The Annual Mothering Handmade Gifts Ideas Contest - Page 5

[lshmshmn]

I've made a bunch of shirts for my son. I took old onesies, and did applique with some old clothes! One onesie has a tie on it, another has a vest, and one with a bow tie.

[jkmcmill]

This year I am making a cake pops creating kit for my mother in law.  I am putting of ether some gluten free recipes for cake pops and some ideas or decorating.  I'm going to print them on photo paper and bind them into a book.  I'm going to. Cut down some wooden skewers and sand them to reuse as t cake pop sticks.  I made some candy eye balls, dots and flowers with sugar.  I am going to drill holes in a small block of wood for a stand for the pops to set.  I will add a cake ingredients in a mason jar and some small jars of toppings/decorations.  Hopefully she will like it :)

[Cali2SC]

My super frugal gift idea for this year is to crochet rag rugs and baskets.  I do not yet have a picture of my finished projects, but I am using the directions for this rug http://vintagechica.typepad.com/the_life_and_times_of_thi/2006/10/rag_rug_tutoria.html

I also like the jersey knit braclets for a quick gift here: http://www.vanessachristenson.com/2011/03/v-and-co-how-to-jersey-knit-bracelet.html  I think these would be awesome for my sister, who needs some baby friendly jewelry that she can wear (they are soft, can be used as a teether, and wipe up baby drool if needed!)

and this pillow if I still have time: http://www.vanessachristenson.com/2011/03/v-and-co-how-to-jersey-knit-bracelet.html

I am using rags from a big pile of cloths that we were going to donate to goodwill, so the total amount that I spent for these projects is just $2.99 for the crochet hook!  And I get to make untold numbers of gifts!!!  I'm pretty proud of myself for this one.  

[Cali2SC]

and I also liked quirky baby on fb!  Too excited for the luck winner.    Wow! there are so many great ideas!  I voted for all my favorites, which was a lot.  Thank you everyone for sharing all of you amazing ideas and talents!  I second the request to make this thread a stickie so that we can refer back all year long.  Happy holidays!

Edited by Cali2SC - 12/8/11 at 8:16am

[amcal]

Originally Posted by littlemomma 

Memory Jar

Last year, my siblings and I made a memory jar for our mom.  I sent them all scrapbook paper strips in the mail, with the instructions to write a sweet memory you have with mom on each strip and bring them for Christmas.  I had a large, clear vase on hand and tied a pretty holiday ribbon around it and we placed the memories in the jar. Finished! 

She LOVED this!  We LOVED this.  We sat around the tree while she read the memories and we cried, laughed, and shared together.  It is probably the most wonderful gift I've ever given.  She still has the vase, and all the memories, displayed in her home.  =) 

Awesome idea!!!  We're doing it this year.  I just mailed slips of paper to all my siblings and we're going to get a jar engraved to hold the memories. 

[butterflyblue]

I'm going with mostly baked goods/fudge/caramel this year.  I always make caramel and fudge anyway.  For my mom, my sister, MIL and my brother's girlfriend, I'm making oven mitts out of scrap fabric and insulbrite batting and packaging them with cute stamped recipe cards.  I hit Hobby Lobby on a day when they had all their stamping supplies on sale and bought some kitchen themed stamps and a big block stamp that has lines for a recipe card.  Some I stamped onto index cards, some I stamped onto scrapbook cardstock cut to size.

[Turquesa]

Very creative!!  What kind of paint did you use?  Our thrift stores sell wine glasses for fifty cents, and I always wondered what clever and crafty things I could do with them! 

Originally Posted by lizallen 

This year I am hand painting wine glasses for holiday gifts. Our family are big wine drinkers so my hubby and I thought custom wine glasses would be a hit. 

My brother-in-law will get a University of Washington one, his wife is a runner so I was thinking of painting runners on hers. My mother-in-law loves cats and knitting so I'll do a kitten playing with yarn. My father-in-law is an art collected so I might recreate a VanGogh on his or something. A kitten on my hubby's grandma's glass. 

