What are you crafting for Christmas?

[Peppermint]

Or any other holiday? There is a thread right now in TAO about Christmas budget and I noticed quite a few of us are crafting things, making homemade gifts, so I thought I'd start a new thread to talk just about what we are all making for Christmas presents

Lots of ideas ladies, please!

[OTMomma]

I got kits from wazoodle.com to make scarves (Ok, "make" might be an exaggeration since I only have to cut the fringe), mittens and headbands out of fleece. I am also working on making stuffed fruits and veggies for my little one to go with some kitchen stuff she is getting. So far I have made strawberries and carrots, if anyone has any ideas for how to make other shapes let me know. I will probably make candy too.
Thats the list for this year, so far. I would love to see what everyone else is making too.

Laura

[rainbowmoon]

So far on my list is aromatherapy soy candles, a blanket for one of my nephews and a stocking for hubby..we are doing some sort of gift baskets but I'm not sure what as of yet.I am blank on ideas this year, looking forward to seeing what everyone else is making!!!

[Peppermint]

Thanks for responding

I will list some of what I am /we are making.

Ornaments (hand painted glass ornaments with celtic designs)

Personalized Irish Pub signs for BILs' basements

Clocks (with celtic knot designs as well- almost all of our gifts this year are celtic themed)

Celtic Crosses made out of wood, some simply stained, others painted with a knot design.

Bracelets/neckalces (made from glass beads by me and dd )

Alphabet beanbags (I made these for b-days for preschool age kids, it's a great physical way to learn letters and sounds, you just make 26 bean bags, iron on letters, or puffy paint, then make a large mat with the alphabet on it, parents throw the child a bag, the child names the letter and sound, then tries to hit the right spot on the mat- could do numbers to, and if you make them from all different colors, you can use them to learn colors too )

I am also going to make gift bags, and boxes to be reused year after year (hate all that wrapping paper (although it is fun to bunch up and throw at people )

We are going to take a ton of pics of the kids at Thanksgiving (ours and neices and nephews) and then dh is going to design them into collages with celtic knots and such to make a nice wall hanging for his brother and SIL and mine, as well as both sets of grandparents.

Dh is going to make a doll cradle for dd, and a toolbox-he already made one for ds's b-day.

A welcome sign for BIL and SIl's new house (any ideas what to write on it?)

Oh- and from the other thread, I decided to make fudge for everyone an MDC mama is going to share her yummy recipes with me

I want more ideas though I have a feeling the family is going to be really impressed with our homemade gifts and the effort we put into them.

[flitters]

my christmas gifts will all come off my sewing machine this year.

i'm planning to sew fleece pants for the men, and maybe a hat to go with them.

i'm undecided what to make for the women... especially since i really don't know how to estimate their sizes (they range between 100 and 200 pounds where the men are all basically around 180). i may sew each one a bag, but i'm really not sure and that could be more work than i'll be able to do.

and a stuffed animal for my niece who will almost be 2.

and a stuffed animal for one of my dogs.
the other will get a ball.

[flitters]

Originally posted by OTMomma
So far I have made strawberries and carrots, if anyone has any ideas for how to make other shapes let me know.

i've always liked the tree-ish shape of brocolli.
and green goes nicely with red and orange!

[khrisday]

I'm making some cloth napkins and napkin rings for my mom, the rest of our homemade gifts are trades- so I am making some cloth pads, cloth gift bags, hooded dress up cloaks, and knitted balls in exchange.

[fraya]

My family gathers funds to donate a cow for a widow (and her family) in India for Christmas. But for non-family gifts, I'm sewing: pants with matching hat, pants with coordinating shirt, pajamas, etc. I also usually do cards for a friend of mine.

[hahamommy]

We do a women's gift exchange in our family and it has now grown to 15 women could put a major dent in our holiday budget (It began as a $5 gift exchange with 5 of us). Last year I made Mary Englebreit pillows for everyone (bought the pillow kit fabric and a coordinating colored back to make the fabric go twice as far!)
This year, I've decided to make meditation stones from the 25# of airdry clay I've got at home already. I'll paint an inspirational word on them and seal them with clear. I think they'll be a big hit

~diana

[AahRee]

I'm making almost all of my Christmas gifts this year!

