The Annual Mothering Handmade Gifts Ideas Photo Contest

[Cynthia Mosher]

The Annual Mothering Handmade Gifts Ideas Photo Contest

Do you have some handmade gift ideas to share? 

We have a contest and a great prize from Nature's Fabrics!

Post your crafty, creative, yummy, and artsy handmade gifts ideas along with a simple how-to and a pic and you will be entered into our Handmade Gifts Ideas contest! Share your posted image via Pinterest, Facebook or Twitter to encourage voting on your image, then return to the thread to post that you have done so.

Please post one handmade gift idea entry per post. The winner will be

determined by thumbs-ups for each posted idea and editorial review, so spread the word and thumbs-up your favorites!

Grand Prize: A $100 Gift Certificate from Nature's Fabrics!

 

The Two Runners-Up winners will receive a Mothering Supporter Membership. 

Last date to post an entry is midnight, December 19th, 2011 Pacific Time. US and Canadian residents only. A big thank you to  Nature's Fabrics!

Please read to and agree with the full Terms and Conditions before entering the contest. Here are our contest entries last year, that may give you some ideas and inspiration for creating gifts of your own design which you can enter in this year's contest. 

About Nature's Fabrics:

 

Nature's Fabrics is your source for organic cloth diapering and clothing fabrics for children and adults. We specialize in the best. Best for your baby, best for you, best for the environment. 

We strive to bring you the most natural and organically produced fabrics on the market. We always want the very best quality our money can buy. So that you too can say you are buying the very best fabric. Not all of our fabric carries the organic label, but we do try our best to be sure it is the most natural and ecologically friendly version of that fabric that is available.

 

[sunanthem]

Long Hand Dyed Silk Twirl DIY

By Sunanthem Toys

Materials Needed

1 long habotai silk scarve ( I have used measurements 8in. x 54in. OR 8in. x72 in. )

1 wooden ring

lanaset dyes

wood glue, or any strong glue

How-To

I bought a pre-made scarve and dip dyed it with Lanaset dyes. I then bunched one end and wrapped and glued the scarve onto a wooden ring. I finished the ring with beeswax finish.

These are great toys for kids and adults. Whomever picks them up can't help but twirl them. They are beautiful and so easy to make!

Edited by sunanthem - 12/9/12 at 7:46pm

[sunanthem]

pinned and FB'd!

[Encinalien]

Here's the gift I made this year. I planned to make some cups to go with it, but that didn't happen. Each different color is basically a separate knitted cloth I made then I formed it into the shape I wanted (two bowls) and sewed it that way with yarn and a yarn needle. I filled a sock with stuffing and sewed that shut and that's what's on the inside. Then I knitted two tiny cloths for the handle and spout and then sewed them on how I wanted them to look. Then I decided the spout wasn't long enough so I knitted another little cloth and sewed it around the edges of the spout.

[Encinalien]

And yes I voted for yours not mine. I'll have to think of something I can trade you for two of those for Espy, but later, after the holliday chaos is over.

[LunaLady]

Home-made Wool Baby Pants and Hat

I make these for my Etsy shop (InThePineTree), but they are very easy to make and whip up really quick! They make a great gift!

Here's a good website with size charts for everything you'd like to make, so you can get sizes for the baby you're making your items for: http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/size-chart.html



Materials you'll need:

An old sweater (men's for older babies, women's for infants)
3/4 inch elastic
Thread

1. First start by finding a sweater to use. In the above photo I used a 100% merino wool Mossimo sweater with cute buttons up the cuff. Thrift stores are a great place to find these. You want it to be at least 70% wool of some kind (lamb's, merino, alpaca, etc).

2. Felt your sweater. I do this in my washer/dryer. I wash a load of sweaters with some jeans on warm/hot and then dry them. Usually I felt my sweaters twice. In the second wash/dry I remove it from the dryer before it's fully dry so that I can lay it out and make sure it will dry with the seams correctly folded down the sleeve and there are no wrinkles.

3. To make the hat: measure your child's head circumference, and from eye brow to neck nape. Use these numbers to create a pattern. Make a half circle shape that is as wide as your child's head and as tall (from flat side to rounded side) as the eye brow to neck nape measurement. Place this pattern on the bottom hem of your sweater. As you can see in the photo above, the brim of the hat was the bottom hem of the sweater. Cut out your pattern including seam allowance, two pieces. Make a dart on the wrong side of each piece at the center of the curve. About two inches long. Then put right sides together and stitch around the whole curve.

4. To make the pants, start by laying out your felted sweater so that the sleeves are flat and the arm seam is on the side (as apposed to tucked under somewhere).

5.Start by laying your baby’s current pants on the sleeve to get a feel for where you want to make your cuts. In making my pants, I gave a bit of growing room in the length. Be sure to leave seam allowance at the crotch and hem allowance at the waist. I made my waist cut a little over an inch above where I thought the waist should go. Since my baby is cloth diapered, I tried to make the bum area nice and baggy. I didn’t make a very exaggerated crotch curve.




