Homemade... kind of

The Slovaceks started a tradition when I was about 14 years old. On Thanksgiving, we draw names of family members that we have to make a homemade Christmas present for. On Christmas Eve, we exchange our homemade gifts. It is, by far, the absolute best part of Christmas for me.

Funny thing is, (until Lance joined our family and set the curve)-- our gifts were sometimes pretty crappy. The ones that aren't, are usually not very homemade. (like framing a picture-- which I utilize often as a "homemade gift").

One time, Mom sewed fur onto a pillowcase for Steven and ironed on some wording, "Steven's pillow"-- except, she ironed it backwards. So, Steven had a pillowcase that scratched his face and got fur in his mouth that said, "wollip s'nevetS".

Another time, Heidi sewed me some great pajama bottoms, but only used a basting stitch. They fell apart after one wearing.

Another year, I photo-shopped Matthew's head onto a picture of a snowboarder and framed it. Dumb.

Anyway, I could go on and on about our horrible gifts. But even with the occasional terrible gift, I love our tradition. Love it.

This year, we all did pretty well. Here is a picture of the whole family with our homemade loot. I love these people! In case you're interested:
I made Steven a wordle of words describing him and had it put on canvas.
Steven downloaded the top 50 alternative albums of 2011 and put it on a jump drive for Lance.
Lance gave my Dad a leather bound edition of Sherlock Holmes that he hollowed out and made a safe out of.
My Dad made me a (super comfy) Tampa Bay Lightning snuggie.
Heidi put my Mom's favorite scripture on a canvas in raised lettering.
My Mom got Matthew's Xbox kinect-ready and made him a customized t-shirt.
Matthew sewed Heidi some skirts and scarfs.