Skip to main content

Hand Making Holiday Gifts Part Three

Today we're going to talk about unusual gifts you can obtain or hand make for cheap.

Since thrifting online over the past year I've learned that certain stores like Kohl's donate shoes they have on display after the stock is depleted. I've gotten two pair of sneakers that were new with tags (one still had the plastic diplay insert still in it) for a tenth of the price I would have paid for them retail. Thrifting is also how I got these brand new $78.00 Reebok Jorie LT Athletic Slip Resistant Work Shoes for my guy but only paid $13.00 for them.

Now, how is that handmade? It isn't, but it did take up a lot of my time. I had to watch the shoe listings on ShopGoodwill.com for about a month, searching and checking them every day to see if I could find a pair of shoes for him that were new, in his size and well-made. This wasn't a problem for me because I'm on the computer for work every day anyway. Then, at the end, someone else bid on them. The other bidder dropped out after I upped my bid to my max. No one else challenged me, so I got them for the price I wanted to pay -- but I had to monitor the auction until the last second.

Think about using your hobbies and who among your recipients shares them. For example, I got these purses at a local quilt show I attended for very cheap ($5 or less). They were made by makers belonging to the guild who ran the show, and thus were one of a kind, and buying them supported the guild. I stuffed them with fabric from my stash and gave them to quilter and sewist friends (and I told them they had come from the show.)

You can do the same thing with other hobbies. If you and your recipient crochet or knit, gift some yarn from your stash in a basket you buy or make for them. If you both love plants, start some clippings in a pot to share with them (over the summer our niece gave us a little tree her dad had started, which we loved.) Same thing with gardening -- put some food you've grown in a dish or basket and add some seed packets.

Try something new with your gifting. Last year I thrifted a lot of mostly vintage pearl costume jewelry for $16.00 that I used to make these little Christmas trees. It was just an idea I had, and I wasn't sure it would work. The trees came out better than I ever imagined so I'm going to make some this year as gifts (also in that lot I discovered almost $300.00 of real pearl jewelry that I was able to use as gifts last year.)

Finally, keep on the lookout for bargain-priced personalized gifts. Every year I make my guy a calendar for next year with pictures of our favorite people and things we did over the last twelve months. I get it from Shutterfly, which usually offers a free calendar every year before the holidays (you just have to pay shipping.) So for about ten bucks I can create an inexpensive gift out of memories that we can enjoy next year. Other personalized gifts I've made: coffee mugs, large prints of special pics (which I frame), Christmas ornaments, and mini photo albums (you can get the little brag book variety at Dollar Tree for $1.25.)

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Other Stashes

Along with clearing out the spare bedroom and tidying my office and our guest bedroom, I decided to reorganize some of my stashes. This is all the yarn I have on hand, sorted by color. It looks like a lot, but lately I've been using up a minimum of half a bin every month, so this is approximately a year's supply. All of my solid color cotton perle thread. I go through a lot of this every year, too. I need a container in which I can fit all of it together, but I haven't found the right one yet. I won't show you all of my fabric -- I'm still reorganizing this stash -- but I went through everything and donated two bins of fabric I won't need to the local quilter's guild.
Post a Comment
Read more

Goodwill Gamble #2 Arrives

My second Goodwill gamble arrived; this is one I paid ten bucks for last month. Just inside the lid was a big roll of plastic mesh that I think is for latchhook work. In the auction listing it looked like fabric to me, so that was unexpected. Someone at the seller's end was nice enough to put a note on this pinned fabric. I'll put on my gloves before I take it out to inspect it. The embroidered green fabric turned out to be 1-1/2 yards of sequinned and three-dimensional designer fabric. I'll guess this cost somewhere between $20.00 to $30.00 a yard, and it's in pristine condition. But here's a shot of everything in the lot, which is mostly crafty odds and ends with a small amount of cotton fabrics, a large amount of synethetic fabrics, and some other surprises. The original owner of these was probably a Catholic school teacher; these beads, crosses and medallions are the kind of rosary kits for kids to make at Sunday school or Bible camp (and s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Love Means This

Invested in a couple of hand-dyed bundles from one of my favorite fabric artists. This one said "Make me into something for Valentine's Day." So I went for a quilted and embellished tote. I kept thinking about what love means to me as I worked on it. Here's the finished tote. Although I was tempted to embellish with beads and pins, I got sick and only felt well enough to do a little stitching every night. As I worked I thought about how often love seems disappointing to us, especially when it fails to live up to our expectations. But now that I've experienced love in many forms, I can say that it's made me a better person than I might have been without it. Love is a precious thing, and should be appreciated in all its forms. I am very grateful for the love of my guy, my child and my friends who have stuck with me all these years. That's you two, in case you're wondering. :) Also finally found something to do with a ve...
1 comment
Read more