Handmade Holiday Ideas

In the spirit of handmade holidays, I thought I'd share some of the things we have made for our kids over the past few years. Most of them are super easy and quick to make:

Rubber Band Board. It doesn't get an easier—nails, a piece of wood, and a bunch of rubber bands. May I suggest getting a bit more creative than we did, and painting the wood before banging in the nails? Your kids will get all kinds of artsy with this.

The ubiquitous puppet show theater. I made this about four years ago and the girls still play with it. I totally winged this, as I have no sewing abilities whatsoever, and it has still not fallen apart. A tension rod, a couple of dowels, and bunch of fabric. Voila!

Amigurumi Star Wars figures—an easy home run. The crocheted characters went pretty quickly, but this project has the added tasks of sewing the hair and clothes for them. Well worth it.

We have given personalized plate/mug sets to many kids for many occasions. I found a box of plain white plates/mug sets at a thrift store and painted them to the child's preference, but the picture above shows the ones the girls painted themselves. You could gift a set that you have painted especially for someone, or give them some plain tableware and a set of special paint to go with it, as a u-paint-it kit. (note: the paint is non-toxic, permanent, and dishwasher safe.)

How about home-made snuggies for all your kids' favorite stuffed animals? I made these for a birthday gift last year and they were a hit. As an added bonus, you will crack up every time you see them.

Hope you can take a few ideas away from this post. Happy making!

I'll gladly answer any questions you have about any of these projects. Just leave it in the comments. 

Handmade Books

It's interesting, how I came to learn how to make books. I was taking an oil painting class for fun when I found out I was pregnant with my first babe. I withdrew from the class, in a effort to not cause birth defects to the baby-to-be, but the school, not thrilled about giving me a refund for the class, suggested I pick a different class instead. I chose bookmaking because it was the only one that worked with my schedule. To my surprise, I loved every minute of it.

Over the years, my bookmaking phases have come and gone, but whenever I do get up the gumption to make a few, they are always for giving. They make such great gifts because they are easily customized to the age/gender/preferences of the recipient. This year, I am making a bunch of small sketch books for the kids on my holiday list (like the green and brown book). There may be a few for the grownups, too, because I love that floral paper and have the urge to use it. It makes me think of Florence, though I have never been there.

Last year, I made a few as gifts (pictured below). One was bound full of musical notation paper for "A," the other is a very precious portfolio of artwork worth sharing in its own post (coming soon). 

I had originally planned on doing a handmade book tutorial, but after remembering just how many steps are involved, I decided otherwise. Here are a few links for you instead:

Make your own Moleskine-like book

Make a ribbon binding book

Make your own journal

Make an accordion book

Bind with a Japanese binding (which is pictured in the books I made)

How to make a sketch book

A great list of resources (books and online) here 

A Collaboration for Little Miss Eight

She loved this ring I sold. It's was a big silver dome with green beads sticking out of the top of it. I would have given it to her, but it was so big for her hand I knew she wouldn't really be able to wear it. Clearly, she was going to need her own version of that ring for her eighth birthday. It would be proportioned for her hand and bear little pink crystal beads.

Of course, a ring like that would need to have a matching necklace. That necklace would have to incorporate all of her favorite things, like a horse, a cat, and Yoda, and those same pink beads.

The set of mama-made jewels was going to need a daddy-made birthday box, naturally.

It would be made in the USA with love,

and it would have a special place for the ring and for the necklace. The two compartments would form the number 8.

Little Miss Eight would use it to store her new bling, as well as the $8 she got from her grandparents. (She's that much closer to saving up for the horse she plans to buy someday. I hope she doesn't hock these jewels for one.)

Copper Garden Markers for Mom

"A" and I often make the gifts we give on Mother's Day. In fact we make most of the gifts we give year-round. But with so many giving occasions—holidays, birthdays, Mother's Day, one can only give so many pieces of jewelry or wooden items to their mother.

I had been mulling over making some garden markers for a while now. Both our mothers have herb gardens and I was glad to think of something more functional to give, but I was seriously procrastinating making them. A few weeks ago, Nicole at GardenMama, sent me a link to some garden markers she had seen, saying they made her think of me. Well, I was flattered, and that was all the motivation I needed to get moving. Before I knew it, I had bunches of them.