6. Once you’ve got one side cut, place it over the other sleeve (making sure the up-the-arm seams are lined up) and use it as a pattern to make your second leg.

7. Once you’ve got that, turn one inside out. Matching up the up-the-arm seams, place the sleeve that’s still right-side-out INSIDE the other one. You’ll now have right sides together inside.



8. Here’s where you’ll be sewing up the crotch. Serge the two pieces together making a U shape. If you don’t have a serger, just use an overlock stitch on your sewing machine. If you don’t know what that is, just use a zig zag stitch. Don’t get discouraged! This isn’t hard.




You should now have this:


9. Now we’re going to make the hem. When using knit cotton or jersey fabrics I don’t bother to pin, but with the wool I pinned my hem in place. You want to do about a 1 inch hem. We’re using 3/4 inch elastic, so we want to make sure it’s going to fit.



I used this stitch on my machine to make my hem. It gives a nice finished look that stretches. If you’re not sure what you should use, do a zig zag stitch.



10. Stitch around your hem, but stop about two inches before you you close it up so we can get the elastic in there. To determine how long you need your elastic, either use a current pair of pants that fit your baby as a guide, or find your baby and put the elastic around his/her waist and measure what seems like a comfortable fit. Once you’ve got your measurement, add 1 inch to that and cut. Hook a safety pin at one end and use that to thread the elastic through your hem.



Once all the way around, overlap your elastic 1/2 inch and sew back and forth and back and forth using a zig zag stitch.



11. Tuck the elastic back in your hem and then close it up! You’re done!



Here are some more examples!



Thank you so much for reading and for the chance to win! I'd love to be able to get some organic fabrics to keep working on 'organicifying' our home! I'd like to make some pillowcases and blankets.
Edited by LunaLady - 12/13/12 at 10:46am

[Veritas Vitae]

This year I decided to make applique shirts for my friends and family.  Each child will be getting a holiday shirt as well as another design that they can wear at anytime of the year. 

Thanksgiving and initial onesies

Cousins in their matching turkey shirts

Initial onesie

Nieces in their holly shirts

close up of holly shirt

Close up of robot and holly shirt

ASL I love you shirts

Need:

-plain t-shirts or onesies

-scrap fabric

-heat n bond

-embroidery needles

-embroidery floss

-cookie cutters (optional: used for the ASL I love you design)

I first sketched out the design I was going to use. In the case of the holly design, because I was doing so many, I used a lightweight cardboard to make a template for the leaf and berries, as well as the turkey body and feather.  I then ironed the heat n bond to the fabric and cut out the design.  Once I cut the design, I ironed it on to the clean shirts, and then used a blanket stitch to border the design, using a half thickness of embroidery floss (3 strands).  For any additional design, I just stitched it on to the shirt, as seen for the robots face and heart. 

ETA: additional photos

Edited by Veritas Vitae - 12/13/12 at 7:18am

[LunaLady]

I pinned about the contest

[Veritas Vitae]

Pinned and shared on Facebook!

[Cynthia Mosher]

Lovely handwork everyone! Makes me want to pull out my sewing machine. 

Anyone with food ideas or handmade cosmetics, soaps, etc? 

[Encinalien]

I need to pull out my sewing machine too, Cynthia. I'm trying to make a doggie themed pillow pal as a gift for my son and I'm cutting it kind of close if I want to be done in time for the holidays. It should only take a few sittings since I already have the head cut out and some spots cut out and the body's just a pillowcase.

[amberskyfire]

Gnome Treehouse!

I saw this gnome treehouse for sale online and decided to save up for it for the kids. Before I ordered it, I read the reviews and found out that it doesn't come even partly assembled, you just get the parts and have to design and build it yourself. For $200! I thought to myself "heck, I can cut up my own sticks from my own backyard for free!"

My husband and I used some sticks and twine, some wood slices and wood glue for the stairs, a board about 14x40", and some fake silk plants. Tools were a drill, electric sander (Mouse), screwdriver, coping saw or electric saw, screws, screw eyes, nails and a hammer. It as probably a total of ten hours working together to build it. It was super easy and we have never really built anything before.

We cut the base pieces from a board and sanded it. I rounded the edges with the sander. You don't have to polish the wood, but I did using my natural wood polish recipe found here.

Then we cut up a large branch we found on the road from when the city was doing tree cutting. Ours happens to be strawberry guava which is the most dense and beautiful wood I have ever seen! Once we cut it to the lengths we wanted, we used screws or finishing nails to assemble it. Then we drilled holes in the branches and glued in sprigs of the fake leaves.

Using wood glue and screw eyes, I added the extras. There is a swing, a hammock made of felt thatt looks like a leaf, a hanging bridge, a rope ladder and stairs to various levels.

