Since we are talking Holidays..... could use Brain-storming ideas for home-made gifts

susiestar

Roll With It
A tip for MANY craft projects is to get some fabri-tac glue. I call it hot glue in a bottle but really it works better than hot glue because it doesn't get so hard. This means it will flex with whatever it is glueing together.

I have done the tile coasters and often found the feet came off after a month or two if I just used the stick on ones. It could just be the climate here, but it was annoying. I started keeping some of that craft foam around and attaching small squares or triangles of that to the bottoms of tiles with fabri-tac instead. My mom has a few that have held up for years.

A super cheap and totally amazing coaster idea is to use strips of fabric to make a long braid. Coil it and sew it into place until you have a circle abou 3-4 inches (whatever you want). These are esp amazing because they can be washed and dried as long as the material was washed before you made the coaster. They don't have to be, but if a spill happens they can be. They are exra great in summer because they absorb the condensation that drips off the glass.

If you are doing tile coasters, consider using paints to do a picture or handprint on them. Be sure to use a good sealer over the paint.

Vistaprint.com has a lot of stuff that is "free" if you use their templates and pay shipping. I did a shirt with cartoon versions of us one year and also did som postits with a teacher name and a self inking rubber stamp with "Good Job" on it for a teacher gift.

I have done a lot of things with old clothes this year. Started as dish rags and dish towels because it seems dumb to spend $$ on them when husband and the kids are going to wad them up and let htem sit to mildew. So I used old clothes. THen I made gift bags, am still working on some of those. I also made little pouches to keep those stick packets of drink mix, like crystal light, in so they don't end up open all over your purse. I used a bit of velcro to keep them closed and have gotten a lot of requests for them for the holidays. I kept the hems and seams that I cut off.

With the hems, I have found a way to make an ornament out of them. I roll them up into a circle and glue them so they stay using fabri tac. Then a simple tree or snowflake made iwth dimensional paint and some thread sewn on for a hanger makes a super cheap, cute, easy and FAST ornament. It works better to use a hem or seam that was trimmed away from the rest of the fabric because it is thicker, easier to coil and gives an interesting texture (I think) when rolled up. I think these will be awesome to decorate packages too, esp because they are flat and will be easier to transport than some of the ornaments I have used before to decorate packages.

Don't forget homemade shirts. When my kids were little, I did a LOT of different shirts for my parents, esp my dad. One had the kids feet walking across the fabric, some had handprints or footprints turned into angels or other things. After more than 10 yrs many are still in very good shape. The trick to successful fabric painting is to use textile medium. I use those acrylic paints in the little bottles and they work very well. Textile medium is sold right by those paints, and you mix and equal amt of paint and medium and then paint the design. The medium does not change or lighten the color, but they will make your gift last a lot longer.

One of the shirts my dad liked the most said, "Christmas is a weird season. At what other time do you sit around a dead tree eating candy out of your socks?"

Keep an eye out for nail polish for the females on your list. Walgreens has some inexpensive ones and if you add a few fine paint brushes and some nail polish remover you can give a nail decorating kit for very little.

Watch your receipts. Not just for returns and wrong prices. A lot of our stores are now printing seasonal coupons for 40-80% off an item. If you have Hobby Lobby stores near you, NEVER go to the store with-o checking the website. Not just for their sale flyer, but they ahve a weekly coupon that often is 40% off one item. I usually print several and have each child check out with something.

Start monitoring www.gottadeal.com for the black friday sales. They are my fave site for finding deals and for knowing what the deals on Black Fri will be.

Remember magazines. There are a LOT of sites where you can get a mag subscription for very little. Family Fun often does a winter promotion with a full year for 2 different people for $10. I used this for my niece - sending one to her mom's and one to her dad's. Otherwise her mom would borrow the mag from bro's house and never return it so that he couldn't do any of the activities.

Through out the year I often find little new products (new or new to me) and pick up a few to put up for xmas. Several people will be getting baskets of small things that we really like - a way to share our favorite things and the little notes with each item let people know we were thinking about them all year long.

If you have someone with skin problems or who is really into makeup/skincare/etc..., try making things for them. I do skin cream that is super soothing and incredibly easy to make. It is heavy, and can feel a bit greasy, but the results are amazing. I don't measure, so all amounts are based on what seems to work. I melt shea butter over boiling water (NOT in the microwave or over direct heat - you can burn it over direct heat and in the microwave you ahve NO control and if it pops or splatters when you remove it, it is HOT) then stir in macadamia or walnut oil, emu oil, pumpkin seed oil, and if desired essential oil. The oils added are up to you. Pumpkin seed oil gives a greenish brown color but it is incredible for soothing and healing skin and for wrinkles. Unless you use a huge % of pumpkin seed oil, the final product will look that color but it won't make your skin look that color. Macadamia nut oil is very close to the oils your skin produces and is a wonderful moisturizer. Walnut oil is close, from what I have read and experienced, and often less expensive. Emu oil is incredible, and I love it, but it is NOT needed if you want a vegan product. Essential oils can be added for scent, but you can also google them to find oens that are beneficial to the skin. So it is up to you. Add a bt of vit E, either from a bottle (if you can find it or squeezed out of capsules of Vit E supplements) for the benefits to the skin and because it will make your cream last a lot longer.

