A Handmade Gift Basket

Two weeks ago, I was truly lamenting over what to get my Oma for Christmas. As I wandered around the shops getting gifts for others on my list, absolutely nothing caught my eye as the perfect thing for her. I was a little stumped....

But then, as I was making soup on a Saturday afternoon (as one does), I opened my spice cupboard and saw this...

This is one of my favorite gifts that my Oma has ever given me. Last year she grew parsley in her garden, dried it, and put it in an old jam jar for me at Christmas. I love the handwritten label and that when I look at this jar I can see her in my mind, tending her garden and drying the herbs. 

I knew at that moment that her Christmas gift needed to be handmade.

So, to a simple basket, I added this mandala which I made back when I was in the grips of mandala making mania. Oma has many houseplants (real and otherwise) that would look lovely on top of it.

I am going to make her some jam the day before Christmas, which I will put into the mason jar and then add to the basket. I use a recipe from this book to make the most delicious chia seed jam.

But what I am most excited to give her is this photo hanging display that I made using pictures of the girls from our trip to a local garden (I wrote about it here, and made this layout with the pictures).

I know she will love it, as there is a longstanding family connection to this garden. When we look through old photo albums, there are countless photos (no kidding, it seems like there is one on every page) of my Oma and Opa and my Mom and her brother, taken in this garden. I know she will love that the girls had their pictures taken in this familiar spot as well.

This is one gift that I am very excited to give.  

I want to wish you all a very merry Christmas. I will be taking a little blog break over Christmas and New Years and will catch up with you all in January.  

Thank you so much for visiting and reading. Talk soon.