handmade holiday 2012

Today is the official kick-off for Handmade Holiday 2012! Throughout the next month, I'll be making and posting handmade ornaments and decorations and other DIY holiday projects on the blog. (I'll also post some of last year's ornaments that I never got the chance to share last December.) I realize it's still November, and I'm typically a strict No-Christmas-stuff-until-December-1st kind of person, but I'm trying to get things done a little earlier this year to avoid the inevitable last minute holiday stress and to allow myself to enjoy December a little more this year. So here we go - get excited! It's time to make stuff!

A little background to Handmade Holiday: Last year, as part of our commitment to have a handmade Christmas, we gave only handmade gifts and I took it upon myself to make every single ornament for our Christmas tree. There were several reasons for this. One - I'm insane. Two - cheap made-in-China crap from big box stores does not belong on a Christmas tree. And three - Christmas brings out the crafty in me - my tastes run modern, so during the rest of the year, I steer clear of tchotchkes and cluttered decor. But at Christmas, all bets are off - I break out the glitter, the glue gun, and the felt and yarn and random pipe cleaners (and maybe a power drill or a soldering iron - just to keep things a little dangerous!) that have accumulated in my studio throughout the year and give myself carte blanche to get crafty for Christmas. The challenge is to use these supplies and still stay true to my modern and somewhat non-traditional aesthetic, so you still won't find anything cutesy here.

A Handmade Tree - 2011

So starting tomorrow, there will be a new handmade project on the blog and I'll keep posting DIY projects throughout the month of December (with some other random posts sprinkled in) whenever I get a chance between art markets. To get you in the crafty Christmas spirit, here are last year's Handmade Holiday Projects:

+ Felt Food Ornaments | Tomato, Asparagus, Avocado, Mushroom
+ Felt Fish Ornaments
+ Star Ornaments | Wood, Glass, Felt, Cinnamon
+ A Handmade Tree

I made these as ornaments for my Christmas tree, but none of them are particularly Christmas-y, so if you don't celebrate Christmas, these ideas could still be used for other holidays or just general winter or house decorations. Hang them in your window. Put them on your mantle. Decorate your bathroom or bedroom or dining room. Alter them for other holidays: Make the star ornaments have six sides for Hanukkah. Get creative!

Psst! Spread the word and make sure you don't miss any Handmade Holiday posts: 

+ Subscribe to/follow this blog and click on the Handmade Holiday category to see all the posts.
+ Follow @FunnelcloudRach on Twitter. I'll be using hashtag #handmadeholiday2012.
+ Follow @funnelcloud on Instagram. Same hashtag #handmadeholiday2012.
+ Follow Funnelcloud on Pinterest. I'll be posting these projects to my Things I Made board with yup, hashtag #handmadeholiday2012.

(Also, to avoid any confusion, Handmade Holiday is also the name of a fabulous art market held by the Richmond Craft Mafia. My shop will be there on December 8th, however, there is no affiliation between the Richmond Handmade Holiday market and the Handmade Holiday series on my blog.)