If anyone is interested in making one, I also made and purchased lots of items to go along with it, but I think the things I made myself are for another post. You can make your own furniture, but we don't have tools for making tiny things, so I'll include links to the items I purchased to furnish it with:

Handmade bedroom set - http://www.etsy.com/listing/115404142/little-woodland-fairy-bedroom-set

Handmade dining set - http://www.etsy.com/listing/116034871/little-woodland-fairy-table-set

Handmade cradle - http://www.etsy.com/listing/116012900/little-woodland-fairy-cradles?ref=v1_other_2

Fairy forest furniture set - http://www.amazon.com/Fairy-Forest-Kitchen-Bedroom-Set/dp/B001AMK5E8/ref=pd_sim_t_1

I also purchased various small items like wooden bowls and cups from the craft store and tiny miniature baskets. I ordered wood cutouts to paint to make trees. I made a huge playsilk for the whole thing that I dyed green and brown with food coloring (use vinegar and hot water to set it and it doesn't come out). I also made several little needle felted play mats to go with the play scene.

The dolls I have made to go with this gnome home are little bendy dolls. You can find all kinds of bendy doll tutorials online. I like this one:

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?board=5%3Baction=display%3Bthreadid=942

Edited by amberskyfire - 12/9/12 at 10:28pm

[amberskyfire]

Pinned and shared!

[sunanthem]

                          Nature Blocks

 

 by SunAnthem Toys

Materials Needed

1x1inch or 2x2 inch wood blocks

Kite paper or premade paper cut outs

modge podge, paint brush

small scissors like cuticle scissors  

 I made these two sets of blocks for some of my friend's kiddos. One wanted a nature theme, one wanted an 'elements' theme. I basically cut out different images and collaged them onto the wooden blocks with modge podge, then a thin layer of modge podge to seal it. The only thing I didn't cut out myself were the trees; I bought those already cut out from Etsy. Search for paper cut-outs and you can probably find something similiar. The other designs I came up with myself, and it was a tad time consuming, but the finished result were a beautiful set of blocks that little ones can really enjoy and mama can truly cherish.

(pinned)

[LunaLady]

Gluten Free Cleansing Grains

I've been making cleansing grains for my own personal use for about four years, now, but I also sell them in my Etsy shop (InThePineTree). I read about them first in Rosemary Gladstar's book. Cleansing grains traditionally use ground oats as the exfoliation  For people like myself who are gluten free, avoiding even coming in contact with gluten is a good idea, not just avoiding eating it. Most oats have gluten (you can find a gluten free variety), so I opted to use other natural ingredients for exfoliating. I purchase all of my ingredients for body care recipes from Mountain Rose Herbs and I encourage you to do the same. They have fair practices, are environmentally conscious and offer a wide range of organic items.

Ingredients:

2 cups kaolin clay (white clay)

1/2 cup apricot kernel meal

1/2 cup ground coconut flakes (I took coconut flakes and put them in my magic bullet. A spice or coffee grinder will work, too!)

1/4 cup lavender flower powder

1/4 cup pink rose petal flower

You’ll also need a large bowl and measuring spoons. Feel free to collect the measuring spoons from your toddler’s play kitchen utensils  Oh, that’s just me? Ha.

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix it up! That's it! 

To use, just put 1-2 teaspoons on your palm and make a paste with a little water. Massage into your (dampened) face, work in to trouble spots (nose, forehead). Leave on your face at least 5 minutes. I like to do this ritual in the shower. I put it on my face first thing (after I dampen my face and hair) and then do everything else. I rinse my face off last and that way it’s had a nice 10 minutes or so to sit! It’s best to just use this once a week or twice at most. Even though it doesn’t feel particularly ‘rough’, it still does a good job of scrubbing and you don’t want to scrub your delicate face skin too often. And some people find the clay to be a bit drying, so keep that in mind if you’re prone to dry skin.

Package it up in canning jars and it makes a great gift! 

Edited by LunaLady - 12/13/12 at 10:47am

[LunaLady]

I pinned! 

[Sativarain1]

great gift ideas!

[amberskyfire]

These little bendy dolls are fun to make. I like to slip them in stockings or you can make little playsets to go with them. These will fit in the gnome treehouse that I made above. They are a couple of inches tall without the hats. You'll need 1/4" wooden beads for the heads. I use embroidery floss for the body and hair and the core of their bodies are made of pipe cleaners (chenille stems) which is what makes them bendable. Use a blanket stitch around the edges of felt for the clothes. They are simple to make but do take a couple of hours per doll. There are plenty of different tutorials online for making them. I like this one: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?board=5%3Baction=display%3Bthreadid=942  Or you can just do a search for "bendy doll tutorial" or "bendy fairy tutorial."
 

[amberskyfire]

Shared and pinned, but do we have to post that for every entry? Maybe we can just put on the post itself that it has been shared and pinned?

[SunRise]

I made Vanilla extract to gift to teachers, instructors, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, etc.

ingredients:

vanilla beans

bottom-shelf booze (vodka, whiskey)

flip-top bottles

and some time (2 months to sit)

instructions:

slice beans in half, length ways, to open up

5 beans / 8oz of booze

I bought 8oz flip top bottles, but you can use mason jars, collected jars, etc.

Let sit for a few months (mine have been laying on their sides in order to saturate the tips of the beans as well).

Tie a handmade ornament around neck. Voila.

Edited by SunRise - 12/10/12 at 6:32am