I used strips of copper and the silver wire writing I have so much fun doing.

A few of you know me too well, and actually suggested I make these! I was bursting and wanted to show you, but had to wait until Mother's Day passed.

Turns out, I could have shown you, because we still have not seen either of our mothers to give them their gifts. They were both away. (Ma, if you're reading this...surprise!)

I'm keeping a few for myself, too, and I'm curious to see how they weather. I'm hoping that, over time, they take on that gorgeous green patina.

Copper and sterling silver garden markers available in my shop.

I will be stepping away from the computer for the rest of the week, in preparation for the 2-day show this weekend. I'll be back next week, breathing a little easier, with lots to tell.
SoWa Opening Weekend boasts hand-crafted goods, a farmer's market, and an antiques market all in one place. For those of you in the Boston area, stop by and say hello!

The Birthday Box

I wrote about celebrating a certain little girl's sixth birthday last week, but I didn't show you everything that was made especially for her. "A" makes boxes for the girls on their birthday each year, and it has become their favorite tradition. The birthday box is a much anticipated gift—how big is it going to be? What will he put on the cover this year? Where will the secret be carved this time?

The answer to the question of what to put on her box this year was obvious. Our pug-crazed girl would get a box with a little doggie smiling right back at her.

Of course, she loved it. Just as much as all the others. We are compiling quite the collection of birthday boxes, and they seem to be getting bigger each year. (We may need a bigger house when the girls are teenagers.)

For all the special treasures and trinkets the girls collect, there is a special place to keep them safe. I love peeking in these boxes to see what the girls are coveting this minute. Their most prized items seem to change quite often. I have spied a gamut of things—from cherished souvenirs brought back for them from far away places to grapes. Old ones.

Just today we found the elusive remote in the pug box. I think I may have to make box inventory checks more of a routine occurrence.

Charming

Gifts I made and gave aside, I still have a few things to show from the holidays. Today I'm sharing a commissioned work, personalized for a very special Nana. A friend of mine had the brilliant idea to make a few custom gifts from the Remembery tokens. The first request was a bookmark with a token on it (a few of you suggested this idea in my recent bookmark post), and the second was this set of stethoscope charms.

Made with large lobster clasps and sterling silver tokens, these charms clip onto the tubing of a stethoscope. Now Nurse Nana can have her grandchildren proudly on display, ready to show off on a moment's notice. (This is high priority for grandparents, as we have had the joy of coming to understand)

These little tokens invite curiosity and beg to be held, turned over, and inquired about. The combination of the polished silver and the black and white photos give the charms a sleek look that shouldn't be reserved for medical professionals. They could work in so many other applications—backpack pulls, key chains, ID badges, ornaments...

There's gotta be more clever uses for these, but I just can't seem to come up with any right now. So once again, I'm going to defer to you for more charming ideas (sorry, couldn't resist that pun) and uses.

(More) Bookmarks

By now, you may have guessed that bookmarks would be on my roster of holiday handmade gifts. I am lucky to have so many readers on my list, so just about everybody got a custom bookmark, and a book to put it in.

My mother and my sister each got a fleur-de-lys in all its tiny, hammered, oxidized glory. I expanded on my bookmark offerings, departing from the hearts and baubles I made so many of in the past two months. And now there are scores of ideas swirling in my head—a simple dangling charm is just so easy, almost any shape could be used for these. I am currently trying to narrow down my design choices for a few more bookmarks to round out the line. Any requests? Suggestions?

Five shillings for my father. My parents have traveled to Africa a few times now, so I used a coin from Kenya for his bookmark. A dangling object felt too feminine to me, so his is set in a bezel and attached directly to the silver hook. The coin I chose was beautifully time-worn, with some of the lettering nearly completely rubbed off. I like this idea of using a coin, and I was recently reminded of a Norwegian coin bookmark I had made for a friend a few years back. (I had forgotten about this completely. Scary!)

I am thinking of offering custom coin bookmarks in my shop. They'd be a nice way to remember a vacation, especially because it seems like coins are the one common souvenir everybody comes home with. (Then they end up in your coin jar, only to get rejected by the coin counting machine when it's time to cash your pennies in...)

Hope you new year is so far, so good!

