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The Annual Mothering Handmade Gifts Ideas Contest

55K views 116 replies 89 participants last post by  cynthia mosher 
#1 ·
The Annual Mothering Handmade Gifts Ideas Contest

Do you have some handmade gift ideas to share?

We have a contest and a great prize from Quirky Baby!

First head over to Quirky Baby's Facebook page and click their "Like" button as a show of appreciation.

Then come and post your crafty, creative, yummy, and artsy handmade gifts ideas along with a simple how-to (and a pic if you have one) and you will be entered into our Handmade Gifts Ideas contest.

Please post one handmade gift idea per post. The winner will be determined by thumbs-ups for each posted idea - so spread the word and thumbs-up your favorites!

Grand Prize: A Boba 3g from Quirky Baby!

boba3gjpg.jpg

The Two Runners-Up winners will receive a Mothering Supporter Membership and a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate.

Last date to post an entry is December 10th, 2011. US and Canadian residents only.

A big thank you to Quirky Baby!!

About QuirkyBaby:

New to babywearing or need a new carrier as your baby grows? QuirkyBaby specializes in fun, functional, and fabulous slings and carriers. Top brands include Beco, Ergo, Boba, BabyHawk, Pikkolo, & Scootababy buckle carriers; CatBird Baby, BabyHawk & Kozy mei tais; Sakura Bloom & Maya Wrap ring slings; and Moby Wrap & Wrapsody wraps. Great accessories, including BabyLegs, and doll carriers, too! Need help choosing? QuirkyBaby features extensive information based on years of experience helping thousands of customers. Enjoy free US shipping and QB Bucks rewards points an all orders, and free gifts on purchases of $75+!
 
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#28 ·
I too am making a Christmas gift out of a cardboard box! I found a HUGE box at my work and am making a little kitchen for my son that is not soo girly. I bought wood grain and marble looking contact paper to cover the box and super shiny black spray paint for the oven. I bought a cheap metal bowl at the dollar store for the sink and am looking to get some free drawer knobs from freecycle. I have some round cup coasters that I will use for the burners and I'm still trying to figure out what to use for the faucet. Maybe an old hose end? I think I am more excited about the gift I'm making than any that I'm buying!

Also for small ideas we always make an ornament each year. I usually google them but this year I decided to go to a craft/gift shop and look at the ornaments. I found some that looked like I could easily recreate and got some great ideas. I took some snap shots from my phone and we will be making them later this week. Check out my blog next week to see how they turned out!

http://partialtohome.wordpress.com
 
#29 ·
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!
 
#30 ·
We made herbed salts this year. We buy Trader Joe's sea salt, and I saved the containers all year. They're small glass jars with a built-in grinder on top. To make the herbed salt, I bought Mediterranean sea salt crystals and mixed the salt with dried rosemary and thyme from our garden. I filled the jars with the mixture, tied the jars with kitchen twine, and included a recipe for herb-roasted chicken. They look and smell beautiful!
 
#31 ·
For my mother my children deoupaged with old paintings a glass jar and then we traced our hands on yellow paper and rolled it around the top of a green straw to look like a flower. We stuck a little peice of pipe cleaner in the middle and made some leaves and now my mother has a bouqet of handprints
 
#32 ·
Our whole extended family decided a few years back to just get presents for the kids. The money we would have spent on the grownups we pooled into homemade "raffle box" for a charity. Everyone would pick a charity and write it on a piece of paper and put that in a second raffle box. Whoever's charity gets drawn from the box gets all the moolah. The charity drawing and money counting is the big event of our Christmas celebration. I guess the crafty part is the homemade boxes. The best part is we all feel alot more holiday spirit giving the money away than getting stressed out figuring out what to get each other!
 
