How were your handmade presents received??

esmer

Hampers look great midnight!

I made a lot of my stuff as well. And its all on my blog. I got alot of WOW reaction, and my niece asking how I did it all

Im definately making it next year. I have even started with buying stuff to make Jams

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c51/kimbellem/Hampers/

midnightraven3

i'm still rubbish at taking pics & starting a blog esmer:o
in my defence i lost a lot as my lappy crashed (and died) 2 days before christmas)

have you looked at the jamjarshop?
i use them a lot for jars and their spotty lids
they are lovely

happycrafter_2

will see the reactions to my home made items later, i mostly did homemade things for my parents and sisters as I know they will appreciate them more, both my mum and sisters do hand made cards, knit and cross stitch.

midnightraven3

sorry sethsgran
i didnt see your post!:o

i got the molds form ebay

they make a 65g soap, just over 3" in size



i got the baskets 3 years ago, a job lot of 50 for £15, delivered
again ebay
but the seller still has them! in the wholesale section
i have used my last this year, so need to get more, but i shall look for different ones i think

*Louise*

midnightraven3 wrote: »

i made all the females the same thing
a basket of homemade soaps (lemon meringue pie, loofah soap, and jelly baby soaps, flannel cupcakes, mugs & snowman soup, and a gingerbread man kitchen sign

my mum delivers them as they are mainly for auntie i seldom see
seems everyone liked them, the only person i have spoken to so far has asked me to make 5 for her next year for her to give as presents







last years baskets were mainly foodie items i had made, relishes etc
hmmmm what to do for next year?

How many of those baskets did you make, they look great just in the pic so I imagine they were really appreciated :T:T

Can I ask where you get your instrustions for soap making from please? It's something I have never tried

whoopidoo

I made me OH some Scottish tablet and he said it was the best present I have ever given him - needn't have bothered buying all the other stuff I got him eh?

I used this recipe. One warning though - don't let it splash on you whilst stirring - it's like molten lava and I've had a huge blister over Christmas and reckon I now have a new scar to add to my crafting injury intinerary:rotfl:

Is this the new thread for Christmas 2011? I also did a few bracelets which went down really well including a Twilight one. I'll upload piccies later. can't at mo as they are on my old PC tower which isn't connected up at the mo. Am hoping to do more this year and start earlier.

midnightraven3

in the end i had to make 23 baskets all together
and 6 teen ones for my daughter to give her friends, but she helped as much as i did, she is 17, she made my cupcake flannels for me too!

if you want to start having a read about making soap
start here

http://www.teachsoap.com/easycpsoap.html

its like asking "how do you bake a cake?"
there are lots of methods, that vary slightly, and lots of "recipes", tips & tricks
and just like baking, you learn as much when you are making as you do when reading

you can also use m&p soap, you just melt, and pour:rotfl:
if you want to have a look at that, go on you tube, and look for soap queen (the music grates on you at the begining, but she is good to watch)

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=soap+queen&aq=f

bottleblonde

Hi all, I've been a lurker on the Christmas boards this year and thought I'd try my hand at a few homemade gifts this year. I get invited to my ex's family dinner on Christmas Day (we're best friends & it's good for our kids). My in-laws are lovely but extremely difficult to buy for as they've got oodles of money and never 'need' anything. But they are all lovely to me throughout the year and I like to give them a token gift to say thanks.

So this year I bought little double enamel buckets and filled one half with homemade truffles and the other with Baileys fudge (recipes from the BBC website). They were put in cello bags, with a little wooden Christmas tag and a printed label to say what they were & who from. I also made a couple of batches of Nigella's Chilli Jelly so a jar each, again with a little wooden heart & a printed label. I couldn't believe the reaction! I think because they are so used to just buying gifts, the fact that I had taken the time & effort was truly appreciated. It was quite embarassing how pleased they all were. I had a fair few sweets left over so had boxed them up and taken them with me. There are always a handful of waifs & strays who are invited last minute, so they all had a little gift each as well. One old chap who was there was so grateful he was a bit overcome.

I really wish I had taken some photos now, but most of the 'accessories' I bought from eBay. The tags I modified from the ones on this site..

http://www.domestifluff.com/2009/08/free-printable-jam-tags-labels/

Thank you to everyone who inspired me to give this a try. Now I just need to come up with something to top it for next year!

:xmassmile

PinkLipgloss

Lots of great ideas for next year!

I'll have to get a notebook so I don't forget...

midnightraven3

ooh i know the enamel buckets you mean bottleblonde

i made seeded paper disks, impregnated with herbs and cut to fit them
i filled a bag with compost and put it under the disks and gave them to people who cook but dont have gardens

i made labels out the seeded paper as well but used wild flower seeds on those, with a wee poem to explain what to do with it

i dont have a puic of the disks, but this is something else i made using teh same technique, i kept it big so you can see the seeds
and best of all, its free to make as i use junk mail etc to make it!
and the seeds i collected from my garden



on the wild flower cards i put something like

i send you this greeting instead of a card
being a friend of the earth, is sometimes quite hard
when frosts have gone, plant this in the ground
and when springtime comes, flowers will be found

i wondered that although people know i am very green aware & active, my lack of card would be viewed as being cheap, but everyone loved it (at least they said they did:rotfl:)