What's a handmade gift you would want?

[BMW]

Last year my mother made gifts for me. It was so sweet, but her idea depends on the personality and likes of your family...

 

She took basic round ornaments (think very, very inexpensive) and picked out some fabric and covered them collecting the material at the top of the ornament, tied off with some string. Then took paper, wrote our names and cut around the name with pretty scissors and glued that (you can use double sticky tape) to the ornament. I now have a set of ornaments with each of our names on them. If you knew a favorite theme... if the person decorates with a favorite color on their tree... if you left the names off and made a few with words like Peace, Joy and Love...

[Cinder]

I really love those tiered dishes and the bird feeders. One problem is I have to make 10 gifts, so I have to watch my cost for supplies. Also the difference in ladies, there's single early 20s up thru married 40s-50s, to my widowed MIL in her 70s.

 

Yikes! Ten gifts? That's just outrageous at this late date. :glare:

 

I have no new ideas for you. Just wanted to say I'm enjoying this thread for all the ideas I'm gleaning.

 

Cinder

[mytwomonkeys]

i like these bead necklaces made from recycled newspaper:

 

http://www.astorybooklife.com/how-to/paper-beads/

 

i like these baskets, but it looks more challenging:

 

http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/recycled-newspaper-baskets

 

 

if you knit or crochet, i've seen beautiful bags made from recycled plastic bags, vhs tapes, etc. i use tshirts & make t-yarn, but that's probably too time consuming for 10 things. if you have a knifty knitter though, you could make a basket purse easily out of recycled goods & i imagine it would take just a couple of hours for each purse. you could crochet simple flower embellishments if desired.

 

 

lastly, coasters are super easy to make from recycled cd's.

 

http://scrapdash.blogspot.com/2008/03/cd-coasters-tutorial.html

[Cinder]

Ok, now I do have a suggestion. How about these beaded candle holders?

 

Cinder

[Wildiris]

How about a Christmas Ornament? I collect ornaments, and each year I add something new to our collection. Nothing fancy but something special.

 

I've put together a few kits for the ornaments you see in my signature. They are easy to make and take one evening to put together. You can make them as fancy or simple as you want.

[AuntieM]

5yodd drew his name this year. He is moderately active and has/buys everything he needs. I think he has gotten nice shirts and sweaters the last three years, so we are looking for something a bit more creative. Your ideas will be most welcome!

[JFSinIL]

Well, none, really. And I am not crafty about making gifts, either.

[mytwomonkeys]

oh. i thought of one more. you'll need glass plates (i've found them at the dollar store) and designer paper napkins. you just use diluted glue to put the napkin on the back of the plate & just modge podge when it's dry. i usually paint gold trim around the edge of the plate. it makes a beautiful decoration, it's so easy, and fairly inexpensive. you could take the same concept & do it with cd's for coasters too.

 

here's a set i made:

 

 

http://s186.photobucket.com/albums/x23/elizawill/?action=view&current=296d1712.pbw

[MelanieM]

Another suggestion... If you have any old t-shirts laying around, or can get to the thrift store to pick some up, you can make t-shirt necklace/scarf/headbands. They are adorable, and take about 5 minutes to do from start to finish! The look like this when finished. The tutorial has been removed from there, but you can follow the directions here for t-shirt yarn, just don't complete the last step of cutting on the diagonal. (Stop at the picture of the cut fabric on the arm chair.) Instead of those diagonal cuts, just gather everything together at the joined ends, and then wrap a little extra t-shirt fabric around at that point to keep it all together so it won't tangle. Then you'll want to pull on each loop so that it curls up.

[Hathersage]

You could always make some pads :) LOL.

 

http://tipnut.com/free-pattern-for-washable-feminine-menstrual-pads/

[newbie]

Knit throw or mittens.

[Ferdie]

My dd made chocolate lip balm at her birthday party. It turned out great and I remember thinking they would make cute stocking stuffers. You can buy the lip balm pots online. My dd put a puff alphabet letter on the lip balm lid to personalize. You could easily make 10 in an hour. Here is the recipe:

 

http://www.food.com/recipe/Chocolate-Lip-Balm-69998

 

You could do a whole chocolate theme and add a homemade chocolate face mask or body scrub too. Or maybe some homemade hot cocoa to go with the lip balm. Yum!

[Spryte]

What wonderful ideas!

 

For grandparents - handprint dishtowels. Super easy. Plain white dishtowels, fabric paint, and your kiddos for the handprints. Ours have lasted for years, and I smile every time we use them. The grandparents all loved them, too! :)

 

For teens/young adults - record bowls are easy and quick.

 

I'm a big fan of the homemade scrubs and lip balms. Put some in the record bowls.

 

Marshmallow shooters look like fun for kids.