Hi Everyone :waving:



The Christmas season is upon us and I'm looking for homemade Christmas gift ideas. I would like to make things that are useful to the people I give them to, and not something that they can only use at specific times of the year (like ornaments) or something that just decorates a shelf.



Anyone have ideas for homemade gifts that can be used by parents, grandparents, and friends?



Thanks in advance!

:inlove: Aloe

What craft skills do you have? Knitting? Sewing? Crochet? Woodworking?

What things do your friends and family do? What are their hobbies? What climate do they live in?

Putting those two together will help you find good gifts.

I live in a climate with a distinct winter, so hats, mittens and scarves are always good. Towel toppers, for attaching towels to drawer pulls, are useful. Storage for the tools for their hobbies is often welcome.

If you are making your gifts, it is a little late to be starting. I began working in early November this year, and I'm only doing small projects. There have been times when I started in mid-summer, for larger items. But if you find small/quick projects, it should be doable.

I love doing these:

Brownie mix in a jar
Cookie mix in a jar
Hot Cocoa mix in a jar
My own blended Chai tea in a jar

Here's a sample recipe:
http://cookie.allrecipes.com/az/brownmixjariii.asp

You can make cute little jar topper covers just by cutting out circles with a pair of pinking shears and adding ribbons, etc. Print out the recipes on brown paper and attach to the lid with a colorful ribbon.

If I get it done in time, i usually crochet my own jar lid covers.

I just remembered a Christmas gift my Aunt and Uncle made for everyone one year. They collected various photos of all the family, took them in to a printer and had a calendar made for each one of us. It was very affordable. The calendars were absolutely wonderful and very meaningful. It was a great way to remember all the special people in our family throughout the year.

Here are some Bath Salt recipes in this thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=9397&) suitable for gift giving. There are also plenty more recipes online. They are quick and easy to make!

This year I've made a quilt for my Gran and jewellery for my sister and best friend. It was my first attempt at both and they came out ok!

This year, I'm going to make a sewing box for my Mum, I'm gonna fill it with chocolates, and some other bits and pieces that I know she likes. (She's the only one who gets a handmade gift, because we give them for Solstice - which no one else in the family celebrates)

I usually have a wander round some of the big craft shops in November, and see what jumps out at me, or what i feel like making.

How about some Keyrings? the possibilities there are endless!
Oo painted glass candle holders. You could even get a glass bottle to paint, then fill it with bubblebath.
Home made soap, or bath bombs? Or even just melt some glycerine soap down, colour it and set it in muffin papers. you could put cake toppers in the soap, before it sets. That'd be lovely in a gift bow with some bubble baths and a face cloth!

What I've done a few times when I couldn't think of anthing, or was struggling for time, is to make a really nice box, out of mountboard, and put the gift in it. The gift is well appreciated, and the box will come in handy sooner or later!
You could give them potted plants in a nice, personalised teracotta pot
Or grab a bar of chocolate and load of nuts, dried fruits, glace cherries, nougat, fudge, etc, for a box of handmade chocolates!
We have, in sone gift shops, here, "boxes of love" which is just an empty box wrapped up, filled with love. Of course they can never open it, cause the love would escape, and it's a bit of a pointless object, but it's a nice thought! (especially if you're REALLY pressed for time


Better yet, make Silk Scrunchies - you can be garuanteed to get them back for next christmas! :D

(:D Spot the girl guide!)

If you have access to a sewing machine, what about making shoe bags? They're fast to make with the most basic of sewing machines, and almost anyone who travels or goes to the gym could always use more shoe bags.

One of the things that's nice about making them yourself is that you can make them from a soft flannel that would match the recipient in some way.

Another nice thing about making them yourself is that you can make them big enough for men's shoes, including athletic shoes. I'm sure they're sold somewhere in large sizes, but I've never found commercial shoe bags that are as downright useful as the simple ones that I've made.

I make them out of soft flannel, and I use cording in a complementary color from the trim/accessories area for the drawstring. I just tie the ends of the cord together in a knot. This time of year, you can find some pretty flannels in lots of different patterns.

All of the people I've made shoe bags for have asked me for the last couple of years, when I'm going to make them some more for Christmas. This should be the year. I've picked up some pretty flannel!

Thank you all for your wonderful ideas!!! After some debating I've decided to make fleece scarf’s, hats and head bands for my family and friends. I went to the fabric store and found some solid color fleece for cheap and also bought some fleece with cool patterns. I've already started making my scarfs. I made a fringe scarf for my boyfriends niece...very easy, very cute!! I also made a few scarfs’ that are reversible. Seeing as I live where it snows this should be something everyone can use.


I'm also going to make cute fleece hats for my best friend’s baby and my boyfriends nephew. If I can I'll take pictures of the finished products and post them here.


Thanks again!!!



Aloe

~ Hand-made chocolate

~ A specially concocted Perfume Oil

~ Ribbon jewellery

~ A Charm Bracelet made from things found in Nature

~ A Miniature Portrait that you have painted of your loved one

Or why not overwhelm someone with all of the above?

- Sewing pajamas or small bags with their initials to make it extra special.

- Baking special cookies that the gift-receiver loves or a coupon for baking/cooking somehting that the gift-receiver loves.

- Buying these huge monthly wall calendars and writing the birthdays, anniversaries of everybody in the family and extended family. I'm in the process of making one for myself. ;) Also, if you spend time to make one, you can take multiple printouts for everybody and have it spiral bound at the local copy shop or Kinkos. Make it extra special with photos too.. :) Say, if a person is having birthday on Dec 15th, then put a tiny picture of him in that date saying 'Happy birthday XX'...

- Bath salts are wonderful! So, are sugar scrubs. So easy to make and they smell so good!

- Collect pictures of family members and make it into a large collage. Scan this and print individual copies with a photoprinter or walmart for everybody. Digital pictures work wonderful for this! You can even collect many pictures of each person at diff stages of their lives and make a separate collage for each person ... They'll love it!

Cookie mixes in a jar are definitely fun.

One Christmas we made our own wine, bottled it and decorated to bottles for Chistmas theme. It will take some time for the wine to be ready, but it was quite easy and a really success! I recommend!

Not all of these ideas are home made, but here goes.

I get any teen or young 20 something a AAA membership. So helpful while on the road. My son has used in numerous times and with my membership it only costs an extra $25 a year.

I made rice bags for my mom. Made a small muslin pillow filled with long grain rice and made sure it would fit over her bad knee. Then I made flannel cases for the outside which could be washed if they got dirty. A few seconds in the microwave and she had a nice heat pad. Could go in the freezer too instead of her usual package of frozen peas.

For grandparents who have everything, but like to mail letters I made stationary and preprinted return address on the envelopes. I even put stamps on the envelopes.

For a friend, I'm making a wool braided rug. I know she'll appreciate it since it's not all that easy to do.

Glo