Gifts We Gave and Gifts We Received

This year was different for us in that we decided to make most of our gifts. And, we didn't want them to be pointless and heartless, we wanted them to represent the people that we made them for, and we wanted them to be useful. Here are the pictures of everything that we made (with the exception of one; I hope to get a pic of that soon!):

This is a firepit for my sister in law and brother in law. Robert spent hours working on this, and it turned out really well. They were excited!

This is a picnic table for our niece.

This picnic table was for Karis. She LOVES letters, so we decided to put them on her table :). She loves her table! We ended up putting it in her school area because she loved it so much.

This is a desk with a flip-up top. We found it in the rafters of our garage (I'm not sure who left it), and we sanded and painted it. It's VERY useful!!

This is a piece of wood, stained and polycryliced to give it a nice shine :). Then, I took pictures and cut the corners and we put them on there and put 3 more layers of polycrylic. It turned out really nice. And, the corners have a stamp on them to give them some character. It's hard to see the stand in this picture.

Here are some pictures that I drew:

And, we received many wonderful things for Christmas this year!! The things that we received will help us to cook more often and more efficiently. Some we received from family, and a few things I bought with money that we received. I'm excited!!

A KITCHENAID STAND MIXER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We got this from Robert's parents and we were completely shocked!! It will get LOTS of use!

A food processor! This is what I bought with Christmas money.An awesome rolling pin, silicone pad, measuring cups and spoons.A new crockpot! From my parents! Ours broke, and I have been missing it! And, this is nicer than the one we had :).We got this cookbook from Robert's parents. It has great ideas for meals that are easy. The funny thing is that I'll probably make them more difficult by adding my homemade things. That's fun for me!!

This is a book that I bought with some Christmas money. It is AWESOME. It has tons of recipes for quick breads, yeast breads, muffins, pies, crackers, cookies, etc. It is going to get LOTS of use.Cool spatulas (I know, nothing big, but I love them).

A stainless steel mixing bowl. Love it! This is a flour sifter. I know it's nothing big, but I've been wanting to get one for a long time :).

Joey and Lindsey (brother and sis in law) got us this awesome coffee mug set. They know that we love coffee and hot tea, and they gave us something fun to drink it! :)