Share your ideas for Holiday Gifts!

lorihadams

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Okay guys....here's mine!

These are great projects for your kids to introduce them to hand or machine sewing.

I use muslin to back my quilts and for the linings of tote bags so I often have leftover pieces of muslin. Cut 2 identical rectangles of muslin and sew on three sides, leaving the short top side unfinished. Turn right side out and insert a piece of aluminum foil and paint as desired with fabric paint.
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I do this for halloween gift bags as well as christmas gift bags.
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When they are dry take out the aluminum foil (so the paint doesn't bleed through) and fill with candy, homemade cookies, hand made soap or bath salts, whatever. There is no limit on how big or small these can be, you can make them to fit any sized gift. I leave the top unfinished and tie it with baling twine to give it a country feel.

These make great gifts for teachers or your children's school friends or neighbors. Sometimes we sneak one for each of our children under the tree with a special gift inside.

Now I also do these square bottom bags out of felt. This is a great thing to do for hand stitching practice because it uses a simple whip stitch. Easy to do while you are watching tv in the evenings. Cut the bottom square of felt any size you want and then cut rectangles for the sides. They can be any height as long as the short sides of the rectangles are the same length as the sides of the bottom square. I cut a small square out of 2 sides at the top and then cut a length of felt and tie it closed.
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These are great bags for movies or cds or homemade gifts as well. You can leave it plain but I like to use sparkly sequins and a glue gun to jazz them up a bit.

For homemade bath salts here is what I do. Go to a craft store and look for the soapmaking aisle. Get the basic 3 pack of red, yellow, and blue soap dye. Then pick out 3 or 4 of your favorite soap scents. This will cost you about $10 total to start off with. Next, buy epsom salts...lots of bags cause they are addictive. Place desired amount of epsom salts in a sandwich size plastic ziploc bag. Add a couple drops of soap dye, mixing colors as needed, to begin with. Add about 7 or 8 drops of scent and zip the bag closed leaving some air in the bag. Next, smoosh the salts around in the bag until the color distributes evenly throughout the salts. If you want it lighter, go easy on the dye. If you want it darker, just keep adding drops of dye until you get the desired color.

If you want you can put these in some pretty glass jars or half pint or pint fancy jelly jars and top with a square of fabric over the ring and tied with raffia or baling twine.

To use in the bath, throw a couple handfuls in the water and let it dissolve completely and soak.
 

TanksHill

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Wonderful ideas Lori!! I love all the bags. They are the perfect way to finish off a handmade gift. Your so awesome!!!

g
 

lorihadams

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My children have gone puppet crazy so I got into my stash of felt and made finger puppets for them for christmas....incidently, all of these were inspired by coloring book pictures. I can copy anything ya'll!


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VickiLynn

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You did a great job on those puppets! I want to play with them.:lol:
 

sheaviance1

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I went to an antique store recently where they were selling women's bracelets made from the handles of (very ornate) silverware. They were absolutely beautiful. Perhaps, some of the snobbier people mentioned in some of these posts would appreciate something handmade like that...

Our family doesn't do much for one another at Christmas, but my co-workers are a very different story. I am on a severely restricted budget this year. I have went to the woods and found some pieces of cedar with no bark, cut them 6 - 8 inches long, painted them white, whittled a nose, crocheted a hat and scarf and painted a face. It makes an adorable snowman. I am also making candle holders with Mason jars. I have put a small ornament inside with repurposed greenery from Christmases past and fake snow. Top it with a "flower pot" candle holder, and tie a scrap piece of fabrich around the threads on the jar. They are turning out very nice. One of the most in-demand homemade items is honey-strawberry jam (sweet and tart and wonderful spread on a biscuit with cream cheese). I did purchase some dishtowel sets, and folded them into dishtowel angels. I am planning to do a Christmas basket of goodies and my personal favorite item in there is the homemade english toffee cappuccino mix that I found online. It is divine (after a little tweaking).
 

lorihadams

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I went to a craft show and saw a whole booth of jewelry made from antique silverware...bought my DD a little bracelet with a pretty bead hung from it.

I want to find some and make a wind chime with it....gotta hit the antique stores!
 

aggieterpkatie

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So for my 2 best girlfriends I'm making some "adult" *ahem* chapstick holders. They're knitted with flesh colored yarn, shaped like a certain part of the male anatomy. ;) They will get a kick out of them.
 

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