big family, small budget: giving homemade gifts

homemade gifts have come a long way from the things we made as kids to give to our mommy and daddy and other relatives at christmas. although clay ashtrays and finger paintings were acceptable when we were 6, i just don't think they have the same charm coming from anyone older than 12 at the most. there are so many forms of homemade gifts that can be given these days that are super simple and just as lovely as something you would buy at a store.

however, you shouldn't just make someone something because you think you are going to save money. you should still carefully consider the person you are giving your gift to. don't make someone a gift they aren't going to be able to actually use. a scarf would be pretty useless for someone who lives in a warm climate. 

here are some links to some great homemade gift ideas that someone you love may enjoy...

homemade christmas gifts at disney family fun
101 simple handmade gift tutorials at everything etsy
50 diy days of christmas at the paper mama 
gifts from your kitchen at talk crafty to me

what are some of the homemade gifts you are giving this year?

joni - sixcherriesontop (at) gmail (dot) com | twitter | facebook | pinterest | instagram: mamacherry

melissa & doug giveaway at dear crissy

i purchased melissa & doug puzzles and play food for phoenix and tyler last christmas and i love them. they love them too.

i love melissa & doug products because they are good quality toys that last a long time.

they love them because they are fun.

plastic toys are so cheap and break so easily, and so i try to avoid them as much as possible. melissa & doug has a big selection of cloth and wooden toys that you are sure to love as much as we do.

i was first introduced to melissa & doug when i worked in early childhood education. the center i worked at purchased melissa & doug toys because it was a guarantee that with all the little hands that play with them in one day, they were going to withstand all of the drops, throws, kicks, and bangs.

I entered to win a collection of classic toys from Dear Crissy & Melissa & Doug!

you can too! just click HERE!

thanks crissy for this awesome giveaway!

how about a couple clicks?

this giveaway is a crock of...

butter?

actually it is indeed a butter crock. a butter bell® crock and i love it! 

when i first received the butter bell® crock i thought to myself, "wow, i will probably use this a couple times and then it will end up tucked away somewhere in the deep dark recesses of one of my cabinets. 

no way baby! not this thing!

i had no idea what a butter crock was until i read about them.

even after reading about butter crocks on the butter bell® website, having it in hand was when i discovered how handy this thing really is.

i love how the butter bell® crock allows me to keep butter at room temperature for easy use.

i have my butter bell® crock sitting on the counter next to my stove. if i need a lil bit o' butta, then i just lift and scoop.

the butter bell® crock holds exactly one stick of butter, that is kept fresh with water that is kept in the bottom of the crock.  every 3 days, i change out the water in the bottom of the crock with fresh cold water to keep the butter from spoiling.

butter bell® crock's are made of new bone china, a high quality ceramic.

the downfall of the butter crock?

you may begin to use more butter than you normally do.

but i don't consider that a problem if you don't.

butter stays good for about 30 days in the butter bell® crock as long as the crock is used properly, which includes changing out the water every three days, as i mentioned.  

 do you own or have you ever used a butter crock?  

right now, butter bell® is running a special on butter bell® crocks:

 

Holiday Special Offer: 

for every two butter bell® crocks that you purchase, you get a FREE crock. The specific offer details are available on their website. The offer runs through Dec. 15th, 2010.

 recently featured on food network on unwrapped, butter bell® crocks would make a great gift to anyone in your life.

now guess what?


all six cherries on top readers have a chance to win a butter bell® crock.  how great is that?

what you will win:

a butter crock from butter bell® 

how to enter:

there are several chances for you to win. please take the following steps to enter the giveaway and to increase your chances of winning. you must complete the mandatory entry first for all other entries to count. please be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry and leave a valid email address for me to contact you if you win.

mandatory entry (worth 1 entry each):

visit the butter bell® crocks website and look around at the variety of butter crocks. come back to six cherries on top and leave a comment telling me your favorite butter crock style.

extra entries (worth 1 entry each):

• link to six cherries on top. grab my button (left sidebar!) and add it to your blog
• follow six cherries on top via google friend connect (right sidebar!)
• like six cherries on top on facebook
• like butter bell crocks on facebook
• follow @sixcherries on twitter
• tweet this giveaway (once a day!) and come back and leave the link
• subscribe to email (right sidebar!)

extra entry (worth 3 entries):

• vote for my son elijah in the cutest baby contest at freckles and fudge

this giveaway will end at 11:59 pm (est) on december 6, 2010 and is open to u.s. residents only. a winner will be chosen at random via random.org and will be notified by email. you have 48 hrs. to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.Sponsored by Tomoson.com all opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way or by anyone. six cherries on top disclaimer/terms of use.

Valentine Topiary

Check out this {adorable little creation}. A parent in Peanut's class gave these as gifts to the teachers. I fell in love! I soooo wish I had seen this earlier so that I could make a few for friends and family. It is made with lots of yummy Hershey's Kisses!

Excuse this HORRIBLE dark and grainy photo. I was really excited about this and did not have my camera with me, but I did have my computer and, my computer has a not so great 1.3 megapixel web cam built in, so I snapped a quick photo with it. This picture doesn't do it justice because, this is a super cute topiary.

I WON!

Okay, so for some of you this may not be that big of a deal but, to me it is a big deal that I WON!

Yes, I WON!

I WON!

Won what, you ask?

I won a Custom Wood Handle Address Stamp from Note Trunk.

See! Maybe not that big of a deal to anyone else, but the BIGGEST DEAL to me because I NEVER win anything.

NEVER!

One of my favorite blogs, The Dear Diary Stories, has been doing a giveaway a day for the last week or so in celebration of {Valentine's Day}, and I was so excited when she notified me to let me know that I had won this stamp. I was so in love with this stamp, but all of her other giveaways would have been {delightful} too.

I was able to visit Note Trunk and choose the stamp I wanted and I chose this one. I can't wait to receive it and start stamping my envelopes with it. (personalized with my info. of course!)

Thanks to Marta for her awesome giveaways!