The Annual Mothering Handmade Gifts Ideas Contest - Page 3

[BrieS]

I bought the oven baked clay. I used Sculpy Original.

[Neela0207]

This year I'm knitting washcloths/dishrags and "wrapping" them around containers of either homemade hand soap, dish soap or kitchen cleaner.

[saralm]

oops

[cmrq]

I made sandwich wraps for everyone last year.  I think I googled sandwich wrap mats for directions.  I just cut out 2 octagons of fabric and 1 of BPA free clear plastic from fabric store, sewed together except one edge, turned inside out and sewed open edge.  Placement of velcro was the only tricky part.  They were lots of fun to make,and people love them.  

My boys and I made my parents, avid gardeners, a garden stepping stone with their handprints and "mimi's garden" written in it, and some aquarium glass embellishments.  Turned out great!

This year, everyone's getting homemade preserves- jams, pickles, chutneys, etc. 

[Sarah Doggett]

What could be a better gift from your crunchy granola relatives than crunchy granola?  I sent some randomly to my Mom and she loved it, so I'm gonna go with that!

[cameragirl]

We're making terrariums for gifting this year. We picked up glass containers at Goodwill for much less than new containers would have cost. Because my glass working kit is packed, I picked up some tumbled glass pieces and some glass baubles from Hobby Lobby. The total cost was $3 for a few pounds of glass pieces. The terrariums are filled with aquarium charcoal and aquarium rocks, then soil. I picked up some dried moss to go between the rocks and potting soil as a bit of a filter, so that the soil doesn't seep into the rocks. Some folks use sand in the rocks for this. I'm going to pick up some pretty moss at the nursery, and will arrange the moss and glass pieces. They're a nice gift because they really don't need much to keep them alive. Water a little when dry, which is every month or two. Let air out if you see condensation. Keep the terrarium in bright shade (but not on a window ledge). Bright shade is bright enough to read comfortably.

[Deniselx]

A few years ago, my then 9 year old dd and I made some fabric placemats for family and fiends. I had been collecting our old pairs of jeans for a while and wondered what to do with them. Below is a picture of our patchwork-style jean placemats. The patchs are sewn with the edges upwards so that they unravel a little in the wash and make fringes that give the mats a worn-jean look. One patch is the jean pocket in which the utensils are placed. The back of the mat is a full jean rectangle. The mat is thus reversible. The place-mat can be conveniently rolled up and brought to work (utensils inside).

 

[Turquesa]

What a fun, fun thread!!  I need to flag one of the mods to sticky this.  We all give gifts year-round, right?

I just finished putting together a green-cleaning kit.  I bought an inexpensive cleaning supplies caddy and stuffed it with homemade goodies--soft scrub, furniture polish, air fresheners, carpet deodorizers, powdered laundry detergent, etc.  For good measure, I threw in some knitted dishcloths.  The recipient doesn't have a swiffer mop, but if she did, I would have included a mop cover. 

[goldilost]

I've made snowman kits for the kids (nieces/nephews) in the past and the kids love them. They are super easy - a few wooden dowels and wooden pieces painted. Use an old hat/scarf or pick one up at a thrift store - place it all in a tin and ta da! A great gift.

[Deniselx]

LOVE your idea Goldilost. What do you use for buttons and the heart and how do you get them to stick to the snowman?

 

[athiessen]

My mother-in-law used to make pajama pants for all of her grandchildren - since she passed away I've taken over. This is the first year that I've actually gotten around to making them. I've made 4 pajama pants - two for boys and two for girls. I'd post a picture but they are already wrapped and under the tree!

[Madelyn'sMom]

We're doing a completely homemade Christmas this year (except for what we get from Santa).  My little girl and I are making gift bags for family and friends with some of the following: Lavender bath soak, peppermint foot scrub, catnip mice, dog treats, bird seed cakes, cloth napkins, hot cocoa mix, caramel popcorn, and play dough.  We got all these ideas and recipes off the Internet.  I'm just amazed at all the great ideas out there!  This thread is awesome--looking forward to adding some of these ideas to next year's gift list.

[goldilost]

Deniselx,

At the craft store, I bought the wooden hearts, I used a drill to drill a hole in it - the placed my cut dowels w/ so wood glue. The dowels are what stick into the snow.

The buttons are wagon wheels that already have a hole in them, so I used those to base what size dowel I would use. I think they were 3/8". I bought pre-drilled "eyes" that didn't go all the way through. Then I bought wooden beads, that I strung together for the mouth. For the nose, I used an egg shape, and drilled a hole in that as well and placed a cut dowel.  So the heart and the nose where the only pieces that I had to drill a hole into. Everything else I had was pre-drilled. I didn't bother painting the dowels because those were going into the snowman. They are fun to make and once you have snow - even more fun to put on a snowman.

