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Talk It Out:
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This year I discovered a great and economical gift: stamped tile coasters. The start up cost is not super inexpensive, but the amount of gifts you can make evens that out. The ingredients for these are as follows: * Staz-on ink pad ($8 at Micheal's without the 40% coupon, less with
it)
Directions:
You're done. Should you want to color the image stamped,
sharpies work the best for that. "I have a
suggestion to the question you posed: Plastic Canvas! I do not
crochet or knit but this hobby is something I do and enjoy and
have made gifts for family, friends and church activities. The
possibilities are endless and of course some are complicated but
there are an abundance of simple, easy - yet quite nice
projects. Some are very easy and children would have no problem
as there are plastic needles available for small hands. I would
even invite you to check out the free patterns website (www.freepatterns.com)
for a wonderful selection of ideas and patterns for plastic
canvas crafts as well as other crafts. You have to register but
once you are registered you have a variety of patterns/crafts to
chose from and download/print. And it is free." ~
Kathleen "Every Christmas, I make individual gifts for every one in the family. Now, my husband has six brothers and sisters and attendant families, and the little festers keep breeding like rabbits, so you can imagine what it's like. It's a lovely challenge, and great fun, actually. One year I bought inexpensive gold baubles, marker type glass paint, faux stick on jewels and metallic silhouette Christmas stickers. Each person had a named and dated bauble to hang on their tree. One year I did Christmas cookies per family, in cheap but nice jars from the supermarket. I made up a huge amount of cookies and bunged them in the jars. Last year I bought some really, really cheap shot glasses, clear cellophane wrap and gift ribbon. From a local printer, I was GIVEN, on asking, card offcuts. Also needed for this one are cream cheese, chocolate bits, a fork, a food processor, a microwave safe container, a microwave oven, gold metallic marker, a hole punch, preferably with a fancy design in its cutout, a spoon, adhesive tape and a pair of scissors. Put equal quantities of cream cheese and chocolate bits in the container, microwave on MEDIUM for at least a minute until cream cheese is steaming. Blend with fork. Put in food processor and blend until smooth. Spoon into clean shot glasses, wrap glasses with cellophane, tie with adhesive tape (invisible tape is best, it's so easy to get off later!), cut small tag off card piece, hole punch in top left hand corner, write message, tie around shot glass with ribbon. This year, if I get them done in time, I'm doing Hardanger scissor keepers, little squares of unique needlework (each design is different, which is great fun, I use a little needlework encyclopedia to give me ideas), and I take a bag of work with me to all sorts of places to do 'just a bit more.' The scissor keepers will have a backing of watered rainbow silk and dried lavender. I think they'll be very useful in closets, wardrobes, drawers and the like. If not,
I'll just have to think of something else! I'll keep
doing the Hardanger for next year!" ~ Leonie
"Soapmaking isn't too involved And depending on the mold you just might have the supplies at hand. You can add hidden things like plastic bugs, flowers, jewelry or shells for interest. You can use a loaf pan, layer colors of soap, slice it like bread and have rainbow soap. Use muffin tins, custard cups etc. I bought glycerin soap in a block and some coloring. Added creatures and rings and used it as a craft for a birthday party. The kids had their own soap to take home Use candy molds to make individual soap molds. Put several in a basket and voila! Candle making. Same with candle making. Glass jars from jelly, baby food, pickles. All can make unique containers. Cover with a circle of fabric or lace. Tie a ribbon or one of these trims that have ribbon with beads attached, tie it around the opening. Think about the mix in jar recipes and how they can be marketed. Use layered colors inside the jar for added interest. My first idea was the knitting loom. A set of 4 for under $15.00 at most craft stores. You can make hats, (stripped, textured, stocking, beanies, even berets), There are a lot of patterns and ideas on the internet to add to your variety. Make a scarf to match making a flat piece. Use the large loom and fake fur type yarn. Knit it in circle, and girl child (even a boy) could have a scarf, neck warmer / gaitor, head and neck covering etc. I made one of these for my son in a nice red color. Aside from the idea that he thought he still needed to wear in in July! It was a pretty good idea. Strips on the loom can also be sewn together and used for pillow covers, afghans, lap robes, sweaters, shawls, stoles, purses etc. Make household slippers. Put puffy paint on bottom of slipper for traction. Makes it easy to use up leftover yarn by mixing two textures or colors together for project. If you lose the loom tool, just use a crochet hook. That what's came with the looms from the 50's and 60's. Check out garage sales this summer for a cheap source of yarn. A 5-year-old might be able to take two pieces of felt and sew or glue them together for miniature pillows. i.e., fish, bear, other basic shapes like square, circle etc. Sometimes on harder projects, I'll have the child tell me where to put a button or sequin, and I'll sew it on. They are doing everything but the sewing, thus making the project safe. (Loose sequins can be dangerous if there's an infant in the house.) I let them stuff the article then I sew it shut. Painted clothing. I have stencils on hand or use cereal boxes or other cardboard to create your own. Outline cookie cutter for stencil ideas. Use vegetables to create stencils, Carrots, potatoes and apples even pencils make good stencils. Just cut out around