Posts tagged ‘gifts’

I have written before about how handy and crafty my friends are. Seriously, I’m lucky to have such a creative bunch of friends. I feel like I am constantly receiving handmade goodness, either in the form of jewelry, gifts, or food. Like how my friend, Jennifer, gave me three jars she canned last fall- diced tomatoes, apple sauce, and peaches. Or the natural cleaning supplies my friend, Hilary, made. She even put them in labeled spray bottles.

But, this necklace here is my all time favorite handmade gift. My dear friend, Ellie, bought the nest pendant for me at a fair local to her in South Carolina (do you have the contact for the artist, Ellie?). She said she thought it was fitting, since it had the nest and all. And she was right. I wear this necklace all the time. I love the details like the tiny bird charm and the wire wrapped clasp with tiny turquoise beads (not pictured).

Then along came the three little stamped silver initials. My other friend, Megan (why don’t you have a website?!) made these for me for my birthday. Each disk has one of my children’s initials on it. I had to put them on my nest necklace. Now I have one necklace that is sort of symbolic of who I am. I’m a mom and a maker, these things are close to my heart.

I like to make good use of what I already have for the good of the environment and the budget.  This year I challenged myself and was determined not to buy any wrapping supplies but only to use what I already had.  Since I save every piece of ribbon, I had plenty to make the gifts look lovely.  We were going to be driving from Florida to Ohio and I wanted all the gifts to be in boxes for easy & safe transport.  I kept a few boxes that new shoes came in as well as check boxes and any other box that I thought would work.

After I packed each gift in the smallest box possible (many of them without tissue paper- I decided it was unnecessary), my husband did the wrapping.  I was then the finisher and decorator of each gift.  I made gift tags using the front of Christmas cards we received in years past, white business cards that were leftover from a work project, rubber stamps, fabric, tags I bought at the office supply store, and of course, leftover ribbon.

One of my favorite gifts this year is a yellow & white fabric wrapping containing handmade cards & stationary, with a tag made of a Christmas card front that has been circulating my family for years.

I should mention that my husband’s family birthday tradition generally involves gifts wrapped in pillowcases to avoid using wrapping paper.  Because her birthday is Christmas Eve, I always wrap my sister-in-law’s birthday gift in paper.  This year hers is wrapped in heart paper and the tag is from the front of a Christmas card she made & sent us a few years ago.

I enjoyed the challenge this year and will definitely be saving ribbon and cards this Christmas to use next year.

Colleen and I are really blessed with generous and thoughtful friends. They also happen to be very talented and thrifty. Every year our friend Hilary throws a family Christmas Party and we all celebrate together and exchange small gifts.

The gifts we share are not the most obvious. Many gift exchanges are filled with lotions and scrubbers and massagers and gift cards. Those are good gifts in a pinch, but not meaningful between friends. So we have somehow managed to set a higher standard without adding any extra stress to our holiday shopping. We also haven’t really added to the shopping budget. But what we do add is a personal touch to the gifts and ensure that each gift will be used by the recipient, because the gifts are handmade and useful.

This year we exchanged sucanat, home made vanilla extract, home made peanut butter, home made lentil soup mix, home canned peaches, and a bent silver fork hook. I can guarantee that each of these items will be used, happily, within a few months. They will not waste away in my closet or cupboard. And each one was made using my friends’ unique talents, so each time I use it I will remember that I have wonderful friends whom I love.

I hope that you all have as much generosity and love in your lives this Christmas. Just a few more days left…

This is one of the few handmade gifts I’ve made this year.  I’m still adjusting to life with two kids and taking life at a more relaxed pace.  I’ve opted to make less & give more books this year.

I did manage five of these hair flowers so far.  I researched how to melt the fabric edges from a tutorial at Simply Vintage Girl.  Her flowers have more of a petal look while mine are rounded.  For mine I cutout stackable circles from silky fabric, then melted the edges over a candle.  I sewed the layers together, sewed beads in the center, and glued on a piece of fabric to the back to hold the clip in place.

Ok everyone. We have one shopping weekend left until Christmas. We can do it. I know we’ve all planned a long list of handmade gifts for the people who we know will love them and a sack of coal for those who won’t (just kidding). But now is time to admit that we can’t make 6 more things if we want to eat, sleep or take a shower anytime in this next week. So, what do I recommend you do? Buy your creatively minded friends some inspiration. You can even get these at your local bookstore, so you don’t have to wait for the shipping and worry all week that it won’t get here in time.

For the new or expecting mom who sews:

Handmade Beginnings- Anna Maria Horner

I have this book in my collection and I love leafing through it. I haven’t made anything in it yet because I just got it at the beginning of Christmas Crafting Season, but I am excited to do some of the quilting projects. I’m not a quilter, but these make the task seem really undaunting. Plus the layouts are very modern and sparse, making them attractive even to the non-traditional crafter.

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For the new sewer, or the non-sewer who wishes she was one:

Stitch By Stitch- Deborah Moebes

I don’t have this book yet. But I do know Deborah (remember our very helpful invisible zipper guest post?) and have ordered fabric from her shop multiple times. I can tell that she is very passionate about learning to sew being a process that is enjoyable, and that it should also be accessible. I see this book as a sort of garment-sewing-101 book, full of delish photos and eye candy fabrics.