For DH: a fleece blanket
For DD: a fleece blanket, a fleece boa (for dress up) and a pair of LTK longies. Oh, and I'm painting a table/chair set (from Ikea)
For my Dad: LTK family felted mocs
For sister and BIL: fleece cat beds
For friends: *Stained glass* suncatchers; cookie-press cookies; fudge; LTK moc booties (for DD's friends!)
For swap: decorated Christmas memories book

I'm buying a few gifts entirely, and adding a few bought items in with some of my homemade things, but the bulk of my Christmas stuff will be homemade, which makes me So happy!

[Pam_and_Abigail]

My goal is to NOT go christmas shopping, so I want to make everything!
Here are some ideas I have:
fabric dolls (like the ty kids)
handcream (if I can find beeswax)
cookies (I have a cookie press that makes nice cookies)
chocolates (fun to make)
cookie mix in a jar
hot chocolate mix
wreaths (don't know how, but sounds like a good idea)
puupets
fleece outerwear (it's so cozy yet easy to work with)
small trees (my idea was to plant xmas tree seedlings and give them as gifts... might not have enough growing time now)
homemade pasta (not sure about this, since it doesn't last long)

I will still have to shop for supplies, but that's somehow different

[AnnR33]

WOW-we have lots of busy mamas!
I'm not making that much this year but plan to make more for next year after learning so much this year!
So far this year:
-Home made Soaps w/crocheted wash cloths (LaLa showed me how to make soap) and maybe some bath salts too
-some fleece mittons/scarves for kids
-beaded bracelet for sister and SIL
-felt set of a "pizza" for my niece
-maybe a crocheted scarf for my mom if I have time

Good luck mamas!
Ann

[Kanga Mom]

My dear uncle, the family packrat, passed away last April. I inherited a lot of the packrat stuff. One of the collections I have is handkerchieves that belonged to both my great-grandmothers, my grandmother, and a few aunts.

I am making handkerchief dolls out of them, a simple task that is more like origami than sewing, as it requires folding, rolling, and knot tieing, but no stitching.=)

Then I'm going to put Maple seed or soy bean pod wings on their backs and a bit of lichen or maybe spanish moss for hair, and make them into angels to hang on the tree. I'll give one to each of the extended families.

Kanga

[N2theWoods]

I am trying to make a T-shirt quilt for my husband out of all his "show shirts" from over the years (he's an actor.) He won't get rid of them for sentimental value and so they've been in a bin in the garage as they're many of them stained and ikky by now. So I snuck them all away (including the ones from his drawers,) and have cut them all up and will be sewing fusible interfacing on them today in preparation for the quilting. Am VERY nervous about it!!!

[MamaMonica]

I'm hoping to knit felted mocs and mittens for Christmas gifts. I hope I can get them all done!

[puppytails]

All kids are getting home-made Waldorf dolls (I made my first doll a few weeks ago, now I'm obsessed).

We only do gifts for about 5 adults, so all the adults are getting Harry Potter themed t-shirts--since we're all HP fanatics. My favorite one will be for my b-i-l and it will say "I'm with Muggle" and my sis's will say "S.P.E.W." since she's a big activist for Equal Rights

[OTMomma]

*All kids are getting home-made Waldorf dolls (I made my first doll a few weeks ago, now I'm obsessed).*
That sounds really neat! Where did you get a pattern?


*i've always liked the tree-ish shape of brocolli.
and green goes nicely with red and orange!*

That does sound fun. But What shape would i cut out to make it sew together like Brocolli?

[Aurora]

I am knitting for Christmas!

Ds#1 and Dd are getting mittens and felted mocs.

Baby Ds is getting Longies and booties.

Dh and I are getting felted mocs.

If I get all of this done I want to knit Dd a doll as well.

[grumo]

we are going to spice a couple batches of nuts and package them up nicely with the recipe

[LaLaLuna]

Wow- what an inspiring thread! I'm in awe of the idea of making all gifts.

I've made soaps and body butters that I poured into some nifty tins that someone gave me so I think I'll be doing bodycare kits this year. I also made a bunch of earrings to sell at the craft show where I work and I suspect some of those will be making it into the gift-giving. I don't have any good ideas what to give the men in my life, though. Dh is making beer and he designed a label for it that he's having printed onto pint glasses so we'll be giving beer n' glasses also. Kids will be getting tie-dye tshirt and underwear sets.
All that should keep me busy til about mid- feb! :LOL
Krisday- where did you find a pattern for a hooded cloak? I'd like to make some for my kids!