Crazy holiday gift idea already!

[joyfulheart]

I have been wanting to do this for a long time, but thought I might be better motivated if I did it with others...

I am thinking of making one home-made craft a month (in bulk) until the December holidays roll around. Then I will have about 9 crafts to make into gift baskets.

Would any of you like to join me in coming up with ideas, share recipes and talking our way through the process?

Here's an example:

April, we make hand-dipped candles
May, we make herbal bath salts
June, we make jam or preserves from the in-season strawberries

Anyone interested? Let me know your comments and ideas!

[Mommy2Brittani]

August we do container candles with a beach theme...pick up shells and put sand on the bottom...clear gel wax is really neat like that.

[sarasprings]

I love your early planning! I am making homemade cleaners for most of my relatives, but I was interested in making chapstick, too.

[BoxOfRainMama]

I would totally be interested in doign this too. Would those of you that know how to do these crafts walk the rest of us (or maybe just me?) through them? I would love to learn a new craft each month and have holiday gifts ready to give.... what a great idea!

[Mom4tot]

I knew I liked you Joyfulheart! I'm in. But...i may need a little guidance with certain projects too. We love to make gifts. I will come back when I have my ideas sorted.

I also decided to try a new "tradition" for our family of celebrating Christmas in July on July 25th...listening to Xmas carols, wrapping what we have...making a gift list (for others), choosing what we will make. So, this will give us an even bigger head start.

Thanks for posting it

[mom2kbeth]

Great idea!! I usually hand-make most of our gifts for the holidays and go nuts in Dec. trying to finish everything up! I'll have to do this too! One thing I knew for sure I was going to do is to make decorative scented gels (jarred). Then I could personalize them for each person on my list.

[joyfulheart]

Yeah!! Okay, where should we begin? Should we just come up with a list of things to make and then choose our first project? I'm open to anything.

Listed ideas already:
--container candles
--homemade cleaners
--chapstick
--decorative scented gels in jars
--hand-dipped candles (or rolled from beeswax sheets)
--herbal bath salts
--jam/preserves with in-season fruits (start collecting jars now!)
--soaps

For children, I was going to:
--start knitting scarves in candy-cane colors
--make bean-bags of different sizes with different fillings
--make felt balls -- you cut out 6 pieces of felt and sew them into a ball - cute!

Other ideas? What should we start with?

p.s. Mom4tot -- awww..shucks

[BoxOfRainMama]

But you will give us guidance right?
"It doesn't matter who you love, or how you love, but that you love" ~Rod McKuen

Pamela Roth

[mountain mom]

I am in too!

I can help with recipes for lipbalms and bath salts.

How about room spriters, airfreshners that are all natural based?

How about hand made paper for letter writting?

Lets decide what to start with. Are we starting in April? That works best for me!

Colleen

[farmer mama]

I am in, but I am making stuff in preparation for Easter right now (knitted chicks and ducks, felt bunnies, carved birds) but that should be finished in April anyway! I like to make little gifts throughout the year to mark certain points (spring equinox, easter,may day etc.) Anyway, I think the list is great and doesn't need any additions but here's some anyway: What about calendula salves in August or September? Herbal oils or vinegars? I have a good herbal, beeswax hand bar recipe. Last year I made 25 tiny felt, cotton and silk stockings for the days leading up to christmas and would put a shell, stone, feather or bead for the kids to find each morning. Joyful- do you have The Children's Year? I love it for all the great things to make for the little ones.

[joyfulheart]

Great! How about we start in April, then. What should we do first??

RothMommy, we will hold your hand all the way!

I like your additional ideas mountain mom and farmer mama!

And yes, farmer mama, I do have The Children's Year. I love it. And I love Feltcraft. Do you have that? And, oooh, you inspire with your spring crafts! I will be making felt chicks and bunnies, too. We'll grow grass in baskets to set them in.

[mountain mom]

I think that the lipbalms and salves should be a fall project because they are best very fresh.

The spritzers have a long shelf life, candles too. I bet that many beekeepers would sell beeswax right now for a decent price, before the big honey season begins. I have some (FIL/MIL are beekeepers). Hand dipped candles are easy and beautiful as gifts. We could also get a few simple moulds to pour into for shaped candles.

It might be hard not to use the candles before Yule:LOL so we better make lots for gifts and personal!!!

[sarasprings]

Someone mentioned bean bags for children. I'm going to be making them in April for DS's second birthday. (And, a teepee. )

I also really want to try to make some felt balls, but have no idea where to start or where to buy good materials.

This is so exciting .

[zanelee]

OOH OOH!

Count me in to!
This is such a wonderful idea! I always mean to start early, and now I just don't have an excuse!
I'll have to get back with all of you on more ideas, only one comes to mind right now. Herb infused honey. Last year, this didn't last long at our house.
April works for me too. Just let me know what we're doing and how to do it.

Yea! I'm so excited!

[farmer mama]

Joyful- Are we the same person? Just kidding. I knew you had The Children's Year and of course I have Felt Craft. Really neat stuff. I think we should start with something simple that will keep well, like children's balls or something simple.

[LaLa]

We usually start in the summer, but it's almost summer

There are a lot of ideas for crafts here:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...threadid=92232

And I find that swapping helps too!
My family gets tired of the same gifts from me year after year, so come July/Aug I join a craft swap for the holidays where we sign up for whatever we want to trade for and it works out well

[BoxOfRainMama]

Im so excited I found this post with all you great thinkers! Youre all full of such great ideas. Im really looking forward to this project!

[Lou]

i love the children's year!
i wish i had feltcraft so i could follow a pattern to make some felt bunnies... i haven't learned how to knit yet... guess i will have to play around with patterns. any tips, farmer mama or joyfulheart?
another real simple gift idea is eye pillows with herbs such as lavender mixed with flaxseeds- i also make wee dolls stuffed with lavender & flaxseeds- they're adorable!
would love the inspiration from y'all to finish christmas gifts early! the holiday season gets really stressful trying to finish all the handmade gifts and i lose touch with the spiritual journey of christmas.
i'm always on the look out for felt, velour, velvet, silk, from thrift shops for material in my crafts- recycle recycle recycle!

[MamaMonica]

I'm starting now, too- I'm going to try to knit a raglan sweater a month and make the knitted beanbags from in "Kid's Knitting." That means probably a sweater every two-three months in reality.

Also need to work in wool socks for my parents in there. I wonder if I need to have a chart with deadlines to get this done?

[Sugar Poppy]

Oooh! I would love to learn to make all these wonderful crafty gifts. I am totally clueless though. So if you gals don't mind I 'd like to join.