Christmas is coming, and I’m going back to my creative roots this year. For so many Christmases in the past, I happily made most of my gifts: mixtapes/cds, ornaments, knitted scarves, and stitched onesies for the babies in the family. But gradually as the years went on, I bought more and more until I only made a few things for my daughter (who insists on at least one or two homemade items—love that kid!)
This year we have a tighter budget so I began thinking early in the fall about what I could make. Soon the lists were pared down, and I got to work. And, you know what? I think I’m going to keep this up. It was honestly so nice to take the time to really think of each person as I made their gift—I had plenty of time to do that as I worked on all of these projects.
The tea towel above was so easy to make—I simply drew out a design (you could easily trace one if you’re nervous about making a mistake) and then pulled out colorful thread from my embroidery floss stash. The towels are cotton flour sack towels, and I’ve been pleased with how long they’ve lasted in the past. To be honest, this set was more see-through than the last. I’m not sure if that’s how they are made now or if it was just a fluke. Still, they wash up beautifully and actually dry my dishes so I’m not complaining. I think they’re so cute with this design too.
A while ago, I saw a post on Instagram for button books and immediately went to Hobby Lobby to buy large buttons. They are so easy to make: you make an accordion book and then glue the front side onto a button and the back side onto a button. My daughter illustrated one for a friend, and then I made two more for another friend’s two little daughters. So fun! These would be darling to make before a trip. You could illustrate a tiny moment from each day…or make it into a tiny happy journal. So, so cute.
All summer long my daughter and I collected flower posies from our garden and placed them in old spice jars. We had flowers on the dining room table, on the kitchen counter, in the bathrooms, and in my bedroom on the bookshelf. They were such a delight and so cheery. I often thought during those warm months that I should decorate those jars instead of just leaving the “garlic powder” or “paprika” label on but I never did. Until I began thinking about Christmas gifts.
I decided to decoupage the jars I had in my cupboard (we go through a lot of spices, and I had so many lovely jam jars too.) I used papers from old issues of Daphne’s Diary magazine and from my portable file of collage papers. After the jars dried, I used a paint pen to add additional marks and a quote for each friend and family member that reminded me of them. I’ve collected quotes for many years and have them in a couple of quote books, so it was easy to pull out the perfect quote for each person. As you can see, I decided to also write the quote on half of an index card and tied that to the jar with raffia. I also wrote a tiny note and placed it inside the jar to say that it could be used as a posie jar, a coin jar to save for little treats, a gratitude jar…really whatever they liked!
For one of my sisters who has a Thanksgiving-time birthday, I knit up a beautiful scarf in a soft ocean-blue yarn. This took a while because the yarn was intended as a sock yarn. I used slightly larger needles than called for on the yarn so the stitches would be more loose…I just love it.
My daughter also picked out yarn for her yearly scarf, and I love how it turned out. It’s such a cheerful blend of pinks, light purple, and a pop of blue. Our winter is long here so it’s nice to have a cheerful scarf collection to take her through to spring (when it comes in May!)
At the end of the summer, we harvested hundreds of seeds from the garden, including seeds from our magical cosmos. I say, “magical” because those plants were over 12 feet tall and bloomed profusely through the hottest days of summer in July. They didn’t mind the 100+ heat, nor did they cower when it began to get cooler and cooler. I marveled at their beauty all the way until October—such beauties! I also packaged up seeds from our teddy bear sunflowers. Honestly, everyone should plant at least one or two teddy bear sunflowers. They’re only one foot or so tall and the bloom is yellow and fluffy, almost like a giant mum. They are absolutely darling. I’m so glad I can give seeds away to my local friends for their gardens now. 🙂 This makes me so happy. Oh, and the tiny envelopes were made from the aforementioned collage paper. I love how these turned out so much, I made some for myself for my Christmas gift.
All in all, I ended up having so much fun making these creative gifts for friends and family. I also made a couple of ornaments for us and am going to pull out the sewing machine to see if I can sew myself a light sweatshirt and a couple of comfy pants for my daughter. I bought the fabric quite a while ago and already have the patterns—I just need to make the time (and be brave, as I’m still a beginner sewist.)
Are you going to be making gifts this Christmas? Do share what you’ll be making—I’d love to hear in the comments.
As always, I hope you have a lovely {and creative} day!
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