This year why not make homemade gifts...
There are lots of sites that give you recipes for "Gifts in a Jar"...these are recipes for beverages, cookies/brownies, soups and more. You can decorate old canning jars with fabric and ribbons and put a few jars in a basket/canvas bag or other reusable package...and there ya go...a wonderful gift...
Tips:
- Measure how tall your jar is, take a piece of string and make the string 4 inches longer/taller...tie the string to a pencil...put the other end of the string in the middle of some seasonal fabric (on the back side of the fabric)...draw a circle using the pencil stretched as far as the string will let it go...cut fabric around the circle line...fill your jar with the mix...set jar in the middle of the fabric (again on the back side of fabric)...bring fabric up to the just under the gold ring/lid...use a rubber band to hold the fabric in place...tie a ribbon/string around the rubber band to cover it up...make a "recipe tag" that has the instructions on making the jar gift...I like to punch a hole in the corner of the recipe card and hang it from one end of the ribbon/string you have just tied around the jar...I tie the end in a knot so the recipe card will hang from the jar...
- Purchase the ingredients you will need for the jar gift from Costco, Sams Club, BJ's, etc...you can buy in bulk and it will be a lot cheaper...which means you can do many more gift jars...
- Give your gift jars in a basket and/or canvas bags that you can decorate...or use wrapping paper to decorate a cardboard box...or a mixing bowl that they can use to make your wonderful mix...
Other homemade gifts:
- Canvas bags that you decorate yourself with fabric paints, appliques, etc. (these make wonderful gifts for teachers)
- HGTV is a wonderful place to go for holiday gifts
- Don't forget about the sock ice pack/heating pad
- How about making homemade soap or candles
- Or painting/etching and/or decoupaging glass plates/jars/ornaments
- Make a wonderful homemade scarf for someone you love (this is a great craft for kids)
- Bath Fizzies, and Body Lotions can be a nice gift
- Did you know you can make homemade lip balm...
Homemade gifts can be quite wonderful and will mean more because you made them...And the number of homemade gifts that get used over store bought gifts are 100 to 1 (okay so I made that stat up, but I know I've always enjoyed the homemade gifts I have gotten over the store bought ones...
Do you have a homemade gift you would like to share?
So start now and you won't feel so overwhelmed...Happy Holiday Gift Making! Hugs...
9 comments:
I love homemade gifts! I'm currently working on ponchos for my girls. After that... who knows? You've given me some great ideas, though.
I love homemade gifts too. I collect nativities and my oldest daughter usually makes me some sort of nativity each Christmas. Last year she made an ornament from wood and painted the Holy family on one side with a blue background. On the other side she painted the 3 Wise Men on camels with an orange background. It is amazing! I've also done the cookies-in-a-jar gift and that was a lot of fun. Thanks for giving me some more ideas, Brenda!
I always try to start early and end up being overwhelmed anyway!
The soapmaking is fun - I've done that with the kids. We made little shapes in candy molds and then imbedded them in bigger bars - they were pretty & easy to make.
carrie...are you sewing or knitting the ponchos? I've tried to sew an outfit once for work...turned out to look like pj's...which suited me fine...and I've tried to knit...I started a potholder 2 years ago and am only half done...grin....
rena...you will have to post a pic of the ornament...it sounds beautiful...
adrienne...I use to start in Sept and be done before black Friday...now I don't even get started until black Friday...but I do it all online, so I still get done pretty quick...
I'm not the craftiest person (I can't even sew a button!), but I really like the canvas bag idea! I think I'll have the kids decorate one for each of their grandparents that they can bring to the grocery store etc. Brenda, do you know where I would get a plain canvas bag? Would that be easy to find? Thankd!
Kelly...I am the same way...my finger looks like a pin cushion by the time I'm done sewing on that button...grin...
You should be able to buy the plain canvas totes at Walmart, Michaels, etc...Here's a link to Michaels...they have different ideas on how to decorate the totes...
http://www.michaels.com/art/online/search?pageNumber=1&channel=0&search=yes&type=0&searchWords=canvas+bags
If you scroll down to the bottom, you can see that they have pink ones, white ones, etc...I want to see pics when you guys get done decorating...grin...good luck!
Ohhhh, I love to make gifts - have been doing it since I was little. We never had money to buy gifts. I remember years where we just got our stockings filled with oranges, hard candies and nuts and one small gift.
So, I knit and sew and crochet scarves and stuff. I think I'll have to do a blogpost on some of my projects - hadn't even thought of that. Thanks for being my muse.
I'm really going to try and make all of my gifts this year...I can't bake, knit, sew, nor can I paint, but I'm gonna give it a try...it should be very interesting...grin...
Thanks for all the good ideas Brenda! I love making crafty things, and we do a craft at Christmas (me, DH, his parents, and my parents). I'm always looking for crafts that will appeal to a variety of people. Some like crafts more than others, so it's a challenge.
I think I'll have to do a blog post about the last few years of crafts, as they were all successful!
I'm going to go look at your links now - thanks!
Stephanie
p.s. You're one of the winners in my contest - yay! Let me know which Sheila image and cheer you want, and you also get a journal of your choice from my cafepress store!! (Any design you see can be made into a journal. You don't have to look at all the designs on the actual product, unless you want to.) Thanks for the title suggestions!!
Post a Comment