Handmade Gifts
Handmade gifts are great. A lot of handmade and homemade gifts I think of are food items and baked goods, but that may just be me. If you have a skill, put it to use making gifts for your family and friends. If you don’t have skill in a handicraft, shop local artisans at craft fairs and on Etsy and other online marketplaces.
If you don’t have a skill yet, but are interested in learning one, it’s not too late to pick up a few ideas at your local craft or hobby store and get started; depending on the project you pick, you may have time to get at least one handmade gift for one special recipient finished on time.
Crafts
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Jewelry and Beads:
This can be a lot of fun, especially with kids! Beads come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, colors and prices. Buy a bucket of inexpensive plastic or wood beads for young kids to create with, and older kids to adults can make use of whatever budget and interest dictate. There are necklace chains available with clasps or closures already attached; just be sure that your beads and pendants will fit over the clasp/closure, or you’ll have to buy the tools to disassemble and reassemble it.
Sewing crafts:
We’re not talking becoming a professional seamstress, here, okay? We’re just looking at simple hand sewing and machine sewing crafts that can be completed with minimal know-how and in quick time. Kids who are interested in sewing can have fun learning to hand stitch little stuffed figures out of felt. A few simple stitches and some patience can put a beautiful monogram on the edge of a pillowcase or handkerchief; and a steady hand can run up a simple apron or baby blanket in next to no time on a sewing machine.
Baked goods:
You’ll surprise yourself with the delicious things you can bake, when armed with the right tools and ingredients! Start with a simple recipe, with simple instructions, and go with it. Remember that baking requires you to pay attention, even if you have a timer set, so don’t get engrossed in something else while you’re supposed to be in the kitchen. Learn to make some sugar free treats for people who can’t or don’t eat sugar. Gluten-free is trickier, so I’d not recommend that for a beginning baker, but if you’re experienced, try your hand and see what you come up with!
RH
Here are some simple crafting ideas that don’t require a lot of skill to get started, just a pinch of creativity and some time. Some of these are great way for kids to try their hand at crafting, too!
Stamping:
Create personalized stationery, greeting cards and paper crafts using any number of beautiful stamps, papers and inks. Shop Michael’s Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Target and more to get started. Shop online for custom stamps, too.
No-sew blankets and crafts:
These are often available as kids from your local fabric store, such as JoAnn Fabric, and include yards of polar fleece fabric in two patterns with fringed edges. You simply lay one over the other and tie the fringed ends together all around the edge of the fabric and, voila! A blanket!
Cross stitch:
Cross stitch projects can be found all over the place during the holidays; patterns and kits range in price from very inexpensive and quite simple in design, to very expensive and complex. Start with a simple pattern for beginners and children.
Crochet:
Pick up a starter kit for under $10, and pick out some yarn that you like. Settle in with some youtube.com videos on how to crochet, and you’ll be on your way in no time. Beware left-handed people: it is very hard to find a video of how to crochet left-handed! But you can still learn how to crochet – I did!