posted
Since there are so many creative people here I figured I'd ask. I think I'd like to make something for Christmas gifts this year, but I'm not sure what. I thought about cute little pillows, since I have very limited sewing experience. Any other good, somewhat easy ideas?
space opera
edit: forgot to add - I can cross-stitch and crochet
[ October 11, 2004, 03:02 PM: Message edited by: Space Opera ]
Posts: 2578 | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I love those! My sis just made one for my nephew, otherwise I'd made them. I'm still thinking about making a blanket for each of my kiddos for Christmas, though.
Here are 2 ideas I have so far: baby neice - homemade rag doll. toddler nephew - crocheted finger puppets. I still need ideas for 2 sisters and a few guys.
posted
I'm with you, Space Opera. I have eleven nieces and nephews, and I want to do something with their name on them. If I were a better artist, I'd have their names painted on funky-looking mugs.
Hmm...there's an art school in town - I wonder if that's an option at all?
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
Last Christmas I did fleece blankets for everybody. I sewed them though - I didn't do the ties. Everybody loved them and they were cheap and easy and not time-consuming. You could maybe make quillos - quilt that folds up into a pillow. Perhaps you could crochet scarves for the sisters and guys? I find guys also really like food stuffs.
I'm also in need of good ideas for Christmas gits for this year - especially for my inlaws (I already got computer games for my neices and nephew). I think I may recycle my blanket idea for a couple of my friends that I'd not met last Christmas yet. I'm giving my parents books (that I've already bought). I'll probably give my brother food. Other than that, I'm lost.... I also really need to think of things that are inexpensive (since we're buying a house and all our money is going towards that).
posted
Make them little snowmen. I would love if someone gave me a knitted snowman or a snowman doll. That would be so cute!
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
It's nice to see that other people want to save money too! Actually, I think that homemade gifts are great, so that's part of my motivation as well.
An idea for grandparents - nice picture of the family in a decorated frame. Or (depending on cost) I was thinking of making a calendar with family photos on each month, including some old black and whites.
Kat - Eleven kids to buy for?! Wow! Do you have an "You are the potter" type shop nearby? You could do mugs for them all there.
space opera
edit: ludosti - great idea about scarves. I could do them either out of knotted fleece or crochet them!
[ October 11, 2004, 04:15 PM: Message edited by: Space Opera ]
Posts: 2578 | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Space Opera - what's that? I definitely want to do something where they all get the same cheap thing, but I need to be able to personalize it. I was one of the friends Coccinnelle was talking about above, and they LOVED the blankets. I think that's mostly because I put their initials on them in iron-on fabric, so it was definitely for them. That was a great idea - I made 12 blankets, including the two-sided thing for the letters - for aobut $70.
I found a place for custom mugs, but they are $20 apiece when you add in shipping. This "you are the potter" thing sounds really good - I wonder how I find one?
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
The shop I'm talking about has ceramics already made, and you just go in and paint them. The shop fires them for you. I've seen a lot of shops like that under all kinds of different names. Maybe try looking up "pottery" in your yellow pages?
posted
Home made truffles are easier than most people think. If that seems too time consuming, home made cookies are always a hit.
You can go to Joanne's and get kits to make soaps, bath salts, lotion, etc. They are simple enough for the kids to help you out. Very simple bubble bath:
1 bottle (28-32 0z) unscented, uncolored dish soap 1/4 cup vegetable glycerin 3 TBL sugar desired essential oils and colorant powder (available at craft store) Mix first three ingredients. Add 15-20 drops EO and colorant to desired shade, package in squeeze bottles.
Posts: 1021 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
You can also paint normal glass plates/etc. For my mom's birthday a year or so ago, I bought and painted service for 4. They make paint that you paint on and then bake in the oven to set it (so it's microwave and dishwasher safe).
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
>>>Tammy said>>> Cool Brian. What do you do with them?
Me, personally, I wipe my feet on them. My dad puts his boat anchor on the one I gave him. But at the Texas Seaport Museum (where I volunteer) we make them and sell them to help raise money for ELISSA. On the ship herself, we use them on the deck to keep blocks and gear from smashing up the deck (and the blocks).
>>>ludosti said >>> That 5-turned one is really cool looking. I think it would make a beautiful wall hanging.
My brother-in-law got that one and that's exactly what he did with it. It was wound very tight when I was done then seized and sewed up permanent-like. It did look pretty cool.
I'd love to find some hemp line to work with. Not that I don't like manilla, mind you, but I'd like to use something softer for maybe a large, square bathmat or something.
quote:When Coming From Fort Worth: Take I-30 to 360 go North to 183 East to 161 North (Valley View Lane). Take 161 north to LBJ-635 freeway. Go Right (East). Take the Tollway North to Keller Springs. Go right on Keller Springs to Preston (goes under Preston first then hooks to the left) and turn Right (North).
When Coming From Downtown Dallas: Take I-75 North to LBJ-635 Freeway. Go West to the Tollway. Go North on the Tollway to Keller Springs. Go right on Keller Springs to Preston (goes under Preston first then hooks to the left) and turn Right (North).
posted
An attractive, unusual preserve is always fun. We make pepper jam, which is a pretty red and yummy on bagels with cream cheese. Pomegranate jelly is lovely, so is quince. Or some people like to do citrus preserves, like sugared limes or something. There are lots of fun recipes like that, and you can make a lot at a time.
I hand-dip chocolates, but that's quite a bit of effort. Real fudge, toffee, or peanut brittle is easy.
