handmade gifts for christmas and celebrations 2011

betterlife

Kazsaver wrote: »

morning all

got all the card ready yesterday for making my christmas cards so can get started on them now able to use up all my odd envelopes. really need to do house work today so not sure what I will achieve craft wise but hopefully will be something.

has anyone here made there own crackers? Just wondered what to put in them I have all the stuff to make them including snaps just need ideas of what to put in them especially for grandparents!

have a good day everyone
Kaz x

morning kaz, same here, kids back at school, just have my 2yr old at home, must do housework arghhh, what about small pickled bums or grannies as posted before they look great, or novelty false teeth, denture tablets and poem (hehe) mini magnifying glass, playing cards, choc, pill box, hankies,(could even embroider there initials on) hth

youngoldlady

Esmer - Poor you! Sending hugs. I hope you get well soon x

Lolalemon - How about a woodland animals theme? That way you can incorporate all your owl idea and pad it out a bit with things like squirrels, badgers, butterflies etc. Think Animals of Farthing Wood if you grew up in the 90s like me! :rotfl:Perhaps you could bring some conservation ideas into it or build a bird feeder. You could make stuffed animals or paint butterflies fairly easily and every child loves an excuse to play sleeping lions! Think of all the animal related nursery rhymes you could sing! You could read Percy the Park Keeper stories - DD highly recommends One Snowy Night, esepcially if you do the "voices" and "actions!" :rotfl:

Foodwise perhaps it's just a case of using your imagination - like cutting sandwiches into rabbit shapes and surrounding them with salad to make grass. You could use it as a platform to do the "where does food come from?" chat and perhaps get them to "make" a fruit salad.

Angelfeathers - You sound so organised! DD's bithday parties always end in me being stressed out of my mind! I love your cheese hamper idea. I've kept my eye out for a nice cheeseboard for OH but had no luck so far.

Chanie - You could do them however you want - it doesn't have to be a box! Cellophane and ribbon wrapped bags or sewn stockings/christmas designs or decorated reclaimed jars....anything goes! Don't feel you have to conform to what supermarkets sell - it's your project!

Kazsaver - I bought some cracker snaps the other day too! I was thinking of making personalised crackers and putting gifts in for the right person. Like hair bobbles for DD, minature whiskies for men, homemade truffles, fave chocolates etc

abatha

chanie wrote: »

I had a brainwave (I'm sure its not original). I've bought some plastic boxes from Poundland (they are in the DIY section and you can put screws etc in the handy little compartments). Anyway, I've bought 4 of them and am going to fill them up with sweeties for my nieces and nephews. My sister got my nephew one for Xmas and it was £3 reduced from £6 in BHS. I'm sure I can do each box for under £1.50, so half price from shop bought. I plan on decorating the boxes at a later date.


Similar to this, but much cheaper.....
Sorry, I can't post links, but homebase sell them for £4.99.

I picked up a box similar to this in Home Bargains for £1.50. I'm going to make a sweet box up for my brother


Picture of my owls
Tutorial - http://moonstitches.typepad.com/photos/tutowlrial/index.html

qwiksave

My ears were burning. :rotfl: As an alternative to sweets, you could make a cheap toy container. I made one for my boys last Christmas:



You could find stuff all year round - even charity shops sell unwanted new toys cheaply so it doesn't have to cost a lot. You can also find a small toy section in Hawkins Bazaar and ELC. Party bags split up would work too.

My container came from a pound shop.


..and you can obviously do a girl's version or of course unisex. Just consider the age you are giving it too.

abatha

ah thats such a good idea! Hawkins Bazaar have some really nice pocket money toys.

rufusdog52

Abatha - those owls are gorgeous, well done xx

chanie

better life - a crayon roll type thing sounds good, but I don't have any material to use so I'll have to think about it.

Young old lady - thanks for that, it wouldn't have occured to me to use anything other than a box!!!

Quiksave - thats exactly the thing I'm talking about. There's me thinking I had an original idea. I could also use toys etc. I'm thinking of decorating the boxes, but I need to get some inspiration.

betterlife

hawkins bizaar have a big sale on at mo lots starting at 20p check it out on grabbit board.

dizzytina

donquine wrote: »

Just a little starter one. It only has about half a dozen different stitches and can't handle thick fabric, but I thought I should try and master something simple before asking for/buying myself a heavy duty machine...

It took me half an hour to thread the machine - I'd never used a sewing machine before and I found the whole thing a bit of an ordeal, tbh. Now that there's thread in the thing, I guess it's just trial and error with the tension dial until I can get nice straight lines on both sides. I haven't finished playing because I've discovered I need a higher table to be able to use the foot pedal comfortably. Will have a think about that. :rotfl:

Someone please tell me it gets easier?

Ultimate goal is to get organised and have a box to hand full of cards and gifts for all occasions and recipients. I do not by any means expect to achieve this in 2011... but it's something to aim for.

Donquine probably not what you want to hear but years ago i had a little mini machine that sounds similar to yours and i found it really compilcated but when i decided to teach my self properly last year i bought a brother machine and it is so easy to use (i'm actually on my second Brother now!). Probably what i'm trying to say is once you have mastered your little mini machine and if you decide to buy a more heavy duty machine you find the bigger machine much easier to use so don't worry:D.

Kandipandi

Hi ladies! Nicky I love your gift boxes for the boys, that might be an idea for me for next year I buy loads of little bits from Hawkins Bazaar but they just end up lost in the bottom of the stockings. I could also make a sweetie one too, ohh, you lot have got me thinking now.
Tina, totally agree with you on the little sewing machine, I have had a couple of them in my time and they are not at all user friendly and barely last a few days before puckering up and causing general mayhem.
I adore the idea of using crayon rolls for selection boxes - that is inspired!
I've missed you all on here with your brilliant ideas