Guest Post :: Michelle's Favorite

Please welcome Michelle from {Chez Moi} to Narrating Life today. I think the fact that Michelle had an incredibly difficult time choosing her one favorite handmade gift to share with you should tell you a little bit about her creativity. I'm glad she chose this gift that she did, it is so thoughtful and generous.

Confessions of a Compulsive Copycat

People think that I am creative. In fact, I am not an idea person. If I ever have an original idea, I think it is reason for a new holiday to be declared or something.

But I love to make things. I adore it. So I am always on the lookout for ideas of cool things I can make. I have made a lot of handmade gifts, but none of them are really exciting and new, you know? Quilts. Tons of people make quilts. Photo cards. Ditto. Flower brooches and headbands. Everybody makes those. Embroidery projects. Christmas ornaments. Felt stocking advent calendars. Taken from Martha herself. Little gratitude journals. Personalized ephemera tins. Copied, all of them! (Mostly, anyway.)

My husband tells me that I overvalue originality, and that execution is a big part of creativity. I agree. But I still am a teensy bit neurotic about my copying compulsion.

Anyway, for the purposes of Miranda's great handmade holiday series, I finally narrowed it down to something I made from just the germ of someone else's idea. I had read somewhere in blogland about a woman who gave her husband The 12 Dates of Christmas as a gift. I knew immediately that that was a gift my husband would greatly appreciate. And perhaps never having seen the finished project pushed me to come up with my own ideas.

This is a simple project, and one that didn't take me very long. (And that's saying something, as I tend to agonize over every little decision.) And, as an added bonus, it only cost me $1 to make! (I bought the book and had all of the other materials on hand.)

I started by finding an inexpensive book at a thrift store. The one I found was called "The Creative Mind," which just happened to be perfect for Marc, who is truly an idea person.

I brainstormed date ideas, so that I would have one for each month of the following year. (This probably goes without saying, but I made sure all of the dates were things I was actually willing to plan and do!)

Then I took some gang tags, which I think are just inherently pleasing. I measured the tags, added a little extra, and marked a rectangle on one of the first pages of my book. Using a ruler as a straightedge, I cut out the shape with an x-acto knife, not all the way through, but just through enough pages that my little gang of tags would nestle neatly within. (The rectangles of book paper are a happy by-product; I have used them for countless projects since.)

I then decorated the tags with patterned paper, rub-ons, stamps, and paint. I love ribbons, so of course I had to tie ribbons at the top of the tags.

Marc later told me that this was his favorite gift I have given him, ever. Wow.

Handmade Holiday 2010: The series about making it happen.