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For the knitter (or for me hint hint):

Toe-Up Socks for Everybody-  Wendy D. Johnson

I want this book. And I know a million knitters who love to knit toe-up. I have not tried it yet, but I know this is what I want to do so that I can make the socks fit my foot without guessing and tearing out. Plus there are all these wonderful challenging motifs, but they are so do-able on a project the size of a sock. Did I mention that I want this book? I want it.

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For the non-crafter or the artist:

The Black Apple’s Paper Doll Primer- Emily Martin

Well, I’ve been following Emily Martin for about 4 years now. I purchased a print of hers called “Salt and Pepper” for Olivia and Elise for Christmas 4 years ago, and so she fells like part of my family in a way. And now she has this wonderful book out of paper dolls, which both my girls love so I’m planning on picking up a copy this weekend for them to share. This book is great for children, surely, but Emily is a tried and true artist, so it would make a truly inspirational coffee table book for your favorite creative person. It’s definitely got some edge to it, but it’s very delicate as well. I’m looking forward to having it in our collection for a long time. Some people recommend buying two- one for playing and one for flipping through.

Last Wednesday was our akron Stitch n Bitch group’s annual birthday swap. Our group has this fantastic way of spoiling each other, all at once. Rather than trying to remember to gift one another on our birthdays through out the year, we all sign up for the swap in September and celebrate everyone at once. Amy was my swap partner, which meant that I knitted and gifted for her. I made this circular knitted pillow with a silk reverse pillow for her gift because I loved the pattern (available on Ravelry here, you just need to sign up for a free account).

The way the swap worked, though, Amy did not knit for me. Stacey did, which was a boon for me, since she excels at the “owl cowl.” The first time I met Stacey she was wearing her own owl cowl and I was so jealous. Jealous not only of her cowl, but of her skills, since she made it herself. Well, she couldn’t gift me her skills, but she did make me my own owl cowl, in my favorite colors, too! Can’t you see on my face that I really love it?

For my 30th birthday, my friend Natalie sent me a cookie bouquet from Cookies by Design.  The cookies were beautifully decorated & really yummy (cookies & icing & not overwhelmingly sweet).  After my family & I devoured them, I kept the box, sticks, and wrappings for a future project.  I made a house-warming gift for my husband’s sister & her roommate.  They LOVE cheese, so I put blocks of cheese on the cookie sticks.

These are the flowers that Rob gave me for Mother’s Day. They still look as fresh as the day he brought them home to me. Aren’t they amazing?

Well, the trick to keeping cut flowers fresh is changing the water daily. And by keeping your flowers in a tea pot for a vase it is very simple to change the water. I just tip the pot and pour out the old water and refill it in the sink. I don’t have rearrange the flowers at all.

Now Mother’s Day has lasted for more than a week. If only I could get my family to make my breakfast everyday until these flowers wilt!

Vintage is in and has been for a long time now and my guess is that it is here to stay. Whether it’s clothing, jewelry, dishes or furniture, there is something truly lovely about beautiful vintage goods. The whiff of memory and nostalgia, the authenticity and uniqueness, the refreshing quality of something old made new again through use in a different age. Sustainability is also a factor – there are so many talented artists and designers recycling vintage into gorgeous new things and rescuing heaps of fabric, metal, woods and plastics from overflowing landfills in the process.

My personal style is quite simple and minimalist but within that I have a collection of elegant vintage jewelry, china and silverware, much of it gifts from my dear grandmothers. Jewelry is a popular topic here on Clever Nesting so I thought I would share a couple of ideas about how to wear vintage brooches.

The easiest way, of course, is to just pin them on. I love the look of a sparkly brooch on a coat or jacket and they are lovely on sweaters, especially as a substitute for buttons or clasps. Lately I’ve also been wearing several of my brooches as necklaces. This is such an easy thing to do: string a chain or ribbon through the closed clasp of the brooch, swing it over your neck and voila, a unique and creative accessory that will leave you smiling all day long.

If you already have a few prized hand-me-down brooches try looping them around your neck the next time you’re thinking of it. And if there’s nothing sitting in your jewelry box yet, ask around at the next family gathering to see what the generations before you may have stuffed away in their dresser drawers or start scouting antique shops, garage sales, consignment stores and other treasure troves. I highly recommend the latter as a fun, indulgent and inexpensive way to spend a day and spark your creativity and the former is a great way to share in stories from the past.

Read more about guest blogger Erica of Nest and Sparkle.

My boss’s birthday was coming up and bless her heart, she appreciates a handmade gift. I had a gorgeous skein of purple (her favorite color) yarn in my stash. But what to make with only 220 yards? A crocheted scarf. The wonderful thing about this scarf pattern is (a) it’s free on Ravelry (just sign up for a free account to access it), (b) it’s open, lacy, and perfect for spring, and (c) it’s crochet so you know you can whip it up quickly.

After winding the yarn into a ball and finding my I hook, I got to it. Two days later (with only minimal time spent working on it) I had a scarf. The secret to making this scarf a WOW is blocking. I let it soak for about 20 minutes in my sink with some wool wash. After gently squeezing all the water out I pinned out the points on the scarf, making sure to stretch it as much as possible. That one skein of yarn ended up about 58” long and 10” wide. A quick and easy gift for a spring birthday.  Crochargosy Scarf

Read more about guest blogger Andrea Sanchez.