Posts: 335 | Registered: Feb 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
My mother every few years, would make aprons for the grandmas and aunts (no reason why the boys couldn't get them too I suppose.) There is a very simple pattern for making them and it is almost as easy as making a pillow. Then after they were made, she'd get a fabric pen, and trace all of the kids handprints onto them. Then we'd sign our signature (whatever scrawl it was at the time) with our handprints. And voila, cheap christmas presents.
posted
For women, bath salts are great. This is very, very cheap - the container will be the most expensive part, and you could put them in plastic and then insert them in a sachet and each one would cost you less than $3.00.
Fabulous teacher gift.
Mix together one part table salt, 1/2 part baking powder and 2 parts epsom salts. Add a little bit of soap dye and a concentrated scent for soaps.
For my teacher gifts this year I'm hand dyeing silk scarves. I get my scarves for around 94 cents a piece.
Here are some I dyed for a breast cancer charity auction (I added the embroidered awareness ribbon)
Go to Dharma Trading Co and check out some of their kits. Their scarves, t-shirts, and other clothing items can be very reasonable if you're buying in quantity.
posted
When my children were small, for their (women) school teachers I would buy bath pearls in bulk and wrap 3 or 4 of them in a piece of lace and tie it up with ribbon for a Christmas gift. For male teachers, we stuck with food items.
One year, I bought some fancy stem-ware pieces at a yard sale and filled them with homemade raspberry jam, topped with paraffin. Those were very popular, and a little different.
Posts: 2069 | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Pepper Jam? Recipe, please? I have the perfect recipient in mind. Can you use a water bath process with it?
Posts: 1021 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
Boon
unregistered
posted
We buy plain, clear glass ornaments at Hobby Lobby for about $1 a package, take the tops off, put in two or three colors of tempera paint (include some white, it just looks better!), swirl it around, shake out the excess paint and let dry upside down in dixie cups overnight so the paint can drip out. Spray with gold spray glitter (like regular spray paint, but clear with glitter) and put the tops back on. Add a pretty ribbon bow, and use a gold paint pen to write things on them. Like the year, names of people in the household, "Baby's First Christmas", "Remember _____", etc.
posted
I love to bake cookies and put them in inexpensive tins for people. My children and I also make coffee filter angels. All you need are paper coffee filters, small styrofoam balls, some decorations and doll hair from your craft store and glue. The best thing about them is that they look good and they are easy to make.
Posts: 392 | Registered: Aug 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
You guys are just so darn crafty. You're inspiring me! I think I'm going to just have to make some stuff for the people I love.
Posts: 3771 | Registered: Sep 2002
| IP: Logged |
There's a shop in my town where we can get stuff to make candles or soaps. The gel candles are supposed to be very easy. I've been meaning to try this, but haven't made it over there yet. The woman who owns the shop came to our church to do a demonstration of making candles. She'll be coming back on the 19th to show how to make soap and lotion.
I've got a project to finish - it's a semi-quilted wall hanging with the saying, "Wise men still seek him." I need to get a frame to put it in. Oh, and get metal star-shaped buttons (or something similar). Anyway, once I do those two things, it will be done, and it was fairly easy - and I don't consider myself to be such a crafty person.
Another idea is to make a scrapbook kit for someone. Buy a small scrapbook/memory book and precut background papers and provide stickers and such so that the person can put together their own scrapbook. Hobby Lobby frequently has scrapbooking supplies on sale - often at 1/2 price. Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I think a GREAT gift idea is a hand decorated box.
You can get inexpensive plain paper-mache or wooden boxes in most large craft stores. You can then decopage or otherwise decorate each box in a way that is meaningful to the recipient. Does your brother like comics? Decopage comics all over the box. Does your mom like roses? Stitch a silk rose to the lid. There are an infinite number of ways to personalize a box.
Once that's done you can either give the box alone as the gift or you can fill it with something consumable. (Candy, pot-pourri, bath salts, whatever) When the consumable is gone, they have the box to re-use as they see fit.
And who doesn't need a box? They are great for keeping on the nightstand or dresser to hold pocket stuff (keys, coins, etc). They are great to put small bathroom articles in. They could hold used rubberbands or twist-ties on the kitchen counter yet hide them within a lovely and thoughtfully personal gift.
posted
Right now in Hancock fabric stores you can pick up a book of fleece projects, some of which are no-sew, and a book of Holiday projects, also no-sew.
They are free, and all their fleece is on sale through the end of the month.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Sorry, dread pirate, I haven't got the recipe here, but you'll find versions in the Ball and Sunset canning books, as well as in boxes of pectin. Yes, you use a water bath process.
Posts: 335 | Registered: Feb 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I made door snakes one year for my mom and mother-in-law by sewing a tube of fleece and putting cheap rice inside. You can also make nice neck massage pillows that way. You just put them in the microwave for a few minutes.
Gifts in a jar are great and cheap en masse, too.
I love the idea of crocheted finger puppets!
Wonder if I can be inspired to make something this year...I haven't even thought about Christmas gifts yet which isn't a good sign.
Posts: 1777 | Registered: Jan 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
There are websites where you can buy lavender in bulk, and I've always thought it would be a good gift to make pillows using that. If you want to get extra-fancy, make crescent-shaped ones that people can wear around their necks. You can mix the lavender with rice or sand to make the smell more subtle. And if you use sand, the pillow can be microwaved, so you can have a warm, heavy, frangrant thing around your neck. mmmmmm.
Posts: 1785 | Registered: May 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
Oooh! So many wonderful ideas! I'm really getting excited about this now. KarlEd, I've now decided to give my brother-in-law a decorated box. He's really into motorcycles, so they should be simple to find pictures of and look great too!
I think I'll go this weekend and buy supplies for a few of the gifts so I can go ahead and start. Maybe ragdoll fabric for my neice and yarn for the finger puppets.
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
Actually, I think that homemade gifts are great, so that's part of my motivation as well. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
