Theresa Westrup stitches needle point while her daughter, Barbara, 4 watches

“I buy a few gifts,” said Mrs. Theresa Westrup, “But I prefer to have something handmade. It’s unique, usually, anything handmade.

“And I put more of myself into a gift than when I just go down to the store and fork over money. I enjoy working with my hands. I wouldn’t do it unless I really enjoyed it.”

She is sewing, crocheting and knitting presents this year.”It’s more personal I guess if it’s something that comes from a lot of hard work.”

Needlepoint projects were started in August. Clothes have been in the making since fall. “It’s hard keeping secrets,” she said smiling at her daughter Barbara, 4.”

Mrs. Kathy Juni, rural New Ulm, is making Dip ‘n ‘Drape Dolls for relatives’ Christmas gifts. The dolls have pop bottles for bodies, and styrofoam balls for feet. Starchy cotton material makes up their clothes. Color is added with paint.

Kathy Juni sometimes talks to her Dip ‘n’ Drape dolls while painting them.

“My mother, rather than anything bought, would like a Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus,” she said.”And that’s what my mother-in-law wants too.

“To me it means a lot more to be able to sit here and make it. You feel good about making something.

It’s part of yourself. I think the person appreciates it that much more.

“Everything is so commercialized. I could spend $5 and buy nothing. But if I spend $5 and buy material, it’s so much more fun. When they open it they ask about how you made it.

“These dolls are probably the most fun thing I’ve done. You get very attached to them. You start talking to them late at night when you are painting.”

Mrs. Diane Oas has crocheted hand puppets for all of her nieces and nephews. Last year, when she taught kindergarten at Lafayette,she gave puppets to each pupil in her class.

“I wanted to show them that Christmas is a giving of yourself not just something that you buy,” she said.

She is not teaching this year though and she has been able to channel more energy than ever before into making Christmas gifts.”I’m hooking a rug for my mother and Dad; making old fashioned pinafores for my sisters and sisters-in-law; crocheting stocking caps for brothers and some of my God children,” she said. Clothes for her children and husband will also appear under the tree.

Making gifts “has made it more enjoyable. I’ve had more fun this year than any other year for Christmas. I’m so new at this I really enjoy it. It relaxes me. I find I don’t spend so much time up town shopping. I buy a lot less toys.

“I try to think of things people would like but I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t enjoy it.

“I never made things at home. My mother always made everything for us. I always thought she could do it better so I never tried. Now she is very surprised when I send her gifts I’ve made.

Paula Marti works with leather.

One of her Christmas gifts for her brother will be a leather pouch for short hikes.

Candy wreaths are her traditional handmade gifts for her grand-parents. And she is pressing flowers for presents.

“Most of the things we have given each other in the family have all been handmade” she said. “I think they mean so much more. Those are the favorite things.”

Her husband, George, composes music for her each Christmas. One year he carved crochet needles out of walnut for her present. Another year,”he painted me a rock.”

All those gifts are “cheap but priceless,” she smiled. “We can afford to make presents that are nice and have quality.

“The whole feeling of Christmas starts eluding you when you get older. It is like a one day deal, a let down when it’s over.

“I think when you make your presents it helps extend that illusion you had as a kid. I think when you are older you have to find more creative ways of making Christmas mean something.”

New Ulm Daily Journal

Dec. 9, 1975