the design, like a star, and voila! Again you have the child choose the design and the colors and if you're afraid they will smudge the paint, then help them. I usually let them do their own painting till the shirt became crowded, ie 2-3 stencils. Then I would make sure to do exactly what they wanted on the shirt. But I just made sure all the colors didn't run together into a verigated gray picture. Or the new design didn't overflow onto an existing one. Sometimes we would have to wait a day for the paint to dry and if I had an overall idea of what the child wanted, I would remind them. Usually this takes 2-3 days if you use several colors of paint. Idea can also be used for hats, and shoes. Crochet edging with or without beads onto plain socks. This is for girls obviously, but it give them something dressier to wear. And socks are fairly cheap. Again I would be able to use thread I had on hand. Hope this gives your readers some ideas. If you'd like me to give you some websites, just let me know. I do a lot of crafting and have lots of ideas." ~ Maggie
I put the mix in small glass canning jars with screw-on lids. The mix stays fresh for months because it is sealed so tightly. I have decorated the jars with homemade labels, raffia or Christmas ribbon with cards attached, etc. I also sometimes place a small piece of cotton batting on top of the inner flat lid, place a piece of Christmas fabric on top of that, then screw the outer ring of the lid over the material. The outer ring holds the material in place, while the cotton batting gives the material a nice 'puff'. A child can help mix the ingredients and fill the jars. They can also paint the jars or use markers, add stickers, or tie ribbons around the jars. If the child is very young and you are nervous about letting them handle the jars themselves, you can buy larger white labels that wrap around the jar and let the child decorate the labels BEFORE they are attached to the jars. If you
make a few extra jars, you will always have a gift ready
for those people for which you forgot to shop."
~ Suzanne "A few years ago for Christmas gifts, I
bought a bunch of plain white ceramic plates from IKEA.
They were only $1 each, I believe. I then purchased
ceramic paint pens from Hobby Lobby and the kids each drew a
picture and special message on plates for all of the
grandparents and aunts/uncles. I found inexpensive
plate holders, and included those with the plates. I
packaged it all by piling the plates with homemade cookies
baked the week prior to Christmas, and when the cookies were
gone, there was a lovely, thoughtful, homemade gift that
will last forever!" ~Amy "We are making stepping stones with
imprints of my little one's hands and feet and the date.
You can decorate them with stones, beads etc." ~ Cam "This
isn't really an actual gift, but a gift container. I saw
it at a friend's house. Take those cardboard/paper mache
boxes (I don't really know what they're made of...) that
come in lots of shapes: boxes, hearts, stars, tubes, etc.
Get one that's easily cover-able with a material. Cover it
with some fabric remnants (solid colors are good), and buy
some nice ribbon to make beautiful bows on top. These work
great as gift containers, and can be used after the gift
is given to store stuff on shelves while looking pretty.
One of our local craft stores is going out of business,
and had these boxes for 30 cents each. I bought 6! Look
for great deals like this." ~ Tina "Last summer we made homemade jellies, strawberry, raspberry, green tomato relish, and pickles. We canned them and they sat waiting for Christmas. Kids had fun help picking, and mashing up items, and were excited when the end product sat in a jar (even more so when we got to open and eat some too) This year
I am pressing flowers from my and families flower beds
and will be making wall hangings or other items from
all the pressed flowers I've been doing. By
starting now, I have been able to buy items I need so
when I get ready to do them, its not an ouch on the
budget. A friend is
making patchwork lap quilts or pillows from scrap
material that she has. My
daughter helps me make Christmas cards this time a
year, she draws a picture and I photocopy it and
create homemade cards and I have them help me put them
together and color them." ~ Linda "I
made up jars of freezer jam. Picked the strawberries
myself, made the tags and used baby food jars for the
storage. Since I have a deep freeze, I will have enough
to give as gifts all year long. Thoughtful, fresh,
delicious and very affordable (if you pick the
"You mentioned soapmaking! I make soap. It is very involved unless you are buying a melt and pour kit from the craft store. Even then, you have to heat up the soap base and it gets VERY hot. It is not what I would call a child-friendly hobby. By the way, I started making my own Olive Oil soap (expensive) because my youngest had a rash that nothing would touch. It clears up when we use my homemade unscented soap. The best book to learn about the making of soap is by Susan Miller Cavitch. The first book is The Natural Soap Book and the second is The Soapmaker's Companion. Check them out from the library and see if it's something you want to do. Something that my girls made that were thoughtful and appreciated were pillows. We took some plain muslin fabric and cut it in a square, then the kids colored and drew on them with regular crayons. We then pressed the cloth with a low iron and paper as pressing cloths. We sewed them to another piece of contrasting fabric and stuffed them. Grand parents love the artwork they can cuddle. It is really easy to sew potholders and tea cozies too. Personalizing
hand towels with embroidery is nice too, if you have
girls, it's keeping their hands busy, teaching them a
new skill and make lovely gifts." ~ Sheila "Three Christmas craft ideas for
summer-making popped up right away: "I've
really gotten into card making. I buy inexpensive,
ready-made blank notecards, then decorate them with
stamping, embossing, pretty papers, and ribbons.
