Christmas Crafting- 5+ Handmade Gift Ideas

I love making gifts for Christmas but I always seem to wait until the end of the year to really start working on things. I feel like I haven't been posting as much as I would like because a lot of the things that I have been working on are Christmas gifts for people in my family so I want to wait until after Christmas to share them. I thought maybe it would be fun to share some links to a few of the things that I am working on and then after Christmas I can share the finished projects. Several of the things I am making are from my own head so I can't link up to those but the ones that I am making using tutorials or patterns that I found online I will. Click on the pictures to find the pattern/tutorial.



I am not making a lot of stuff for my boys. They are getting to an age where it is getting harder to make things for them. I have made or will be making hats for them. Each year we have a christmas party with my husband's family and we give the kids Christmas bags, they each get a bag filled with little inexpensive gifts and candy, stocking stuffer type stuff. I usually make a hat to give to each of them in their bags. I have already posted the hats I made for a couple of the girls, I will post the boys when they are done. Other than that I have a couple of "if I have time and get around to it" ideas for the boys but that is about it.

One of the boys will be getting some small toys so I am thinking about maybe making something like this:

picture from www.makeit-loveit.com  

or this:

picture from www.tonicoward.blogspot.com

or something similar to those. It might not seem too exciting but I actually think that he would like it and really appreciate having a special place to keep his new toys. 

My other son might get something like this:

picture from icanteachmychild.com

except that I would probably use a plastic box with a lid instead of the type of container they used. Basically I was just thinking of gathering up some supplies to do some science experiments and the instructions for them and putting them together in a little kit. 

So far I only have one thing I planned to make for my husband and normally I wouldn't put it on here because he would see it and that would ruin the surprise. Unfortunately a certain little 4 year old has already ruined the surprise so he already knows what I am making. He saw me working on it and excitedly announced to his dad when he got home from work that mom is making a baby Groot. He didn't know that he wasn't supposed to say anything so he did. Here is the pattern that I used to make Baby Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy:

picture from blog.twinkiechan.com

I am making quite a few things for my daughters but most of them are just things I am making, not from an online tutorial. Like doll quilts and things like that. My oldest daughter will be getting American Girl type doll accessories, most of which I will be making. Some of them I will try to put together tutorials for after Christmas.

One of the things she will be getting is a doll bed, I considered making one using some plans from ana-white.com. She has several different doll beds but I wanted to make this bunkbed:

picture from ana-white.com

 but I ended up chickening out and we just bought a doll bed from Ikea and painted it. I made a mattress, quilt, pillow, etc., all of the bedding. I also crocheted a rug to match. I am still working on some kitchen stuff, apron, dishcloths, potholders, etc., as well as a few bathroom things like towels and washcloths. We got dog to go with her doll so she will also be getting a dog bed and maybe a few dog accessories, we'll see what gets done.

I wanted to try knitting something, I love the look of knitting but I am really slow and not that great at it so I don't do it often but occasionally I feel like I want to give it another try. I decided that I would try knitting a hat and cowl set for her doll, I thought that was a small enough project I could probably handle it. This is the pattern I am using:

picture from red heart.com

I am also planning on a couple of project that came from books. One is a doll carrier from Oliver + S: Little Things to sew  and the other is from Growing Up Modern. I made a couple of these reading pillows and would like to make a couple more if I have time.

picture from cluckclucksew.com

Of course mine doesn't look anywhere near that nice. Straight line quilting like on the pocket of that pillow really accentuates any not so straight seams and it turns out I had a lot more of those than I realized. Luckily, I am pretty sure my kids won't notice so I'm not too worried about it.

These are only a few of the things that I am making, or thinking about making, or thought about making before changing my mind and buying one (the doll bed), for Christmas. Hopefully after Christmas I will be able to share more things, including some patterns/tutorials of my own as well as sharing how these things turned out for me.