Homemade...but not by me

(image: one of many balloon balls made by SDKdesigns sold on Etsy.com)

As I've posted before, I LOVE making gifts for people, especially my family. The past several years I have planned Christmas and birthday gifts carefully for my kids, sisters, nieces and nephews. Usually, I get them finished on time, sometimes they are a wee bit late :-) but I get it done.

Last Christmas, though, I acknowledged early on that it wasn't realistic to make the Christmas presents. Baby number 3 was born at the end of September, and although I had planned ahead for a few birthday presents towards the end of the year...I knew that I couldn't tackle Christmas.

Instead of throwing in the bucket and heading to a local toy store, though, I decided that if I couldn't make it at home maybe I should rely on another mom who made it at home. So...I headed to Etsy.com.

I found these balloon balls and ended up getting 1 for every 1-5 year old on my Christmas (& November birthday) list. That ended up being 7 of them; each one different and chosen with that child in mind. With the inexpensive price, combined shipping discount, WalMart additional balloons, and Christmas sparkle-top take-n-toss tupperware for giftwrap/storage...each gift was still under $10! How great is that for most of my Christmas gift.

Could I have made these? Yes, it might have taken a few tries, but I could have. In fact, "Did you make this?" was the first question my extended family asked. But...I chose to spend my time holding my semi-colicy baby instead of trying to squeeze in making gifts. It's always a trade off, and that time it wasn't worth it to make it myself.

So...if you don't have time, find another mother who does.

Happy Shopping!!