Some of the materials can be a little costly, but if
you watch sales and use coupons, and don't buy
everything at once, it can be done somewhat
inexpensively. I give a box full of handmade
cards to people for birthdays and such, and people
love them!" ~ Anne "One
gift I made last Christmas was a big hit. I should
have made more! I bought the glass-enclosed
candles (fairly tall, frequently called saint's
candles or 7-day candles or Novena candles) that
had no pictures on them. I cut out pictures from
various pieces of scrapbooking paper I had. You
could use magazine pictures too. These were 'glued'
on with a matte medium such as is made by Liquitex
or Golden, but I used good old Mod Podge (the
brush washes up with water, as do you fingers!).
When the pictures were dry, I added a 'top coat'
of the Mod Podge, extending just a bit beyond the
picture, to seal them to the glass. I added ribbon
trim around the top and the bottom, glued on with
Elmer's gule. These candles were $1 each at my
local Save-A-Lot. They generally are in white, red,
and green, but occasionally you will find other
colors, and yes they can be burned! When the
candle is burned out, suggest that they remove the
wax and use it for a vase. You can do the same
idea with dollar-store glassware (as far as
adding pictures, etc) and fill with your own
ingredients, too. You can glue on other items, not
just paper. You can press flowers now while in
season (if you need help, ask!) and then glue them
on. Mainly be sure the item has a flat back so it
comes into good, strong contact with the adhesive.
I think you could design something with pieces of
beautiful ribbons glued on, too." ~ Kathleen "Here's one, but you have to be brave enough to use a jig saw (I use mine all the time). We're making a bean-bag toss game which will last forever. It requires 2 wooden receptacles (if that's what we should call them). Once you make a pattern, the whole cut-out process shouldn't take more than 45 mins. Then all you have to do is nail the pieces together and here's where the kids come in. They can paint 'em anyway they want and be as creative as possible. Mom will have to make about 8 bean bags. The kids can fill 'em w/rice or popcorn - but it's a real blast & a great project to do outdoors. To make one.....you'll need to cut 1 {aprox 12"} square piece, 2 angled pieces for the sides and one rectangular piece for the back. Cut a round hole in the front square piece. No
dirtying the kitchen or messing up the
house...the whole thing can be done outdoors!
We've had champion matches w/this game - it's a
real hoot w/friends. You can score 5 pts for
going all the way through the hole & 2 pts
for it leaning half-way into the hole." ~
Roseanne "Make
some indoor signs as art. Using wood, and craft
paint…small bottles from Michael’s – paint 2
coats on wood the background color, white, cream,
black, barn red. Choose a saying or word and print it
out off of your computer quite a bit larger.
Then trace it onto your wood. Words like
DREAM, IMAGINE, SMITH’S…ESTABLISHED IN 1990; LIVE
LOVE LAUGH; PLANT GIGGLES, GROW SMILES, HARVEST
LOVE; ETC. Paint the letters a solid color.
If you like you can sand the edges a bit too.
This is a very cheap project, especially if you get
the wood for free. The kids can help paint the first 2
coats. Put a keyhole on the back for easy hanging. Bee’s
wax candles are always a hit, and inexpensive. I
enjoy making cards with rubber stamps, and I have in
the past made a stack of cards & tie them with
ribbon, or make a bunch of Christmas tags, and give
them to people. I have always had wonderful
comments because they are home made, & beautiful. "Start
taking lots of photos and later assemble into gifts.
It's endless. Small memory books, altered coin
holders (my favorite), shirts, mugs, charms, cards,
ornaments. I seem to always have lots of
photos around along with paper - add some
emblishments and ribbon and you have a gift.
