Christmas gifts.... Star calendar and popsicle sticks puzzle

Last week I gave myself a pretty hefty goal.

One homemade Christmas present finished a day.

Every day.

And I almost accomplished it! :)

Here are two projects I did that I LOVE LOVE LOVE!

I made four of these bad boys.

I make calendars every year for the grandma's and great grandma's.

I usually do them online at Walgreen's or shutterfly.

But this year I found this amazing tutorial

and I just had to give it a try!

It did save me money in the end-

which is a GREAT thing.

And I think it turned out VERY cute-

which the grandma's will love.

But it did take a while-

Be warned.

I will say that the author had not added the link to the calendar until the end of my project so I ended up starting almost all the way over which was the best idea because making my own calendar was taking FOREVER!

Then with my leftover pictures I made two of these babies! :)

Finding stocking stuffers for a 16 month old is no easy task.

When I saw this tutorial I was so excited.

My baby girl is going to love it!

She is just now starting to (kind of) understand puzzles

and she LOVES looking at pictures of herself.

Then while I was at it I made the puzzle you see pictured for my

2 year old niece.

I made hers a little harder by putting a picture on both sides of the sticks.

I think this will make a cute "bow" to top her actual gift.

As for her actual gift......

Ahhhh....

I have A LOT to learn about sewing.

I will show you my  first attempt soon

(well as soon as I have successfully finished a

second attempt and do not feel as worried! :)

Hope these little gifts inspire you some!

~Happy homemade Christmas