I'm not the only one in our household who has been busy making. The girls have spent the last week making the perfect gifts for each other, and I have just been informed that my stocking is full and ready for Christmas morning. I can't wait to see what they have made for me.

"A" has been keeping busy with his latest woodshop binge—tops. One for each of the kids on our list (and that's alot of tops).

It was quite a scene trying to get all the tops spinning for this photo but, alas, there were always a few that got away—spun right off the table, or fell over soon after launching.

A handful of those homemade beauties at rest. I love the variety of shapes and sizes.

And one atop a gift, on it's way to a special little one.

Progress report: I am happy to say that I made decent headway in my pile of gifts yet-to-be- made. I can't wait to show them all to you, but that's going to have to wait...

Let the Crafting Commence!

...that's right, commence. Four days until Christmas and I am only right now beginning to make many of the gifts I have committed myself to making. I have to be honest and say that the devil on my shoulder is saying, "Forget it. Save yourself the gray hair, go buy whatever you can find, and be done." While it's tempting, I just can't bring myself to do it. After all, I purchased the materials for these projects back in early November (I had grandiose hopes last month, back when I was young. Ho hum).

The reason I have yet to find the time to make these gifts is that there has been an onslaught of last-minute jewelry orders. Mostly from men, frantically requesting expedited shipping. It's funny—that stereotype of men being eleventh-hour shoppers is certainly proving to be true. But as a last-minute crafter, I am not really in a position to judge them, am I?

...at least I got our Christmas cards done.

Merry Making!

Giveaway and Interview Feature

Exciting news...

AG Ambroult is being featured on GardenMama for the next few days!

For those of you who are not familiar with Nicole, or GardenMama, she's worth getting to know. Her blog is poetic, ethereal, and inspirational. Each post is beautifully written and stunningly photographed.

GardenMama interviewed me last week via email, giving me thought-provoking questions for which I wrote and deleted the answers to several times (being introspective doesn't come easy to me). In addition to the interview, she is also sponsoring a very exciting AG Ambroult giveaway , where I will be making a custom Remembery Capsule for the lucky winner.

This giveaway will run until Saturday at 8pm. To enter, just stop by the GardenMama blog and leave a comment. The winner will be announced That same night at 9pm.

...And Done

Sharing a few pix of the completed toy box with you this morning.

It's even better in person. The color is velvety, the surface absolutely smooth. I wish you could all run your hands over it.

It really puts our own toy box to shame. Luckily, I've got an in with this woodworker I know...

You can read more about the making of this toy box here.

The Ten-Year Gift

You may remember that we celebrated our tenth anniversary a few weeks ago. I made a special gift for "A" that I have been meaning to share with you.

Ten years was a big one, and it seemed so significant, personal, and gratifying. It also seemed to go by so fast. I wanted to timelessly capture our children while they are still small. I wanted to package them up and deliver them to him in a heart warming way. We have so many photos of them, and I have already given him a Remembery Capsule on another occasion, so I made silver silhouettes of the girls and placed them in a copper container.

The shapes of our girls and cat, and a tiny "ILU" heart (which is the way our 5-year-old daughter abbreviates "I love you") occupy the small round box.

A straight-from-my-soul message was written on the inside of the lid.

I'm thinking of adding my silhouette and his, as well, to preserve our family as we were in 2009. Things are changing so fast—the girls are growing like weeds and the grown-ups in our house are finding stray gray hairs every so often (ahem). Hopefully someday we'll hold up those silhouettes to compare what we use to look like and laugh. Maybe ten years from now.

Brainstorming and Bookmarks

I've been brainstorming ideas for my business lately—how I can generate more sales, how I can improve my brand, and how I can market my pieces better. I decided I was going to offer some more functional pieces in addition to my jewelry—to expand my lines in the hope of expanding, well, sales! But what to do? There are always money clips and barrettes/hairpins, which I would like to make but I'm not sure, since there seem to be so many on the market. Then I remembered I had seen metal bookmarks once. I remember loving them and thinking I would absolutely use one if I had one. So I set off to make some bookmarks of my very own design. This is what I came up with:

Made from fat silver wire, it was hammered flat so it fits snugly into a book without hurting the binding. In typical AG Ambroult fashion, they were hammered and otherwise abused, then oxidized for a rustic feel.

The hook fits over the binding, keeping your place secure. Slip it in your book and pick right up where you left off.