I also used flower picks to wrap around some material on the snowman hat, so that it will drill into the snow to keep the snowman's hat on.

I put all pieces (optional pipe) in a tin and give them away to the kiddos. My kids love them and I know my nieces and nephews have used them as well.

Good luck!

[Gator-mom]

We were just down in Southern Utah for Thanksgiving which where DH's whole family grew up.  This year, since we had beautiful weather I took a bunch of pictures of the local historical buildings and the house my FIL and his sister grew up in and some of the awesome red rock just behind the house and from our side trip to Bryce Canyon.  I took the best of those and printed them and turned them into custom made thank you card sets.  My In-laws love to reminisce about the past and growing up in Kanab, UT so I like to try to do things for them that remind them of that.  I also made spicy canned dilly beans for everyone which is another favorite in the family.  My FIL always goes on and on about how his mom used to make those growing up!  I'm the only one in the family who knows how to can, so I try to do that kind of stuff for them. 

For my friends I made anklets that have beads that say "appreciate" and "gratitude" on them to remind them of how much I appreciate them!  I also made earings out of soda tabs using wire and beads. 

[whozyourdoula]

I did this with just one room one year for my oldest daughter.  I love all the rooms you have here.  Great job!

[chavasmom]

I am making felt quiet / activity books.

Here is the tutorial: http://www.etsy.com/listing/82648869/pdf-tutorial-123-count-with-me-quiet

[Michellew7]

I am knitting some super soft and warm scarves for my friends and loved ones, and will even be donating some to local shelters this season.  I know I would love to receive a hand made gift, and how better to let someone know you love them than to wrap them in soft warmth?!?!  This is a picture of my 8 year old daughter wearing the first scarf that I knitted this year.  I made her scarf by request to be pink and purple of course!  :)   The best part of hand made gifts...all the love that goes into making them!

[amberskyfire]

I have no money, so I make Pysanky for our friends and family for the holidays. Pysanky are traditional Ukranian dyed eggs. The artwork looks incredibly difficult, but it's actually very easy! It only looks complicated. Really, you're just doodling with geometric shapes and anyone can do it, even children. My first egg looked really great and by my third egg, I was a pro.

Pysanky are made using a wax resist method similar to batik. I use a traditional tool called a kistka. You'll need a kistka, beeswax, a candle, eggs, a pencil and a few dyes. I suggest getting at least two kistky - medium and fine. For dyes, three or four colors works. I have the whole set, but I really prefer just working with the traditional colors of gold, scarlet and black.

First, I drill a hole in each end of my egg and blow the inside out (which we eat). After rinsing the egg and letting it dry for a day or two, I wipe the outside with vinegar and a soft cloth and then it's ready. I draw on a basic geometric grid using a pencil, then begin my design. I heat my kistka in a candle flame and scoop up a little beeswax which I then apply to my egg using the funneled tip. Everywhere I draw with the wax will be the color the egg is at the time, so white is the first color. I then dip the egg into a dye, dry the egg, and do the same process with the second color. When I'm finished, I hold the wax-covered egg over a candle flame and then wipe the melted wax off with a paper towel to see the beautiful design. Making pysanky is so zen and getting to see the result at the end is really exciting. Here are some of the results.

These are a few of my very first eggs, just to give you an idea of how simple it can be. The finished eggs can be kept on egg stands, in baskets or hung on a tree as ornaments. I feel so great giving pysanky as gifts because they are really cherished by the receiver and I feel proud that I've been able to afford gifts for all of our extended families.

And here is a photo of some eggs I have made so far this year:

Links to learning how to create pysanky:

http://www.learnpysanky.com/

http://www.cs.unc.edu/~yakowenk/pysanky/

[sapphos75]

I am making linen cloth napkins, and salt cooking blends for the adults.  the salts will be vanilla salt, a vera cruz blend, and something spicy for december in the Midwest.

For the kids and my son's teachers I am making lunch sets...which are reusable snack bags, sandwich wraps and a cloth napkin

[fyrebloom]

I've done several ideas in the past.  One year we brewed cordials for our family only to find out many would not even have alcohol in the house.  The next year we made homemade root beer for the non drinkers and cordials for the drinkers.  To make cordial, seep your fav fruits and spices in vodka or brandy for 3 or more weeks.  When the time is up strain out the chunky stuff and add water and sugar to taste.  We've done pumpkin pie, apple cinnamon, cinnamon, hazelnut, almond and blueberry in the past (although the blueberry kinda tasted like tea but you could experiment! 

Other gifts we've done is homemade candles, mason jars with cookie mix in them (in a festive bowl with utensils and such)  I just layered the ingredients nicely.  Everyone loved them.  I've heard of crocheting plastic bag yarn into snowflake shapes for people to use as pot scrubbers.