Go to your nearest Archivers Store or a scrapbook
store for ideas. I recently was in a car
accident and the thought of walking at the mall for
a Father's Day gift was too much for me - plus I'm
off work. So I made my husband an altered coin
folder. It brought tears to his eyes. You can use
lots of pictures, quotes and etc. A great
inexpensive gift. Now, I have had a hard time
finding the coin folders but I am sure there out
there to be found or one could make their own
version." ~ Debby in Ohio "I don't know what age group you're thinking about making gifts for but one suggestion for children is this: TREASURE
HUNT JAR Fill the jar half full of bird seed. Add a screw, jingle bell, rubber band, piece of macaroni, button, needle, bead, paper clip, penny, marble, pop tab, etc. Put 20 items in the jar. Fill with bird seed, leaving space at the top for the bird seed to move around when shaking the jar. To prevent people from opening the lid, you can add some glue to the threads of the lid, then screw it onto the bottle. Keep a list of the things you put into the jar, because it's almost guaranteed that the person you give the jar to will not find them all. The list can also be aattched to the jar. Add the following poem: Some
pirates got it all mixed up "My grandmother and I used to make grapevine wreaths when I would visit her in the summers. One doesn't have to use grapevines, they were what we had available, any vine will work fine. We would wait till the fruit was harvested and would sometimes use the vines from last year. Gather your vines and de-leaf them. Soak them in a tub of water for about 24 hours to soften them and make them more pliable. Find something to wrap the vines around, the size and shape of the item is up to you, plastic milk cartons, old glass jugs, glasses from your cupboard (tiny little wreaths), anything that will leave a space in the center works just fine. After the vines have soaked, wrap them around your 'mold'. Use the smaller more pliable vines to wrap around the main body of the wreath in order to hold the other vines together. Tuck the ends in wherever you want, securing them well, this helps the vine from going 'sprooiinngg' off the mold. This does take some time and effort, but children's hands have an advantage, as they can tuck ends into very small spaces! Let the wreath dry for several days outside, the sunshine really dries them out. When the wreath is dry, pull it off of the mold and admire your work for a moment - it is quite beautiful undecorated. The wreaths can be decorated with anything you like and have readily available. Do not run out and buy stuff to decorate. If you craft drawer is looking a little dismal, turn to the great outdoors, use dried berries (rose hips are very pretty) and fruits, dried flowers from your garden, leaves, tall grasses, birds nests even. Ribbons, string and lace can be wrapped around the vines. Buttons can be sewn in, little knick-knacks can be glued on. One of the prettiest ones I ever made was with some old 'found' silverware, bent around the wreath in creative ways and attached with some gingham ribbon. We give seasonal ones with fresh 'greenery' tucked in them, as the greenery wilts and dies it can be pulled out and replaced with fresh. Use a glue gun for wreaths with more permanent decoration. The sky is the limit decorating these, but we limit ourselves to things we find in our home and yard. This is a project that is completely free and is a very thoughtful and pretty gift. As you make them they can be tucked away in a safe place to be given during other seasons. I
also recollect making spice sachet 'cookies'
with my grandmother. She would make
a dough with a bit of flour, water and egg and
then add all of her spices that had grown old
through the year. Cinnamon, ginger, cloves
- whatever is aromatic. We would find old
spice racks at garage sales with spice jars
still in them - full, most people wont want the
spices in the rack, as you never know how old
they are, so we would ask if we could give them
.25 cents for the aromatic spices - we never had
anyone turn us down. We would just dump
them all together in a plastic bag and leave the
empty jars in the rack. Dump the lot in
the dough and mix well - the dough should
be of the consistency of a rolled cookie dough.
If not, just experiment with more flour/water
till you get it right. The egg is very
important though - it helps hold it together
when it is dried. Roll out the dough and
use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Put
the 'cookies' on a sheet and put a small hole at
the top of each one. The hole will be used
to string lace, ribbon or string through so it
can be hung up. Let the cookies dry
outside, using the sunshine instead of the oven.
When they are dry, string them and they are
ready to give as gifts. This is such a fun
project for kids. Please warn people that
the oils from the spices can bleed onto clothes,
so direct contact with fabric is not suggested."
~ Jessica "This may be a popular answer...but I love to make jam and give it for gifts at Christmas. I have two boys (7 & 10), and they love to help pick the strawberries at a local patch (only $1.05/lb), they also can get involved in the jam-making. My recipe/method only takes an hour or two. My family members love jam for Christmas. Put two or three small jars in a nice basket, perhaps with a pretty jam spoon (you can find these anywhere from the dollar store to the department store). One more thing...jam making will make your kitchen smell better than any candle or potpourri!" ~ Tami
Editor's Note: Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond. |
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