Jenny in Florida Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 My schedule this year has been unusually busy, and we're still dealing with a bunch of emotional family stuff that has taken much of the wind out of my sails, holiday-wise. However, I had hoped/planned to make at least one small gift for each of my immediate family members. (I/we have purchased gifts for everyone, but hand-made gifts are a big tradition in our family.) As of yesterday, I have finished gifts for both of our young adult offspring and their SO's, but I never did come up with an idea I liked for my husband. I was kind of at peace with that until about an hour ago, when I went into full-on anxiety/upset mode. We have no real plans for today until going out to see a show tonight. So I have some time. Plus, my husband always goes to bed earlier than I do on Christmas eve, meaning I could lock myself in my craft room and squeeze out an hour or to to finish a project without jeopardizing my ability to be awake and cheerful tomorrow. (Remember that we don't have young kids; no one will be poking us at 6:00 am to go open presents.) In the past, I've sewn pajama pants, which is an acceptable backup, but feels uninteresting. That is especially true since I used to do that as a companion to making the pajamas we gave the kids on Christmas eve, which no longer happens. I also crochet and knit (although knitting is slow for me) and do various kinds of general crafting. He doesn't like to receive ornaments on Christmas. We live in Florida, so things like scarves are superfluous. I have a fair number of general craft supplies (acrylic paints, glue, pens, scrapbook papers, ribbon, etc.) on hand and a Michael's within a 15-minute drive. Joann's is more like 30 minutes away, but I do have a local fabric store that specializes in quilting materials. (I don't quilt.) Thoughts? Ideas? Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 One of those fleece tie blankets for couch snuggling in his favorite team colors? A sign for his office? Could you print out some photos at walmart or the drug store one hour place and frame a few? Embellish the frame? What are his hobbies? Could you make a painted mug with sharpie paints? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted December 24, 2018 Author Share Posted December 24, 2018 2 minutes ago, Chris in VA said: One of those fleece tie blankets for couch snuggling in his favorite team colors? A sign for his office? Could you print out some photos at walmart or the drug store one hour place and frame a few? Embellish the frame? What are his hobbies? Could you make a painted mug with sharpie paints? Well, as always, that's part of the challenge. His only real "hobby" is RPGs with his gaming group. He's been at that a very long time, so the usual cute stuff like dice bags and such is taken care of. He doesn't like or follow sports or do most of the usual "guy stuff" (drink beer, grill, eat bacon, etc.). So he's kind of a challenge in general for gift giving. And a lot of the "dad" stand-bys don't really work anymore, either. For example, no recent photos to speak of, now that we don't have little kids around. And I mined the family photo archives pretty thoroughly several years ago by making Shutterfly albums for him. Hold the line . . . I'm thinking . . . We did take a couple of cruises in the last two years. I don't have a ton of photos from those, but a few. I could collage a frame for one of those. He might like that! And I might have the supplies (other than maybe needing a new ink cartridge for our printer) on hand. Plus, it's quiet, so he wouldn't even hear the sewing machine going. That just might be brilliant! Thanks, Chris! (Keep the ideas coming, folks. I may need additional inspiration if this doesn't work out.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 I'm mostly only familiar with D&D, but I think those in my family that play would enjoy a custom covered folder/envelope for their character sheets, book, place for a pen.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted December 24, 2018 Author Share Posted December 24, 2018 2 hours ago, HomeAgain said: I'm mostly only familiar with D&D, but I think those in my family that play would enjoy a custom covered folder/envelope for their character sheets, book, place for a pen.. Yeah, he's got all of those things covered. As I said, he's been doing this for a long, long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 I once received a favorite quote from a poem handwritten on hand embellished paper and then framed. I love it! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 6 minutes ago, happi duck said: I once received a favorite quote from a poem handwritten on hand embellished paper and then framed. I love it! Dd did this for dh one year. He treasures it. This year I printed photos and put them in frames. She has been trying to make a calendar for him, but that has turned into a circus -- Walmart photo centers in our area are apparently falling apart and/or don't have the appropriate cartridges for their machines, and don't bother to mention any of this until you go into the store after several hours to politely inquire if maybe they forgot to send a "finished" notice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 I made my husband a mug with a screenshot of his favorite MUD on it and he loves it. I used Shutterfly, though... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emba Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 I made BIL and SIL rice bags (rectangular fabric bags filled with rice that can be heated in the microwave to put on sore muscles). Very quick project. You might be able to find a pattern online for one that is more shaped, but I just used a letter size piece of paper for a pattern. Legal might have been better. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bambam Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 I'm late to the party, but I've just seen the rubbing alcohol, alcohol ink coasters - where you set them on fire to evaporate the alcohol. There are some beautiful colors and patterns. So maybe a couple of coasters for his office? White ceramic tiles are cheap at Home Depot and you can glue felt on the bottom to make them coasterish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 One year my family made a little holiday scrapbook in a 3x3 ish sized scrapbook with blank pages--just a spiral bound book with acid free paper, basically. We used pretty scrapbook paper, stickers, and pens to dress it up, and it didn't have pictures, but we wrote in little traditions that we appreciate, some favorite Christmas song lyrics, things like that. I think we might have thrown in some favorite recipes. Apparently it meant a lot to the recipient to know all those little things made a difference to us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephanier.1765 Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 You'll have to update us because I'm dying to know what you ended up doing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 (edited) On 12/24/2018 at 9:43 AM, Jenny in Florida said: My schedule this year has been unusually busy, and we're still dealing with a bunch of emotional family stuff that has taken much of the wind out of my sails, holiday-wise. However, I had hoped/planned to make at least one small gift for each of my immediate family members. (I/we have purchased gifts for everyone, but hand-made gifts are a big tradition in our family.) As of yesterday, I have finished gifts for both of our young adult offspring and their SO's, but I never did come up with an idea I liked for my husband. I was kind of at peace with that until about an hour ago, when I went into full-on anxiety/upset mode. We have no real plans for today until going out to see a show tonight. So I have some time. Plus, my husband always goes to bed earlier than I do on Christmas eve, meaning I could lock myself in my craft room and squeeze out an hour or to to finish a project without jeopardizing my ability to be awake and cheerful tomorrow. (Remember that we don't have young kids; no one will be poking us at 6:00 am to go open presents.) In the past, I've sewn pajama pants, which is an acceptable backup, but feels uninteresting. That is especially true since I used to do that as a companion to making the pajamas we gave the kids on Christmas eve, which no longer happens. I also crochet and knit (although knitting is slow for me) and do various kinds of general crafting. He doesn't like to receive ornaments on Christmas. We live in Florida, so things like scarves are superfluous. I have a fair number of general craft supplies (acrylic paints, glue, pens, scrapbook papers, ribbon, etc.) on hand and a Michael's within a 15-minute drive. Joann's is more like 30 minutes away, but I do have a local fabric store that specializes in quilting materials. (I don't quilt.) Thoughts? Ideas? Thoughts? It’s too late, but file it away for next year - My daughter made coffee cups with our initials. Edited December 27, 2018 by BlsdMama 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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