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#33 ·
Handmade Cloth Napkins for Everyday Use

A few years ago my SIL made me some of these napkins and at first I thought the size was too small but quickly realized I LOVEd these lil napkins for every day snacks and lunches. they're not quite big enough for spreading across your lap at dinner but perfect for quick snacks, face wipes, and school lunches, I love them! So now I have made and will continue to make them for all my friends and family.

kr-cloth-napkins-06.jpg

Easy Peasy:

1 yard cute cotton fabric

Cut fabric into 10" squares. Sew two pieces right sides together leaving 2" opening on one side. Turn right side out, push out corners, and press. Top stitch around all four edges to close hole.

That's it!

1 yard makes 6 napkins. Or you can do what I do and buy one yard each of two coordinating fabrics and make a set of 12. Since they're snack napkins it's always nice to have more on hand!
 
#36 ·
Custom Applique T-Shirts

All the munchkins on my list this year are getting custom applique tshirts! I got the shirts on sale at American Apparel (hurray for made in the usa!) and then chose fabrics based on each child and the first letter of their name gets put on the shirt. (One girly-girl gets kobashi doll print and another girl gets space ships!)I used an iron-on to stick coordinating fabric to the letter, then sewed the whole thing on. I have washed and dried too so I know that the letters are on there. My 2.5 year old son loved his "E" shirt from an auntie last year so I thought I would make some and share the love. Four made, 6 to go!!

The "M" is my favorite so far, because I LOVE this Japanese print and so will she!

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IMAG0355.jpg
 
#37 ·
Photo Pillow Case

A nice gift for someone who travels a lot or in our case, leaves on a submarine! I photocopied color pictures of our family onto iron-on transfer paper. I also made a nice layout and letter collage on another page and also a color copy of one of our son's drawings. And then iron all of it onto a white standard pillowcase we had in the closet. (I washed/bleached/double rinsed the pillow case first to remove any residue or closet funk.)
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This is Daddy's 3rd "Boat Pillow". The first I made all from scratch with a handwritten letter on the back with fabric pen, the second was various ocean pics and scenery we had done together- this one is the most special because it is with our son's pictures too. There's not too much space to keep lots of "things" but he always has to have a pillow.
 
#38 ·
I love these.....I'm totally making some for all my favorite people!!! ;)

Quote:
Originally Posted by kryskamp View Post

Handmade Cloth Napkins for Everyday Use

A few years ago my SIL made me some of these napkins and at first I thought the size was too small but quickly realized I LOVEd these lil napkins for every day snacks and lunches. they're not quite big enough for spreading across your lap at dinner but perfect for quick snacks, face wipes, and school lunches, I love them! So now I have made and will continue to make them for all my friends and family.

kr-cloth-napkins-06.jpg

Easy Peasy:

1 yard cute cotton fabric

Cut fabric into 10" squares. Sew two pieces right sides together leaving 2" opening on one side. Turn right side out, push out corners, and press. Top stitch around all four edges to close hole.

That's it!

1 yard makes 6 napkins. Or you can do what I do and buy one yard each of two coordinating fabrics and make a set of 12. Since they're snack napkins it's always nice to have more on hand!
 
#39 ·
I am making Christmas eve pajamas for my son and my niece- the only babies in the family atm. I am making flannel pants and a natural color thermal top for little man, and a slighty 'girlier' version for my niece. I am hoping this will become a tradition as the family gets bigger, but this is the first year :)
 
#40 ·
We have been needle felting designs on old hats, mittens and scarves to spice them up for regifting. Here is a picture of my 3-year-old working diligently on a snowman for a friend's hat. He sat for 2 whole hours while working on it! To do this you need wool roving, a little pillow and felting needles you can buy at a yarn shop. You can also use yarn to make interesting designs. You lay the roving on your fabric in the shape you like and poke it with the needle over and over. The design stays in place as the fibers bind together.

DSCN0808.jpg
 
#44 ·
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.
 
#46 ·
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.
 
#47 ·
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).

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#50 ·
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!
 
#51 ·
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.
 
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