This is one of those declarations I might later regret making out loud, but here it is anyway:
Next year, I plan to make all of my Christmas gifts by hand.
I know this is ambitious. My family is large, and creating handmade gifts for everyone is a major undertaking — one I’ve attempted before with mixed results. Still, I’m inspired to try again.
A Lofty Christmas Dream
Years ago, while driving through Vermont, I saw a billboard for a basket outlet and stopped in. I’m a fan of baskets, and the selection, quality, and prices lit a spark. Right there I decided to fill beautiful baskets with homemade goodies for everyone on my Christmas list. Kitchen mixes seemed perfect: soup mixes, cocoa mix, brownie mix, cookie mix, tea blends and more.
For weeks my kitchen was a gift-making factory. I carefully measured, blended, and packaged each mix with love. To save on postage, most of the mixes went into plastic bags tied with ribbons (only a few were jarred). I wrapped the filled baskets, boxed them up, addressed them, and mailed them in batches — sending west-coast packages first to allow extra transit time.
A Rather Unexpected Delivery
My sister called a few days after the first box arrived to thank me for the thoughtful gifts. Then, after a pause, she asked, “Have you mailed all of them?” I had. She hesitated and then said, “Well…they kind of exploded.”
It turned out about 70 percent of the baskets that shipped by air had “exploded.” The powdery mixes puffed out during air transit and made a mess, ruining most of the contents. It was a devastating and — at the time — heartbreaking outcome after so much work.
If at First You Don’t Succeed…Crochet a Stuffed Animal!
Now it’s a funny family story — “Marie’s Exploding Christmas” — and we all laugh about it. But the disappointment taught me a lesson and didn’t stop me from dreaming big. I may not know if I’ll manage to make gifts for everyone next year, but I intend to try. If I create something each month, I believe it can be done. To begin, I decided to make crocheted stuffed animals.
I started with patterns from the Edward’s Menagerie collection by Kerry Lord, using the book Dogs: 50 Canine Crochet Patterns. Though I hadn’t crocheted since childhood, clear instructions and a few YouTube tutorials helped me get back into it. The legs on my first toy ended up a bit twisty (if you know why that happens, I’d love to hear), but the finished toy is adorable.
The pattern called for higher-end yarn, but I chose a more affordable, washable option from a local craft store. Since these toys will be loved by children, washable yarn made sense and kept costs reasonable for producing multiple gifts.
Most canine patterns share the same basic pieces — body, head, ears, limbs, and tail. Breed character comes from color choices, ear placement, and added details like fur texture, whiskers, or curls. This one turned out to be a poodle — note the curly ears.
The First Craft: A Crocheted Stuffed Animal
My goal is to make six stuffed animals for my six grandchildren, and this first poodle doubles as a gift for my friend Jeffrey Turner. Jeff, an author and illustrator, has a new children’s book coming out that teaches shapes and features a poodle. I thought a crocheted poodle would be a fun way to celebrate his book and to pair with a favorite of my grandchildren’s earlier reads.
A Much More Promising Start!
Despite the twisty legs, I’m delighted with how Poodle turned out and I’ll be mailing her to Jeff tomorrow. Handmade gifts are about the thought and effort behind them, and I know he’ll appreciate that. Making this toy reminded me how satisfying crafting can be, and it strengthened my resolve to continue creating gifts by hand.
Now that I’ve completed one, making six more for my grandchildren feels much more achievable. I’ll take it one project at a time and see how far I get. Stay tuned — I’m excited to share how this handmade-gift experiment unfolds.