What I'm making for Christmas

Unfortunately, most of the people I'm giving gifts to read (or write!) this blog, so I can't share some of my cool ideas. But a few people don't, so I can share some gift ideas of what I'm hoping to make for Christmas gifts.

My older daughter is taking a ballet class, and I worry about her getting cold on the drive, so I want to make her a set (and my younger daughter will surely want a set, too, so she can also be a "bahweena!") of these:

Leg warmers (I'll probably add some poofy edging on the top) Source: ravelry.com via Jordan on Pinterest

Ballerina shrug (with no finishing!) Source: ravelry.com via Jordan on Pinterest

I think my older daughter's will be off-white and my younger daughter's will be lavender.

For my son, I've almost finished a red version of this Hallows Cardigan (based on a sweater Ron wears in one of the Harry Potter movies):

Source: ravelry.com via Jordan on Pinterest

(My husband reads the blog, so, sweetheart, YOU GET NOTHING.)

And then for some other family members (who are NOT my sisters, though I love you all), I love finding useful little things that you'd never think of, but use constantly.

This is hard. But sometime last fall, I came across this:

Source: simplicity.com via Jordan on Pinterest

It's an organizer that hangs on the back of a car seat. And yes, it's sewn, not knit. I could definitely use one of these, and I think most families could, too.

Of course, I can't forget me! I should ask for some yarn to indulge, right? Probably some time around Valentine's day, I might be ready to start a BIG project for myself:

Source: ravelry.com via Jordan on Pinterest

This gorgeous Snowdrift Cardigan, either in winter white or "greige."

What are you making for Christmas gifts?

Organizing your Christmas list

Like many of you, I have been busy baking, eating, shopping, and being with the family and not crafting. Additionally, Jasmine and I are finally painting her room. So, instead of a craft today, I will share an idea that has evolved over time. Once all of my birth family was grown with families of our own, one of my brothers used to have us all fill out Christmas wishlists that he and his wife prepared. Then they were shared them with the whole family. (Note: we did not love filling these out! However, they were very helpful when shopping.) Now I have taken this a step further and gone to Google Docs. Instead of having pages and pages of lists, we have everything on one spreadsheet we can take with us when we go out shopping.

If you have lots of people on your list and need their input on what to give this year, you might try our way. Today when we pulled out the spreadsheet, the salesman was very impressed!

You will need to use Gmail. In  Gmail, click on Documents. Then click on a red box on the left side called Create. Under Create, select Form. Now you can create questions for your family to complete. The first question should be NAME so you know who is answering. Then I created a question for categories such as clothing, electronics, DVDS, jewelry, toys, games, books, etc. I also have a question for any online wishlists.

Once you have created your form, you can send the link to the family. They complete the form and submit it. Their responses appear in a spreadsheet. You can give access to your family to be able to view the spreadsheet or you can send them copies.

Have fun with it!

We hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.