Making A Kid-Friendly Wooden Puzzle

I have a posse of nieces and nephews that I adore.  The youngest of the bunch are twin boys who just turned one year old.  These toddling cuties have recently been my inspiration for a homemade gift.  Of course, I often find myself in the position of having an awesome project in mind that I have no clue how to produce.  It’s one of those yin-yang predicaments.  I’m the type of person that prefers to try new things, particularly when it comes to creativity.  But I’m also the type of person that likes a plan and wants to do things well.  This polarity yields itself to frequent occasions where I am eager to jump into a creative process I've never tried before AND equally freaked out because I have no idea what I’m doing.  Experience has taught me two things in these moments:  First, give myself as much time as possible to think through, research, and tackle the process.  And second, have a back-up gift idea should the outcome look like a kindergartner made it (not cool when the intended recipient is an adult).

This post is my experience making two adorable wooden puzzles for my incorrigibly feisty twin nephews.  Let’s hope the puzzles are played with more often as puzzles than as clubs! 

December 1st: Christmas Countdown

I've never been much of a Black Friday enthusiast.  Something about the traffic, lines, pressure, and aisle rage just doesn't appeal to me.  Until this year I didn't even know Small-Business Saturday or Cyber Monday existed.  When did they arrive on the scene?!?  It makes we wonder if names will be given to all the days after Thanksgiving -- Get It Before It's Gone 5th, Cuttin' It Close 20th, Last Ditch Effort 23rd.  Or worse...Forget-Giving-Thanks-Just-Shop Fourth Thursday of November.  Ugh, I sure hope not.  Call me a traditionalist, but I happen to think Thanksgiving should be digested before Christmas makes it on the scene.  I have a sister who's adamant (in her gentle way) that no Christmas music, decorations, or movies make an appearance until after Thanksgiving is properly acknowledged and celebrated with feasting, family, and actual Thanks-Giving.  Novel concept.  She doesn't have to convince me, I'm already game.  If I ruled the world, the only exception I'd make would be for craft-type stores who supply us homemade gift-givers with fuel for the fire.  I get hyped thinking about gifts for people throughout the entire year.  Ultimately, my husband and I decide together who gets what, but we always settle on some homemade, some experiences, some serendipitous finds at random places, and a few that were actually asked for. This year we came up with a dozen or so homemade ideas. One might think that these would be completed early on to get a jump on things...but nah, it's December 1st and I've got five yet to start!  If you're anything like me, you're counting down the days til Christmas, managing the calendar like a game of Tetris, clanging the pots and pans with a bit of Yuletide prep, and whirring at the craft table (amid all the other normal responsibilities of life). Before we arrive at Cuttin' It Close 20th, I thought I'd share one of my homemade gifts for little girls this season as a help to anyone else out there who's searching for the perfect thing.  It's A Cutesy Fleece Poncho.  So adorable -- I wish I had little models to wear them in the photos, but alas...that'd ruin the surprise!  

What's left of my Living Room...

Bearing Gifts

Christmas is my favorite holiday.