There are many readers in my life, so it's good to know I have the gift of a bookmark ready and waiting for when an occasion arises.

The heart bookmark is currently listed in my shop.

Here are a couple of snapshots from the past few days. There are projects in the pipeline and things currently in the works. There is also plenty being put off, while a sick second grader takes some time off of school to get better.

Socks: making and mastering them will be my winter project


The (very) rough start of a soon-to-be gift


more amigurumi (I think it is safe to say that these days, there is always a little crocheted friend in the works)


...and I have a feeling many of you have some variation of this scene in your home now, too.

Happy Halloween week!

Remembery Capsule

So this is the project I mentioned the other day. The Remembery Capsule: A little cylinder of memories that have been captured in personalized tokens.

I made this remembery capsule for some friends of mine as a wedding gift and finally gave it to them last night. I say finally because, well, they got married in 2006. I know, it is so far beyond the wedding gift etiquette, I should be ashamed of myself.

This no-longer-newlywed couple is not your average duo. They are hikers, skiers, fishermen, engineers, crafters, marketing gurus, gardeners, business owners, oh—and they just built a house, much of it with their own hands. They truly live life to the fullest, and they have sought experiences in many places around the country and the globe.

It was only fitting that their wedding gift reflect their many adventures together. I chose topo maps for the notable locations where they have spent their time and put each one in a token, with the corresponding date.

Each token fits neatly into the capsule.

The tokens are made from two copper discs, riveted together, with the map sandwiched in between.

Tiny sterling silver skis were soldered to the top, to make the box more personal for the bride and groom (ok—you're right, maybe I shouldn't call them that three years after the fact).

The best part of all? I left plenty of room to add more tokens as they continue their adventurous journey together.

I plan to offer the Remembery Capsules in my shop soon, customizable for any occasion. They can document a family's journey (wedding pic, new home, one for each child, pets, etc...), or celebrate a single occasion (a capsule full of wedding photos), a child's life (birth, kindergarten, first lost tooth, etc...), or whatever you can dream up (a capsule full of bird illustrations, because you love birds, for example). I made one for my own family that I will share with you soon.

About the name:

The word remembery was invented by my then-three-year-old daughter who confused the words remember and memory. We love that word, and we use it all the time. Maybe you'll add that one to your vocabulary, too!

Table Talk

A few months ago, my husband (I'll call him "A" from now on) completed our new dining room table and, aahhhh, is it a beauty!

It brings so much to our home. Because we live in a small house, he crafted a table that would have a lightness to it—I'm not talking about color, but structure. He designed a trestle table, that has thinner lines below, so as not to appear too heavy in the room. And it is beautiful in it's spot, letting the light from the adjacent windows flood the room.

Working out of his cramped workshop in our basement (a room over from mine), "A" had to address his first, most obvious challenge—how to fit a finished table out of the basement and through the narrow stairway to our dining room. The solution? This table completely disassembles (as many trestle tables do). Made with keyed through tenons, the trestle can be removed from the legs, the legs detached from the top, making moving and assembly a cinch.

But the best part of this table is the secret it keeps.

This carving is in the center of the underside of the table top, visible only if you crawl underneath it (which might explain why we frequently find the girls under there). The texture of this carving is irresistible, and it is a crime you can't all run your fingers across it.

Our family spends so much time seated at this table which, aside from meals, is host to homework, craft projects, blog and jewelry photography shoots, sewing endeavors, and so much more.

What's next for our resident woodworker? He's making a bench to go with the table. I can hardly wait, and will surely be keeping you posted on the progress.

Robots and Kings

The finished product (see previous post). I crocheted this adorable set for my nephew's birthday, and he has been blasting off ever since. The pattern, from Amy Gaines, is simple and quick. I have written before about Amigurumi crocheted toys here. They are fun to make and even better to give. My girls have lots of handmade friends now, and count them among their most special toys.

...and this little arrangement was on our table the other day. A snack, that the girls gathered from the garden when I was remiss in getting them something to eat. They were referring to their assortment of tiny carrots, nasturtium, and mint as "the king's snack," a name we will most definitely be using from now on. I am thinking I will delay in getting them snacks more often—just to see what they come up with on their own. This snack, fit for a king, is much better than what I would have served up to my little queens.