joined: June 16 2009
Location: Rhode Island
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Posted: Dec 01 2009 at 3:38pm \| IP Logged

This year we have two babies who will be born just after Christmas the New Year (my sister is due 6 weeks after me!). I am busy knitting up baby sweaters; baby bonnets; baby socks etc. I'm making two of each....just in different colors!

For my sisters I knit a pair of socks for one and a pair of dance leg warmers for the other.

For friends/extended family I'm making pumpkin breads in the ceramic bread dishes from Christmas Tree Shop and on top of those will go a homemade plastic canvas ornament that I'm making up a whole bunch of.

Thankfully I've got lots of it done except the baking. Now it's just smaller things that I would like to finish. I hope to be all done in about two weeks just in case baby decides to come early!

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Jen
Mommy to Marie-Therese born 12/4/09

MrsM
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Posted: Dec 01 2009 at 4:25pm \| IP Logged

I had calendars and books printed at Artscow for all the grandparents. We received our first book last night, and it's really neat! I digitally scrapbooked pictures of the kids from the past year, and for $7.99 they made it into a hardbound book and sent it to me. The calendars were only $4.99, and I used pictures from our apple picking field trip. I haven't received those yet, but if they turn out as nice as the books I'll be happy.

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Lynn in California
Homeschooling dd13, dd11, ds10, and ds8
Mom to Miracle Baby ds3
Mom to darling Elizabeth and Francis, held in Mary's arms and always in my heart

Katie
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Joined: March 11 2005
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Posted: Dec 02 2009 at 9:47am \| IP Logged

I haven't started but here's my list....

An icecream recipe book for my dd who's getting an icecream maker. I want some recipes that don't involve 2 quarts of heavy cream and 8 egg yolks and generally cost the earth. Also we can't get lots of ingredients here so I can tailor it to what we can buy locally.

A fairy bed for dd for her magic cabin fairy. The palm trees here shed these big boat shaped, wooden things and I'm going to paint and varnish one and then make pillows and blankets and hopefully some kind of gauzy canopy. Dd 10 is making some matching furniture from some old doll house furniture we have - she's going to recover it to "match" the fairy and the new bed.

Making a waldorfy mermaid doll for dd5. I have a kit. I've had it over a year. Oops.

A mancala game for ds. I have a bunch of polished rocks and I might persuade dh to help me make a wooden base or if not I'll do clay.

Other ideas from kids to each other....

Rocky-road fudge for Dad.
Homemade marshmallows.
Homemade books and puzzles (blank board books and puzzles from barebooks.com).

Drawing a blank on the others but I know there's more.

Fun thread! I love the ideas.

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Mother of 5 in South America. No 6 due in April.

DominaCaeli
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Joined: April 24 2007
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Posted: Dec 02 2009 at 11:00am \| IP Logged

For the kids:

In their St. Nicholas stockings, they're getting holy card rings and some simple lacing cards I made out of old Christmas cards. I also made each a one-decade Rosary chaplet I made based on the St. Therese sacrifice beads design. (I'm thinking it will be easier for them to follow along if the beads can actually be moved.) That will go in a little cloth pouch with laminated Rosary cards.

I used Charlotte's saint embroidery pattern to draw my children's patrons, and I'm making each a simple patron saint doll. (Done with the embroidery--just have to sew them up!)

I make an ornament for each of the kids every year; this year is the bird ornament from Hoverson's Last-Minute Quilted Gifts.

I'm making a felt road mat for them to share. Some stuffed cars may accompany it if I'm feeling industrious.

I printed out and hole-punched a set of animal lacing cards for my two older ones too.

I also have a few other things in mind (more laminated paper saints to add to our collection, a button and zipper activity, stuffed plates and utensils, and crayon rolls), but those will depend on time and energy.

For the grandparents: I took pictures of the kids for a week and then wrote up a Week-in-the-Life book for my parents and granparents through Blurb (actually, they're set to arrive in the mail today--looking forward to that!). I'm also doing the usual photo calendars for both sets of my grandparents, whose birthdays are in January.

For friends and co-workers: Cinnamon almonds in jars. I usually do a goodie bag of all the treats I'm making for Christmas, but I'm trying to keep it simple this year.

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Blessings,
Celeste
Joyous Lessons

Mommy to six: three boys (8, 4, newborn) and four girls (7, 5, 2, and 1)

Syncletica
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Joined: June 11 2007
Location: Canada
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Posted: Dec 03 2009 at 10:29pm \| IP Logged

What wonderful ideas!
I plan to make a rosary necklace for my dd8, as well as one-decade rosaries for my children and godson.

We're also making beeswax candles and soy candles.

Trays of cookies and homemade chocolates as well. A Christmas chocolate bouquet for the piano teacher. That's just chocolate melted and poured in chocolate sucker molds, frozen, then placed in a block of styrofoam in a cup or something of that nature (ie. with a wide opening.) The one year, I covered the styrofoam with cotton to look like snow in the Christmas 'holders'. Otherwise for normal ones, I use that grass stuff.

I've considered caramel apple dip in a nice jar, but I'm still in the planning phase.

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