You get the idea... but I'll have quite a few to do... 10 in all so I better get my butt in gear!

[erinflorka]

Originally Posted by Kelly Ebejer 

100% Wool Alphabet Bean Bags

These are quite easy to make, even for a novice sewer such as myself :) Because I am making two sets of these this year plus many other handmade gifts I have recruited the help of my mom. This is a picture of the first set I made last year for my own daughters (bean bags I am making this year are not yet complete). Upcycled and felted wool or cashmere sweaters were used for the squares (approx 4.5x4.5). I purchased 100% wool felt (not cheap, but its nice to have bc then you can label the set as 100% natural wool fiber and the felt does go a long way when cutting out the letters). As for the letters I started to free hand, but then ended up using templates I found online and printed/cut out. Sew letter with a straight stitch one square then sew squares right sides together leaving a small opening to fill and sew this opening by hand after filling is complete. I like to fill mines with lentil beans bc they make a nice weight bean bag that is not at all bulky. Enjoy making and thanks for the contest!!

Set I just finished for this year!!

Wow really creative and such a a keepsake!! Great idea i love it . Two thumbs up!

[kitchensqueen]

I made an embroidered name plaque for my three month old son. It's a rectangle of blue plaid fabric (a swatch leftover from the quilt I also made him, so it matches), with an oval of white felt stitched on with light blue thread. His name is embroidered in dark blue thread in lowercase letters on the felt. I put it in a repurposed dark wood picture frame I had on hand. I think it will be cute to hang above his crib, and will be a sweet keepsake for him when he's older. :-) 

[marcusdaddy]

Originally Posted by erinflorka 


Wow really creative and such a a keepsake!! Great idea i love it . Two thumbs up!

Wow these bean bags are fantastic, educational and a wonderful way to upcycle old wool sweaters! Two thumbs up for me as well. Showing these to my crafty wife for sure...wondering if she will have time to do these before Christmas!! Thank you!

[JudiAU]

Originally Posted by iachica 

This year I am making my children books on cd.

All I'm doing is recording myself reading their favorite books on the computer.  I'm using a program that can also be used to make podcasts so I can add fancy sound effects to turn the page, etc.  After I finish recording about 10 books for each child, I'll burn the audio files to a cd.  Because my children are all pre-readers, I'm finding the pictures of the book covers online and will print out a visual table of contents for each disk.  

Of all the gifts that my children will receive this year, I fully anticipate this to be a favorite.  What could be better than mom's voice (or dad's!) reading their favorite books with the style and inflection that they are used to?

I think this is idea is simply wonderful.

[IzaRosesMama1]

Homemade awesome HULIE HOOPS!!!! all you need PVC pipe, christmas lights, tape, and a pvc pipe connector! wahoo awesome christmas present for all ages!  When te tubing is placed in a circle it should measure just below the belly button.  All you have to do is put the christmas lights in the PVC pipe, boil the ends of the PVC pipe and put the connector in it while still hot...once it cools it will fit nice and snug, tape it and yes! AWESOME HULIE HOOP!!!! YAY... hope you love it...I reallllly reallly want a BOBA for christmas!!!

Edited by IzaRosesMama1 - 12/10/11 at 9:49pm

[StarCoveter]

Hopefully it's not too late to comment!  In the past I've made pillows personalized to each recipient.  My father in law is part Cherokee, so he got a pillow with a feather applique.  My mom in law works with horses and loves unicorns, so she got a pillow with a unicorn applique (turned out beautifully), my sister in law had a baby, so she got a pillow with a bird applique plus a mini pillow with a baby bird applique.  They were a huge hit.  I've also done things like homemade cookies, rice bag warmers, candles, etc.

This year, I made my almost-one-year-old daughter a set of fabric stuffed magnets.  I found a cheap swatch of fabric at the store with cute animals on it, and wanted to make something, so that's what I did!  CHECK OUT MY PHOTOS ON FLICKR.  (Sorry, having trouble uploading pictures here.)

-Cut out animal.

-Cut out corresponding fabric for back piece in same shape.

