Christmas Presents for Joseph

This year, for Joseph's Christmas presents, I decided to go hand-made - due to budget constraints as well as to make them as thoughtful as possible for our current circumstance.

I got a marvelous idea rooted in a project on JessicaSprague.com for a book to make. (Incidentally, I love her website and the classes she offers. I have taken several of them and have learned so much. Even though her site is largely for scrapbookers, I have used what I have absorbed for design in addition to photo presentation. If you are at all interested in anything like this, I recommend her site.) I watched her Scrapbook Alchemy Episode 4 class and changed the album into a special book for Joseph to be reminded of how much we love him during lonely nights when he is in Wendover instead of being with us. I made the whole book by hand and am thrilled with how it turned out. He loves it! Here is what it looks like (and you should be able to click on a photo to enlarge it if you would like to look more closely):

Then the second gift that I gave him was a flannel quilt just for him. It is pretty large and VERY warm. His apartment in Wendover is freezing cold because both he and his roommate are almost only there to sleep so this will help keep him toasty and remind him of me. Here is a picture of part of it:

Although both Joseph and I often have expensive tastes, it was so rewarding to give a gift of my time and love and thoughtfulness this year. Funny enough, that is how most of our Christmases have been in our marriage and I am grateful for the chance to show my love and appreciation in creative ways.

I love you Joseph!