handmade gifts for christmas and celebrations 2011

youngoldlady

artydoll wrote: »

made this altered box last night,more details on my blog.will use it to put some handmade cars in for a little present.

That box is gorgeous!! How did you make it? Did you use a box making kit or do your own? :T

Winged_one wrote: »

I managed a reasonable handmade Christmas in 2010 in the end - not everything got finished so there was some bought stuff, but I finished knitting a scarf and 3 facecloths, sewed 9 stockings (for my siblings and our various significant others) and a duvet cover, and made a LOAD of foodie items (cookies, 3 types of chocolates, a few types of jams, green tomato chutney (from 2007!!), mince meat, mulled wine spice packs, limoncello, raspberry vodka, chilli vodka) for various hampers.

This year, I am planning on finishing sewing 3 taggie blankets, a dollie blanket, 5 crayon rolls, an owl cushion, a bunch of tree decorations, and 2 tote bags for toys. I also have plans for making at least 3 pairs of pyjamas, some stuffed toys, place mats, aprons, chef's hats, and various little purses, pouches and bags for things. I want to knit a cardigan for DNephew, and a sleeveless jumper for DD (although that one may not be Christmas - I want to get it done for schoolwear). And hopefully some knitted toys and tree decorations too, and a few more things to use up my stash of wools.

And I am planning on lots more foodie items this year as well. Same as last year, with extra types of cookies, sloe gin (I only got enough sloes for one batch and I kept that for ourselves!), sweets, and chocolate sauce for over icecream. I managed to get a lovely set of boxes for 75% off that I can use to make up at least 4 hampers - possibly more if I use the lids of the larger sizes seperately.

I've already started building up some handmade cards, as I want to not have to buy any this year either. And I have some beads and wire too, so I might finally try my hand at making the jewellery I planned a couple of years ago. Oh, and finish the candles I started this year (melting down old candles that the wick was gone in, and repouring into either proper candle glasses or charity shop finds like china cups which were 10c each, with fresh wicks).

Thank you for sharing your ideas That sounds like a mammoth task, making all those gifts. Where do you find the time?

housewifeintraining wrote: »

Winged one's talk of chocolate sauce for ice cream has given me an idea for a friends birthday - he really loves ice cream so I was thinking I could make some homemade ice cream accessories like the sauce but, can't think of any others (brain's on a go-slow this morning!) any ideas??

Hmmmm...perhaps you could put together a hamper with a few recipes in for ice cream/sundaes or pack an insulated bag/cool bag with HM ice cream. For accessories you could do things like:

• Long handled sundae spoons
• Sundae glasses
• Glass serving bowls
• Wafers or HM shortbread
• Chocolate sauce (melted choc and cream)
• Butterscotch sauce (melted brown sugar, golden syrup and cream)
• Mini Baileys (apparently nice on ice cream)
• Hundreds and thousands
• Glace cherries
• Fruit compote (Fresh or dried fruit cooked in a pan until soft with fruit juice.) I like using dried prunes. Apparently leftover mulled wine is good for making this with too.
• Fudge cubes
• Mini marshmallows
• Chocolate curls

For some reason the multi quotes from the previous page haven't worked - time to try again!

wammy77

Esmer - I've never made bathbombs or soaps but would like to give it a go... is it expensive to get the equipment???


I decided to get started on my Rumtopf so have been trawling the internet trying to find a cheap Rumtopf pot, but I couldn't find anything under £35 :eek: Went onto the Argos website and they have a cream coloured ceramic Bread Bin/Crock for only £11.99 - BARGAIN!!! It's huge (!) but the neck is wide enough to put a small plate in the 'sink' the fruit if I need to

So pleased with getting a cheap pot - gonna nip to Sainsburys in a bit to grab some more rum

youngoldlady

cuddles123 wrote: »

Mug Cosy or Hug in a Mug

http://itsallfiddlefart.blogspot.com/search?q=mug+cosy

Fantastic! Thank you!

mary-op wrote: »

http://www.theblueberrypatch.co.uk/.

Some lovely things on here..........scroll down the left hand side -:)

I totally agree! Are you feeling any better today?

PepPop wrote: »

youngoldlady This is a mug cosy...




you can knit or crochet them - if you google them you'll see loads - Greenpixey made me mine.

Nice calendar dizzytina

Thank you! That's really helpful! My knitting is dreadful and I've never tried crochet. Perhaps it would be safer if I started out by making a simple fleecy one.

youngoldlady

dizzytina wrote: »

Aw thanks youngoldlady you are welcome to a copy of the template i designed if you want to make some.

Thought i would pop a pic of the desk calendar i have just made. This was really simple and took less than half an hour so i may make some later in the year for xmas pressies. I used a calendar printable for the months off a fab website called creativemamma.com they have loads of free printables so worth a peek.

Aww thank you. That's very kind of you. It would be lovely. Do you have a link to your blog please?

Perhaps we need to make some sort of page where all the links/blogs can be stored.

I love your calendar. It's so cute and looks really well made I'll have a look on the website you mentioned.

LolaLemon

wammy77 wrote: »

That is just SOOOO cute!!! I could do with 4 of those to match my cooks

the patterns in the 'lets get crafting!' issue 28 (most recent one)
I really need to get making more


some fantastic ideas and pictures on here, makes me want to get crafting more!

PepPop

housewifeintraining wrote: »

Winged one's talk of chocolate sauce for ice cream has given me an idea for a friends birthday - he really loves ice cream so I was thinking I could make some homemade ice cream accessories like the sauce but, can't think of any others (brain's on a go-slow this morning!) any ideas??

What about little decorated jars filled with different sprinkles - if you want to go all out have a look here (but obviously without the girly pink )

PepPop

Youngoldlady here's a pic of a fleece one - it looks pretty easy



Did a bit more of my knitting last night. Can I ask where you all store your makes once you've finished them? I have visions of me making things and then forgetting where I've put them come Christmas time

youngoldlady

PepPop wrote: »

Youngoldlady here's a pic of a fleece one - it looks pretty easy



Did a bit more of my knitting last night. Can I ask where you all store your makes once you've finished them? I have visions of me making things and then forgetting where I've put them come Christmas time

Thank you PepPop! That does look much easier I should be able to get away with using any old scraps of fabric and buttons to decorate them. DD has grown out of some fleeces to it would be the perfect way to use them up (they're a bit dogeared for the charity shop.)

At the moment I'm collecting bits in an old printer box in my office (AKA the box room!) All fine for the moment but the box is already full! I'm trying to keep OH out of there in case he "tidies up." We're hoping to move into a better rented house this year so I need to make sure I know EXACTLY which box my crafty bits are in. :eek:

LJM

everybodies makes look lovely, im determined to get on with mine even though i keep getting sidetracked

Winged_one

YoungOldLady, I have a lot started that I never got finished this year, that I intend to finish for next Christmas, the foodie ones I tend to do as I go (like jams and flavoured drinks, and hopefully more dried herbs from the plot this year) and at the last minute (cookies etc). But it's mostly that I have now got dedicated crafting (and office combined) space, so I want to have my little list of ideas for the year, and make things as I find spare hours here and there. Even 15 minutes at a go can be useful to cut a batch of things to sew later.

But, I had a similar long list last year and didn't finish lots on it!!