-With wrong sides together, sew zigzag around the edges, leaving a 1-inch space to stuff through.

-Stuff with batting, sliding magnets in between the fabric and stuffing.  Make sure magnet is flush against the back fabric piece, with not stuffing in front of it so it can have good contact with whatever you stick it to.

-Zigzag stitch the stuffed magnet closed. 

Tada!  So easy, if not a little bit time consuming.  I hope my daughter loves them!

[Turquesa]

Really cute!!! 

I did something similar when DD went through her puppy-loving phase.  I cut pictures out of out-of-date puppy calendars (the smaller ones on the back of the calendar, where you get a preview of the month-by-month pictures), laminated them with clear contact paper, and glue gunned magnets to the back.  For the magnets, I just cut apart a bunch of freebie magnets that I had saved (you know, ones that lawyers, plumbers, etc. give out to the public).  Viola!  Instant, cheap-o stocking stuffer.  Yours will hold up a lot longer than mine did, though.

Originally Posted by StarCoveter 

Hopefully it's not too late to comment!  In the past I've made pillows personalized to each recipient.  My father in law is part Cherokee, so he got a pillow with a feather applique.  My mom in law works with horses and loves unicorns, so she got a pillow with a unicorn applique (turned out beautifully), my sister in law had a baby, so she got a pillow with a bird applique plus a mini pillow with a baby bird applique.  They were a huge hit.  I've also done things like homemade cookies, rice bag warmers, candles, etc.

This year, I made my almost-one-year-old daughter a set of fabric stuffed magnets.  I found a cheap swatch of fabric at the store with cute animals on it, and wanted to make something, so that's what I did!  CHECK OUT MY PHOTOS ON FLICKR.  (Sorry, having trouble uploading pictures here.)

-Cut out animal.

-Cut out corresponding fabric for back piece in same shape.

-With wrong sides together, sew zigzag around the edges, leaving a 1-inch space to stuff through.

-Stuff with batting, sliding magnets in between the fabric and stuffing.  Make sure magnet is flush against the back fabric piece, with not stuffing in front of it so it can have good contact with whatever you stick it to.

-Zigzag stitch the stuffed magnet closed. 

Tada!  So easy, if not a little bit time consuming.  I hope my daughter loves them!

[Turquesa]

Ignorant question: What's powering the Christmas lights? 

These look awesome, btw! 

Originally Posted by IzaRosesMama1 

Homemade awesome HULIE HOOPS!!!! all you need PVC pipe, christmas lights, tape, and a pvc pipe connector! wahoo awesome christmas present for all ages!  When te tubing is placed in a circle it should measure just below the belly button.  All you have to do is put the christmas lights in the PVC pipe, boil the ends of the PVC pipe and put the connector in it while still hot...once it cools it will fit nice and snug, tape it and yes! AWESOME HULIE HOOP!!!! YAY... hope you love it...I reallllly reallly want a BOBA for christmas!!!

[IzaRosesMama1]

Thanks guys! they are battery powered christmas lights! I hope more people like .... The Boba is number 1 on my christmas list!!! love n light!! <3

[Cynthia Mosher]

Thank you all for your wonderful ideas, how-to's and pictures. Such creativity and talent! This contest is officially closed to entries but you can still thumbs up your favorites. 

Just a reminder that for your entry to be considered you need to thank our sponsor.So if you haven't already done so, head over to Quirky Baby's Facebook page and click their "Like" button as a show of appreciation.

We'll be reviewing the entries and based on the thumbs-up we will determine the winners. In the case of a tie or some difficulty in determining a clear and qualifying winner the decision will go to Mothering administration staff. We will announce the winners in this thread and as a general announcement on MDC. 

Thanks again everyone! Last minute voters - now's your time! :)

[Hannahkatiebell]

Where do we vote?

[kitchensqueen]

Originally Posted by Hannahkatiebell 

Where do we vote?

You click on the thumbs up icon under the post you like. 

[chunkymonkey09]

vote foe the hula hoop it wont let me thumbs up idk why