Handmade Holidays: 2021 Christmas DIY Challenge!

[Jenny Wren]

I know, I know! It's only August. But if you are planning to DIY holiday gifts this year, there are only four months left to get down to it! My family has done a minimalist, fairly DIY Yule for a few years now, pretty much since the kids outgrew Santa. But no need to be that extreme -- this is open to all, whether you are going all handmade or just sprinkling in a few handmade gifts in here and there!

I figured we could use a thread to share inspiration and ideas, and to keep ourselves on task toward achieving those handmade holiday goals. The clock is ticking :)

My List

Son #1 (21 yrs old): Watermelon themed knitted scarf and fingerless gloves scarf in progress!

Son #1's Partner (23 yrs old): A fabric tea envelope with several packets of homemade tea blends. gathering and drying of teas in progress

Son #2 (16 yrs old): No idea yet. He is seriously the hardest -- few wants or needs. If his kite obsession keeps up, I may assemble a kit of materials for us to build a fancy kite together. He loves group project stuff like that.

Spouse: A few ideas, maybe some clothing from some patterns she bought over the summer, maybe some handmade jewelry. Still brainstorming here, updates to come!

Mother and sister: I received an Ancestry DNA test/membership last year, which I put to good use. I'm putting our family tree into a book form with some photographs and clippings sprinkled throughout and sending each a copy of the book. Semi-homemade, as I will use one of the online printing services to print out a nice book Research done

Mother's boyfriend: 3-D printed coasters, personalized to him, for the bar he recently put in at his home. My mom's idea, so we are running with it. Not started yet

Niece (6 yrs old): I found a free pattern for an adorable goldfish bag, and she is a child that loves bags and pouches for stashing any treasures she finds on the ground. not yet started

Nephew (9 yrs old): Kid wants to be an inventor, so I am making a handled notebook cover with a fox on it (his favorite), a gridded notebook inside, a spot for pens,pencils, erasers, fancy rulers, and a large pocket for anything else his heart desires. found the pack of fancy metal drafting rulers and a fancy app enabled gridded "engineer's" notebook at the thrift store. The notebook is one of those smart ones, where you can wipe pages clean after scanning them into the app with the included eraser, then you can further fiddle with them in photoshop or similar, which he has been learning to use. Otherwise not yet started

Random: Maple seed pod "copters" dragonfly tree ornaments for stockings Copters collected and drying

Homemade spiced nuts for stockings and random gift needs not yet started

Fudge for stockings/rando gifts not yet started

[DaMa]

I'm a quilter and have one made for DD and her husband.  I'm hoping to make one for DS3 and his partner, too.  I had in mind to make Christmas tree skirts for all 4 of my children, but I don't think that will happen this year.

[Freedomin5]

I’m thinking scented candles for DD’s teachers. Boxes of Christmas cookies for family friends. A few sets of Barbie clothes made from cloth scraps for DD.

[TheFrenchCat]

I do embroidery and found a pattern with some lyrics from my mom's favorite band.  If I don't get it done by Christmas, her birthday is in March.  So far, I've only put the fabric in the hoop, but once my daughter starts school I should have more time to work on it. 

My group of friends did a cookie exchange last year, and that was a success, so we're doing it again.  Those I can't start till closer to the holidays, of course.

Maybe I'll make homemade pierogies again and call them part of DH's present.  They're so much work though. 

[chaskavitch]

Ooh, I don't have any ideas yet but I'm posting to follow for accountability.  I intend to make things, and now I've told people, so now I have to :)

I suppose I could make canned goods.  We have a lot of apples on our apple tree this year (for the first time), and apple butter is always tasty.  We are also growing ground cherries - they have a weird tomatillo/pineapple taste, but they're good.  I made one batch of jam from them and it turned out really well.  I'll literally have to collect them for like a month, they're so tiny it takes a million to make any respectable amount of jam.

[Jenny Wren]

I love all the creative ideas!
 

I'm a quilter and have one made for DD and her husband.  I'm hoping to make one for DS3 and his partner, too.  I had in mind to make Christmas tree skirts for all 4 of my children, but I don't think that will happen this year.

One day I am going to learn to quilt. I have big dreams of combining my embroidery with quilting, but there's never enough time.

Maybe I'll make homemade pierogies again and call them part of DH's present.  They're so much work though. 

That's a good idea. There are quite a few PITA foods I don't make for the kid or spouse often at all, so perhaps that can help fill in some holes in my plan. We'll see how I am feeling closer to the date...

Ooh, I don't have any ideas yet but I'm posting to follow for accountability.  I intend to make things, and now I've told people, so now I have to :)

I suppose I could make canned goods.  We have a lot of apples on our apple tree this year (for the first time), and apple butter is always tasty.  We are also growing ground cherries - they have a weird tomatillo/pineapple taste, but they're good.  I made one batch of jam from them and it turned out really well.  I'll literally have to collect them for like a month, they're so tiny it takes a million to make any respectable amount of jam.

