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Being low on the $$ this year (see related 'kitten swallowed an Advil thread), I have resorted to handmade Christmas presents. I am particularly worried about coming up with one for my boyfriend (boys are so hard to BUY for, let alone MAKE for). Does anyone here have any suggestions?
Posts: 1784 | Registered: Jun 2001
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All the handmade gifts I can think of still cost at least something to make. I know a few people who make handmade ornaments, for example, but you still have to buy the supplies. It can get pretty pricey if you have a lot of people to buy for.
I recommend visiting local used bookstores. You can find some real treasures (especially in older stores) for ridiculously cheap prices.
Posts: 4292 | Registered: Jan 2001
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You can buy soft fleece at a fabric store or even walmart and cut it into a scarf (a strip of cloth with lots of cuts on the end to make fringe) or use a bigger piece for a blanket. No sewing needed. OR You can make handmade ornaments using blown eggs, pinecones, popsicle sticks (a little childish but endearing) OR You can make a coupon book for free backrubs, dinner, ect. OR You can make a homemade journal with found paper. OR You could give some short stories you've written. OR You could make FOOD (cookies, cake, bread, ect...)
Um, that's all I can think of right now. I'll try to think of more and write later.
Posts: 44 | Registered: May 2001
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Glad you liked the scarf idea. I made one for my sister this Christmas. You could make a picture collage or just frame a picture or make a picture frame or make a photo album or a picture book using digital photos and your own homemade story. If you can sew a straight stich (think mending), you can make bags (purses, messenger bags, backpacks) out of old clothes. Blue jeans or cords work great for this and I've seen some really nice ones made out of old sweaters. You could make an oragami zoo or a set of oragami boxes.
More to come...(this is fun )
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After my sister got me some expensive salt scrubs and bath salts as a gift, I decided to make my own. I liked my products better than the originals, and made some for my sister. She likes them, too.
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Rien, do you have any basic patterns for those bags? I can do basic mending, but I'm very bad a crafts, so I fear making a lump of cloth without some sort of pattern...
Posts: 2409 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I made a journal for my boyfriend's birthday when I was running low on money... I found a really nice, handmade journal from Nepal, with coarse paper and a cool binding for about $12. With a calligraphy pen I wrote in some lovey-dovey quotes and poems , pasted in some pictures of us (and left room for him to put some in himself), wrote about some of the fun things we had done together, put in a few coupons for cookies and backrubs and those sorts of things, and so forth. He really, really liked it.
Posts: 2409 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I did'nt have a patten for the bags. One bag I made was out of bellbottom bluejeans I cut the flaired part off and sewed the cut part together (insideout so the sewing was on the inside). The top edge of the bag was already sewn cause it was the bottom of the pant leg. Then I cut the waist of the pants off right below the sewing and sewed it onto each side of the bag for an easy strap. That's the easyest bag I've ever sewn and I loved how it looked when I was done.
You could cut open two pant legs, sew them together, then sew the sides together leaving about three inches on top and then add a strap and you have a messenger bag.
Bags are pretty easy things to learn how to sew since they are only squares or rectangles sewn on three sides.
Posts: 44 | Registered: May 2001
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Basic Salt Scrub: Mix equal parts oil and kosher salt. This makes a gritty paste that you rub into your skin and shower (or bathe) off. I like to use almond oil (which you can find in an Indian grocery, maybe), or light olive oil (which doesn't smell as "olive-y" as the virgin olive oil), because they are the right balance of moisturizing without being too greasy. I got some "essential oil" (which is a very concentrated scent) from a bath and body shop and added it a bit at a time to get the level of scent that I liked. I like just a suggestion of fragrance, not too strong. Because it is all oil-based, the fragrance seems to linger on the skin.
Rough Knee, Elbow and Foot Scrub To the Basic scrub, add corn meal (Quaker Corn Meal is just fine) until you have a thicker pomace. (Probably about half the amount of salt that you used in the basic mix is how much corn meal that you'll need)
Super Blackhead-Disolving Facial Scrub (This actually deep cleans out your pores, dissolves away your blackheads, and rinses so clean that your skin feels totally soft and not at all oily!) Mix equal parts of the Basic Salt Scrub with St. Ives Apricot Scrub or Apri Apricot Scrub (which they sell in the supermarket or pharmacy with the skin care products)
I keep mine in those disposable "Gladware" plastic containers. Or you can use something prettier. But I would advise against glass jars. Slippery hands + Shower + Glass Container = Danger!
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Katarain, I like the affordable Christmas thread. There were lots of neat ideas.
For kids you could also make puppets out of old mismatched socks or make fingerpuppets out of felt in storybook sets (like the three bears or little red ridinghood) and then make a lttle puppet theater out of an old box. You can use refrdgerator boxs for a full size theater or a smaller box for a table sized theater (the small size works well with the finger puppets). You could give kids homemade playough and some cheap cookiecutters (it stays more useable than the cheap off brand playdough)
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