Greener Holiday Gifts Guide – Homemade Crafts
Posted on November 6, 2009 by
Oh, it’s that time again, huh? I don’t even know how it could possibly be November already. It feels like August was two minutes ago.
Since the holidays are fast approaching, we thought we’d help by putting together some guides to help you green up your seasonal giving. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be giving you gift ideas for everyone from your favorite canine pal to your son’s 1st grade teacher. If you have green holiday gift ideas you’d like to share, e-mail me at allie at the greenists dot com.
Today’s post is all about simple gifts you can make yourself.
In the Kitchen
Dianne has some fabulous gift ideas. Check out her great instructions for making cooking mix gift jars:
I love the idea of gift jars, because it lets your loved ones save some yummy treats for after he holidays. Although, I’m sure you couldn’t go wrong giving a nice reusable tin full of Brown Sugar Peanut Cashew Brittle.
In the Workshop
If you’re handy with tools, here are a couple of great gift ideas.
When my friend, The Professor, had her beautiful Adirondack wedding, a friend of the family made these rustic candle holders from fallen birch limbs. They decorated the tables, and were also the favors. They are my favorite holiday table decoration. Cut to any length and made a hole to hold a votive or taper. It think a cluster of holders in all different heights would be stunning. And you can use twine, ribbon, yarn or even strips cut from an old silk tie to decorate them.
Crafters Advisors has instructions for making a wooden letter opener from an old spatula handle.
Thrifty Fun makes wind chimes from recycled wood and old flower pots.
In the Sewing Room
Two words: Pants Pillows!
Or maybe a rag rug, or dog bed.
Craftbits.com has instructions for making mittens out of recycled sweaters, and Art By Chrysti has collected a long list of links to sweater crafts.
Straw.com has instructions for making a quilt out of treasured old t-shirts, or check out these instructions from Loopy Lace on how to make a crazy quilt.
Easy Crafts for Kids
Put your kids to work! Every grandparent loves to get a homemade gift full of little fingerprints and creative flair.
Pastiche Family Portal has a great collection of ideas from making paper beads to creating a set of padded hangers.
Amazing Moms makes beaded snowflakes.
And Kid’s Turn Central makes tuna can pin cushions.
What are you making for the holidays?
Great ideas. Another gift that’s fun to put together is a short collection of your favorite recipes into a ‘cookbook.’
I took apart a pair of old jeans and am making cloth bookmarks. Going to look for some charms or something to put on them to make them a bit more “fancy” and personalized.
I know this doesn’t have anything to do with the topic of the post but, I just found out the the plastic on the lids of the Ball jars contains BPA. Of course this was after I canned my veggies so there wasn’t much I could do about it. Apparently there is a German brand of jars that are BPA-free, I just can’t remember the name.
Last year my 8 year old son made potpourri sachets for all the ladies drawers. Just use fabric scraps, wrapped up some potpourri and tied with a ribbon. My 6 year old daughter and I made bath salts, epsom salt & sea salt mixed with a bit of food coloring & essential oils. We put them in jars we found at the thrift store.