I love making handmade gifts for people. Not only is it a cost effective option (mostly) but it also shares a lot more thought, appreciation and love than a quick store bought gift.
This post is just a snapshot of some of the gifts I’ve made over the years. Enjoy!
Zip bag for a ballet raffle fundraiser: I have made many, many (I want to say hundreds) of zip bags over the years. It’s a great gift option that you can make out of all sorts of fabrics and you can never have enough of them!
Crochet basket: My friend in France taught me this technique and gave me the tshirt yarn while we were on holiday. It was a great holiday project and a fun gift to myself!
Christmas bunting, crackers and Advent calendar: Sewing and making Christmas goodies is always fun and rewarding. These decorations get used every year. The reusable crackers are particularly fun to fill with personalised gifts and jokes, and I always feel a bit smug not creating a pile of rubbish from normal crackers. And the bunting uses small triangles and is a lovely alternative to tinsel which always makes me sneeze.
His and hers aprons: I made these for a friend’s wedding based on the design of very fancy (expensive) aprons that were on the gift registry. I found lovely complementary striped cotton homeware fabric that is made locally and really enjoyed creating these. She was overjoyed with them and I love thinking of her cooking in my handmade gift.
As an aside, my first choice of fabric was a wild, very colourful option but, thanks to the advice from another mutual friend, I went with this more sophisticated, trendy colour pallet and it was definitely the right way to go.
Memory bunting: I made two strings of bunting for special birthdays for two of my close friends. Each triangle of fabric is a scrap from a project that means something to me and charts a history of our friendship: teenage parties, weddings, the birth of our children and many other big and small events in between.
Teachers’ gifts and lockdown cushion covers: Every year teachers’ gifts puts me in a mild panic as I try to think of something meaningful, affordable and something the kids can get involved in. Zip bags are a great option and recently I’ve got the kids to decorate the lining which adds a nice surprise inside.
The cushion covers were fun projects we made during lockdown.
Banner bags: For two colleagues that retired from our department at work, I made bags out of banners as farewell gifts. The images on the banners are beautiful and it was fun to upcycle the outdated signs into something useful that carries memories. The plastic material was quite difficult to work with but the final product turned out nicely.
Cushion covers painted by kids: These were a team effort and fun family project for the kids’ preschool teachers. They are still in the Reading Corner.
Hand made gifts are a great way to show you care and share love and creativity. I’d love to hear about some of your crafty gift ideas.
Dodgy Zebra 