Fantastically Frugal: Conscious Christmas part 4

Homemade gifts are handcrafted items made by you. Before you take on an endeavor such as a Homemade Holiday you really need to do a skill assessment. Just as I said there are skills I do not posses. There are some cool ones that I do. My sewing skills are not advanced by any means. I would not choose to make a Vogue dress for my daughters. It would lead to grief, tears and frustration. Jillian would not attempt to make jewelry using tiny seed beads because she is legally blind and does not have enough visual acuity to work with such a small item.

The flip side of this is she rocks at computer graphics. With her skill set she can easily design personalized stationary, cards, or do the formatting for a family cookbook. We have some sewing skills, and a gift of visualizing the finished product while staring at a pile of raw materials. What are your skills?

Jillian and I are very lucky to have a great group of crafty friends. It really does help to have a village. In our “village” we have a gourmet cook, a knitter, several seamstresses, and cake decorators. One of us makes killer quilts, one can arrange flowers and décor, and few of us can make jewelry. These are just a few of our shared skills. Poll your friends. Could someone teach you how to knit, sew, crochet or embroider?

The next best thing is to go online. There are so many craft blogs with fabulous tutorials that you couldn’t possibly see them all.

We have to be vague with what we are making this year because most of our gift recipients are reading our column. So, instead we will give you a starting place for ideas that are easily crafted at home. Some of these are: bookmarks made with repurposed materials, quilted potholders, aprons out of vintage thrifted sheets, a placemat turned into a stationary holder, fabric covered journals, homemade Christmas ornaments, hair accessories, doll clothes, homemade bath salts and soap, candles made of just about anything, jewelry, knitted or crocheted scarves, afghans and hats. We are experimenting with a coffee cozy made out of felted sweater sleeves. We can put up some pictures soon.

Other great gifts are table cloths and napkins, and holiday decorations of every persuasion. Another great idea is to make personalized stockings for family members. Use fabric patterns to fit your recipient. You could use baseball for your son, karate for your daughter, vintage for an aunt, and so on. Pictures of yourself or your children make great gifts. Simply embellish a picture frame by gluing on vintage buttons, small toys, silk flowers, ribbon, or flat backed jewels.

The internet as we mentioned is an oasis of ideas. Simply type in homemade gift ideas into your web browser, grab a cup of coffee, or hot cider and plan your Homemade Holiday. Some good places to start are www.sewmamasew.com, and www.amandasoule.com, they both list other craft blogs on their blog pages to check out. See what inspires you! Great books include any of the Gooseberry Patch Christmas books (I fall asleep with these), The Creative Family and Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule and Reader’s Digest Homemade.

What are your ideas? What was your favorite homemade gift? Where do you go on the web for inspiration?
Notice food gifts are missing? Conscious Christmas #5 is gifts from your kitchen.

Until Tomorrow,
Brandy and Jillian

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• June 15, 2010 – Fantastically Frugal: Summer Fun

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Posted by Brandy Barris on Nov 13 2009. Filed under Viewpoints. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.