Once the oils are combined, you have some other choices. You can add melted beeswax if you want. It will help thicken it but you don't HAVE to use it. I generally don't but it is personal preference. I put the dish with the shea butter and oils into a larger dish wth ice water in it and whisk utnil the mixture is cool and thick. Use more shea than the oils because otherwise you will need something to ehlp it set or you will have to package it in bottles as an oil for skin - which is fine too. I use little tins and jars. You can get paint pots, like the ones that come in paint by number kits, cheaply at craft stores and put the cream in them. I do NOT recommend using a clear container for anything with pumpkin seed oil in it. It just isn't very attractive - I do find the final results to be well worth the need for opaque containers though. I also don't add food color because it can color the skin.

Where do you get this stuff? I get shea butter online, usually ebay. I go for refined mostly. Look in the oil section of the grocery for macadamia, walnut, almond oil, grapeseed oil etc.... I found these at Whole Foods recently. In the skin care area the prices were $1-$5 higher than in the cooking area and the quantities were bigger in the cooking area, even with the much lower prices! What you don't use for spa products you can use for cooking and massage. husband recently used the walnut oil to cook his brussels sprouts and was delighted with the flavor - subtle but great, or so he said. It is also great for vinaigrettes.

I do NOT recommend coconut oil. I know a LOT of people rave about what a great moisturizer it is, but it is actually not. It more harsh than many oils on your skin. If you prefer it, it won't hurt you and can add a coconut scent that you may like.

Don't forget to look at the spice aisle for flavoring oils, also the Wilton area of the craft stores. Lemon oil in the baking/spice section will give the scent that you want as well as lemon oil from the essential oil section. At least for what I have used it for anyway. You will need oils and not extracts because the extracts are water-based, but sometimes the spice area has a better price. The wilton area often has LorAnn flavorings and any of those oils can be used to add scent to you product. Be very sparing with mint oils if the product is to be used on the skin directly because too much can burn. on the other hand, you could make a simple plumping lip balm by addine cinnamon and/or peppermint oil to a lip balm. Add a drop at a time and test it on your lips to make sure you don't get too much. If you do get too much, add some of the base oil a small amt at a time.

This can be stored in the fridge or, once it has set up it can be stored at room temp. the biggest container I put it in is the smallest size gladware container and I fill that up maybe 1/2 inch or 1 inch. I use altoids tins that I washed out ( fill them with baking soda and let them sit for a day or so if they still smell like mint after you wash them), or other small tins/jars, incl washed out carmex jars, etc....

You can use cocoa butter in this if you want. It adds a chocolate scent that you will have to consider when you are choosing essential oils, but it works well. One of the benefits of cocoa butter is that it will help set the cream because it hardens when it cools, which the oils don't. If you want to use cocoa butter, be SURE it is 100%. Many drugstores sell it in sticks and those are fine to use. Just don't use cocoa butter creams - only pure. If you don't see cocoa butter or vit E oil, ask at the pharmacy. Around here they have started to keep them behind the counter for some reason.

An even easier spa gift is glitter gel/lotion. You want very fine glitter, not the stuff sold for crafts for kids. You can either find it in craft stores (just look closely and make sure it is smaller than the "regular" stuff) or at a place like Sally's beauty supply. Or you can put your regular glitter in the food processor and pulse it a few times. Combine the glitter with either aloe vera gel or with the lotion of your choice and put it into small bottles for gifts. The small glitter not only looks better but it also stays better.

For great makeup gifts, I am again suggesting EyesLipsFace makeup to all of you. For the best deals, sign up for their emails. If you are thinking of it, PM me and I will see hwat the latest sales are and PM those to you. If you want me to post when they have 40% or more off sales, let me know. If you are doing a nail polish gift kit, they have a matte top coat that is fabulous and their nail polish is $1 per bottle.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Oh....this isnt a make it yourself but a little birdie has whispered to me that a certain store is going to have a very nice Ebook Reader on Sale on Black Friday for $50.

I am not getting that little birdie that Ebook reader, he thinks I am. I am going to splurge and get him the Kindle Fire. Now if I can find that on sale somewhere on Black Friday, I will be a very happy camper...lol.
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
Word of warning about scented oils - many "essential oils" as they're packaged can burn your skin, not just mind. I found this out the hard way - vanilla has to be used very sparingly. I burned the skin on my face and neck years ago.

Good news, though - the scent comes through quite well.

Also - those oils? You can take an unscented votive (the kind Wal-Mart sells that look a little like styrofoam are perfect for this), rub the oil very lightly over it... Ta-da! Scented candle. If you let them sit in the air for 2-3 days after, then not only does your house smell good, but they won't be so greasy.
 

DS3

New Member
Oh....this isnt a make it yourself but a little birdie has whispered to me that a certain store is going to have a very nice Ebook Reader on Sale on Black Friday for $50.

I am not getting that little birdie that Ebook reader, he thinks I am. I am going to splurge and get him the Kindle Fire. Now if I can find that on sale somewhere on Black Friday, I will be a very happy camper...lol.

Which one are you talking about for 50? You can message me if you can't post it here. I've been looking for an eReader for a while now, and just haven't wanted to spend over 100 for it.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Janet watch for online black friday sales. The supply seems better and there is no standing in line. :)

easy child did that last year. She got a ton of great deals that way.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Lisa I am. I cant stand inline anymore.

DS3. I am not sure...I think its the Pandigital that RS sells. I have one but it was sold 2 years ago now? I think. This one should be the newer model I believe. The one I got was 150 then too because all the Ereaders were so expensive. Well mine was 120 on Black Friday with a 20 buck coupon for another in store product.
 

keista

New Member
I just saw a cute "kitchy" item that would be easy enough to make for an experienced crafter. A "Redneck wine glass". All it was, was a pint sized Mason jar epoxied on top of a short candle stick holder (about 4 inch size) They came with the lid, so it could also be used as a candy "dish" retail price was $14.99
 
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