Crafty Christmas

Handmade gifts and decorations are wonderful, and this year they seem to be a necessity around our house. With our current job situation, economizing this holiday season has become a must, and so the girls and I have been busy making gifts and decorations that are inexpensive and fun!

A lot of these projects (if not most) are inspired by my dear friend and scrapbooking mentor, Kristii Lockart. Check out her blog if you want some great inspiration too! (http://kristiilockartdesigns.blogspot.com/)

Our first project this year was a set of paper "gingerbread" houses. We did a real gingerbread house last year, but the process was just too long and involved for little fingers to really help with. This year we got glitter and artificial snow everywhere, but the results were worth it. I did the bulk of the tedious work and the girls helped me add all the decorations from the Eskimo Kisses Christmas line.

The tops of the houses are removable to hold Christmas photos, treasures, or ornaments. Aren't they cute? Thank you, Kristii, for the great idea!