Apple butter is the best! Do you have dehydrator? I was once given a mason jar festooned with ribbons that had dried cinnamon apple rings inside of it. It appeared pretty simple to do and it was almost too pretty to eat!

[PMG]

Sign me up!  I don’t have a plan. For several years I gave homemade art calendars. If I get a good idea I may do that again. Last year we gave tea collections we put together from bulk tea. May do that again too. Because it was so simple and inexpensive we were able to give gifts to everyone and their cousin, which was our goal for covid Christmas. We thought everyone needed a little warmth and pick-me-up. If we get to do an in person Christmas then I may add some other items for family….

Thanks for getting me thinking about Christmas. Got to get my creativity moving.

[tygertygertyger]

Oh yes, I want to join. Please force help make me accountable to finish several items that I started a year ago (and maybe work on some new ideas).

My partner's mom: I want to knit her a pair of mittens for a tree ornament. Her aunt used to make pairs of mittens for my partner and his brother that were "Stop and Go" mittens - one is red, one is green, and the words are embroidered on top. I knit one tiny mitten last year, but didn't finish... and they're small!

My friend's daughters: I started making them purses for last Christmas - woven yarn exterior, with fun lining interiors. Both already have zippers installed - one is only half-installed, but still - but now I need to make the handles. Also, I'd never done ANY of this previously, so I keep realizing that I need to tear something out to do the next step. Last Christmas came and went, their July birthdays are now gone, but I really want to finish these for this year's Christmas present.

My friend: This one is a maybe... my friend is really artistic, but sucked into the corporate grind. She's doing great, but I have a thought on making her a type of inspiration book. I've got boxes full of prints from all history, and some of them are so cool. I think putting them together in a book would be fun for her and her kids to look through and do whatever they like with.

I have more ideas for other people, but I tend to have bigger eyes than project time to finish, so let's see how far I get.

[kaleidoscopicalkris]

Ooooooh, perfect timing! Homemade gifts I have planned for this year:

Dad: Make the family vacation scrapbook I've been planning on doing for over a year now. (Oops.)
Cousin #1: "Tech Support" cross stitch. This is about ~20% done by my estimate.
Cousin #1's Wife: "Between the Fourth and Fifth Ribs" cross stitch. This one is not yet started.

I will inevitably end up adding more over the next few months, but this is what I have planned so far.

[Dicey]

When I come up with an idea, I like to replicate it for family and friends. Typically it's something homemade like toffee or jam, but not always.

Last year it was an assemblage of spiced cashews, dried peaches and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans (all the flavours are awful). In my stash, I had some cards that featured gingerbread mean in various stages of being eaten. The message inside said, "Not everyone enjoys the holidays". I added "...especially during a pandemic". Below that, I wrote something like "This year's been a little nutty and crazy. I hope your New Year's a little peachier." (I can't remember the exact words and it's the middle of the night, I'm not getting out of bed to look it up.) I had thirty of the cards, so I made up thirty gift bags and had fun delivering them before the holidays. The spiced cashews and dried peaches were $1.00 each, the cute little boxes of beans were a quarter. The gift bags were multipacks from the dollar store, so another quarter there and the cards were clearance purchased after the holidays years ago for super cheap, so maybe ten cents more. I had tissue on hand, so no money spent on that and printing costs were negligible. I made thirty of the same gift for under a hundred dollars total. I had a blast creating and delivering them, so it was worth that in entertainment value alone for me. I hadn't planned this exactly, I'm just always on the lookout for something fun, cheap and easy to do. When I found the screaming deal on the cashews, dried peach rings and jelly beans, it all just came together.

This year, I've been madly frogging old wool sweaters to make dryer balls with the unraveled yarn. I volunteer at a Thrift Shop; I buy old holey, stained, or too ugly-to-sell sweaters for a quarter apiece, so my raw material cost is very low.
I'm not sure how I'm going to package them, but something will come to me, and hopefully I'll have just as much fun assembling and giving them as I did with last year's project. I keep hoping someone will donate some really large canning jars, but it may end up being something else altogether or maybe just gift bags. We'll see what the universe sends my way. Any cheap and creative ideas are welcome.

[DaMa]

I'm a quilter and have one made for DD and her husband.  I'm hoping to make one for DS3 and his partner, too.  I had in mind to make Christmas tree skirts for all 4 of my children, but I don't think that will happen this year.

I just finished another quilt top and DS1 and wife saw it and want it.  It's perfect for their bedroom which they are remodeling.  I have to get it ready to go to the longarm quilter. 

 I have quilts for 2 of 4.  I had plans to do one for DS3.  Now I have to decide if I can get another one done for DS2.  I've never done 4 big quilts in a year before.  Yikes!