Homemade Christmas Gifts!

I wanted to write a quick post today and tell you about a family tradition that I have.  Every year my mom, myself and my two sisters exchange homemade Christmas gifts.  I wreck my brain all year over this.  I'm not a crafty person AT ALL... I mean really NOT AT ALL!
My mother makes beautiful, beautiful quilts, and my middle sister can knit up a storm, but me... meh.. I'm lucky to escape a modge-podge event without my fingers glued together.
This year I made Christmas ornaments.

 I thought these might make a really nice gift for kids in upper elementary grades.  Honestly, they weren't super difficult.
I used blocks of wood that I found a Hobby Lobby, modge-podge, scrapbook paper, beads and pictures.

I started by asking a friend to drill a hole through each of the blocks.  I used 2 blocks for each project, and I needed 8 family photos for each project.  Then I covered each block in scrapbook paper.  Next I printed 4 pictures for each block.  I sized them so they were a little less than the 2x2 block, and modge-podged the heck out of it.

I pulled red chord through both blocks using a paper clip, and then secured the bottom with a red bead. I used my hot glue gun to secure the blocks on top of each other, and tied a silver ribbon on the top.  

My family really liked the idea.  What I tried to do was include a picture of my parents, and each sibling with their spouse on one block, then 4 pictures of all the grandkids on the bottom block.

If I were going to do this in my classroom I think I would include a picture of each student, and then have them find quotes that represented themselves.  I think these would be really nice even as single blocks, and if a parent were willing to help out at a center, supervising the modge-podge and pulling the chord through, this would be an easy gift. to share.

Do you have any special gifts that you share with family over the holidays?  I would love to hear about it.  Let me know!

I'm off to watch my Cuse  hopefully beat Villanova.  We pulled out a football win at the Texas Bowl last night.  Be Loud, Be Proud, Be Orange!