For one reason or another, many of you will be making some gifts.  Maybe you can’t afford to purchase gifts.  Maybe you just want to add a handmade touch to your gift-giving.  Maybe it’s the last minute, you forgot to purchase a gift, and you have supplies on hand but not finished items.  Whatever your reasons for wanting/needing to craft gifts, I hope you’ll find some useful ideas here.

(And if you’re planning to make some and buy others, or if you’d just rather purchase your gifts, check out the rest of the gift guide.  There are some pretty neat products/companies here that I discovered while putting it together.)

Obviously, there are hundreds (thousands? millions?) of tutorials and patterns “out there,” and I can’t possibly link to them all!  What you’ll find here is a list of ideas for things that can be crafted, with one or a few links to specific tutorials.

(By the way, most of these should be relatively simple.  I’ve assumed that if you have mad skills in some particular area, you have no shortage of things you can sew, knit, or whatever your specialty is.  This list is for the rest of us so, while there might be simple sewing, knitting, or crochet skills required for some, there’s nothing too involved.)

• tote (for carrying projects) {tutorial}
• sewing kit {in a box, as a roll, in a mint tin}
• pincushion {bottlecap, canning jar, lots of links}
• decorative straight pins {tutorial}
• watercolors {recipe}
• needle/hook/crayon/pencil roll {tied, buttoned, tiered w/ flap}
• yarn jar {from tins, from plastic containers}
• stitch markers {non-opening (for knitting), opening (for crochet), tips for both}
• chunky (upcycled) roll-up crayons {tutorial}
• tool apron {feminine, not-so-feminine, child-sized}
• roll-able sketchbook {tutorial}
• journal cover {reversible}
• portfolio {tutorial, 2nd option}
• camera strap cover {basic, gathered}
• parts or other organizer {from sideways tins, can with apron, card organizer (monthly), from baby food jars, other jar organization, card cases}

Back to the gift guide