Homemade Gifts...

I'm not crafty. I've said it before. I'm saying it again. I'm just not. I try to be. I'm rarely successful. Part of my problem is my eyes are bigger than my skill level. Part of my problem is I'm really critical of myself.

Regardless of this, I made my niece a birthday gift this year. I found a really great idea in a book, and decided I wanted to try to replicate it. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the book, but I think it was a BH&G Christmas book. I asked my sister Jennifer for some help and guidance, and she showed me a MUCH easier way to get my gift underway.

And I'm happy to say, I'm pretty excited with the way it turned out. I certainly have things I would have done differently, and parts that I am unhappy with, but all in all, I'm thrilled to have it finished, and for Gwyneth to have her little hands on it. It's just too bad that once it was finished, I realized it would probably be a little too difficult for her right now.

This all might make more sense if I mentioned what I made. I made Gwen a cube puzzle. I see versions of them floating around the blog world all the time. I thought I'd try my hand at it, but with the twist from the book. Mine were hand (and stencil) painted. Most of the ones I see use pictures from books and mod podge them onto the blocks. I used craft paint for mine.

They turned out cute, but they're fairly hard to put together. I used Isaac as my gauge because he's only a few months younger than Gwen, and Isaac was only interested in stacking the wooden cubes. Dylan on the other hand, tried to put the puzzle together. I figure Gwen's big sister Gabriella will try out the puzzle aspect of the gift. Just in case they have a hard time figuring out how each picture is supposed to look, I took pictures to add.

And, because I realized Gwen would have a tough time using the gift as intended, I also made her a handmade memory game I found here. I think I'll make another for Isaac and Dylan for Christmas too.

So, without further rambling, here are the six sides to Gwen's puzzle cube, and a quick snapshot of her memory game. Happy birthday Gwen!