Saturday, November 5, 2011

Handmade Gift Ideas {Links}

I love a good handmade gift idea when I see one (and thanks to Pinterest, hopefully I don't forget about them!). I especially like gifts that can be made in multiples, too, for grandparent-aunt-uncle gifts, or for teachers-etc gifts. Items that can be made by the kids, really cute things that can be made rather quickly--these are all excellent qualities in a handmade gift. Of course there are times for the hand-knit socks, or scarves, or mitts...but for those other times, having some ideas on hand is golden. In pursuit of my goal of 30 quality posts in 30 days, I decided to share some of what I've pinned for later with you.

Source: twogirlsbeingcrafty.blogspot.com via Pinterest
DIY Glass Magnets from Two Girls Being Crafty. I found this via Pinterest, and it's such an easy how-to but with such satisfying results. I'm keeping this one in mind for future use. I like the idea of a little set of themed magnets, perhaps to go along with another kitchen gift, like dish towels or a cookbook.





This is one I pinned with my 7yo, who recently proved he could sew, in mind: Felt Christmas Tree Ornaments from Bits and Bobs. He said he'd like to give them a try, so we'll see how many he makes and then decide where they'll be gifted. And, of course, he wants one for our tree. I think these are adorable and we just might have to have ourselves a little sewing bee, he and I, because I want to make some too!





And finally, Wendy just posted this tutorial on making an embroidered fabric bookmark. When I saw her pendant kits, I was one of several people who thought those narrow designs would also perfectly suit a bookmark. My daughter is making bookmarks for gifts this year (unless she decides to keep them all to herself, because, interestingly, bookmarks are one of the items she hoards, along with everyone else's books), but again, I have this in mind for future gifts. This particularly lends itself to stitching up some motifs here and there and assembling several bookmarks at once, to have on hand in the gift closet. How nice to tuck a handmade bookmark into a gift book!

I fear the layout on this post is sort of wonky (and I just learned that I can embed pics directly from Pinterest; how cool is that??), but I hope it's a bit inspiring nonetheless. Do you have any go-to handmade gift ideas or great links? I'd love to know about them!

3 comments:

Suburban Correspondent said...

I like those Christmas trees! My 9-year-old is into sewing - maybe I can enlist her help.

Shell said...

I love the glass magnets and just had a look at the tutorial. Its something else to add to my to do list.
Thank you so much for showing the Christmas trees Amy :)

Bells said...

bookmarks are a great go to. I've knitted and crocheted them before but haven't sewn any. There are some great examples around, some with cross stitch and so on.

Those magnets are particularly intriguing!