A handmade, homemade Christmas

Quite a few gifts under the tree this year -- everything from boxer shorts to sweet banana bread -- will be made by the hands of the giver.

Jackie McMillan, of Le Mars, said handmade gifts are more personal and have special meaning.

"And it's fun and creates memories, too," she said.

McMillan, who works at Unique Fabrique in Le Mars, said people of all ages are making homemade Christmas presents this year.

"We've got all varieties, from beginner to advanced," she said. "They make anything -- quilts, table runners, purses, wall hangings, aprons."

And, an interesting gift fad: the potato pouch.

The pouch is like a fabric envelope to bake potatoes in the microwave, explained Sandi Rieber, of Le Mars.

"You can bake potatoes in them without poking holes in the potatoes," Rieber said. "And they're supposed to come out really fluffy."

She hasn't tried one yet, but she made eight of them for gifts.

"I finished them last night," she said.

That's not the only unique gift she's fashioning for Christmas.

Rieber knitted a prayer shawl, a special shawl that is knit with the recipient in mind. While the knitter makes the shawl, he or she also prays for the person.

And a big hit: Rieber's handmade boxer shorts.

"My son-in-law has been wearing the boxer shorts I make him for the past 15 years," Rieber said. "He won't wear anything else."

Comfortable and fun, the shorts are usually sewn out of a novelty print material with anything from chili peppers to watermelons.

"This year almost every single gift I'm giving is handmade," Rieber said.

She prefers the word "handmade" to "homemade."

"Sometimes when you say 'homemade' people think 'cheap,'" she explained. "Saying 'handmade' makes it sound more like art. To me, it is an art."

Handmade items are definitely a gift of time, Rieber added. She's spent dozens of hours this year getting gifts ready.

And projects like the boxer shorts don't always cost less than buying them at a store, she said.

"Sometimes the fabric is not cheaper," she explained.

But with handmade gifts, the reward comes in giving, Rieber said.

"People seem to like them even more than other gifts," she said.

Knitted gifts are popular this year, according to Desiree Toel, of Le Mars.

Toel works in the fabric department at the Le Mars Wal-Mart.

"Scarves are really big right now, and a lot of people are making prayer shawls and baby blankets," she said.

And while quilting or knitting a gift might be out of the question with Christmas only a few days away, Toel said there is still time to make a fleece Christmas gift.

"Fleece tie blankets and scarves are really easy," she said. "You could have them done in an evening."

There's still time to bake a yummy Christmas gift for friends or family, too.

Donna Britcher's kitchen doesn't only look like Christmas with lights and holly and ribbons -- it smells like it too.

The aroma of butter, almonds, brown sugar and chocolate is just a sign that Britcher has been at work creating sweet gifts for friends and family.

"I always make sugar cookies, peanut butter fudge, chocolate fudge and monster cookies because it makes such a big batch," the Le Mars woman said.

She's not kidding when she says "big batch." She halved the recipe last week and still about 10 dozen of the colorful cookies lined her counter.

But that's OK, because that means more to give to people at Christmas time.

She makes up boxes of apple bread, banana bread and cookies to give to people. And for the first time this year, Britcher is mailing a package of banana bread and her famous sugar cookies to an out-of-state friend.

"It's always a hit," she said of her baked presents. "It's not like you're trying to shop for something when you don't know what the person will like."

Plus being in the kitchen is a stress-reliever for Britcher.

"I've always loved to bake. I think I inherited it from my grandmother," she said with a smile.

She remembers her grandmother, who emigrated from Germany in 1933, always served sweets at tea time.

"All the recipes I use are old traditional recipes handed down," Britcher said. "It keeps some of those old traditions alive."

Some are from her grandma, and others she's collected from old cookbooks created by churches and small Iowa communities.

Most the recipes are written by people she knew from childhood or from living in that community.

One of her favorites is her sugar cookie recipe -- unusual because it uses powdered sugar along with regular white sugar and oil along with butter.

Each one is hand-pressed with a star pattern.

That tradition started one day when Britcher's nephew wanted to make sugar cookies and she was looking for something flat to press them.

She came across an antique cut-glass creamer handed down to her from her grandmother.

The bottom is flat with a beautiful, sparkling star cut into it.

Special touches like that make her gifts of sweets a coveted item at Christmas time.

Homemade, handmade gifts, always have a special ingredient, Britcher said.

"It's from the heart," she said.