Make it a Handmade Holiday!

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Back in the day when my kids were tiny I made handmade ornaments and gifts to save money. I made everything from wallets, to ornaments, to kitchen gifts. I'm no longer strapped for cash like I was back then, but I still love to make special gifts for special people in my life. I do it now because I love to.

If you need ideas, they are everywhere! Back in the day I would spend endless hours at the library looking at sewing, quilting, and crafting books, as well as magazines for ideas. It's so much easier to find ideas and tutorials today. With sites like Pinterest, Instagram, Etsy, and the numerous sewing websites like this one, you can find so much inspiration. Supplies are also easier to find today as well. Just type into a search engine what you are looking for and you will get hundreds of shops that carry it. Even if you are new to crafting or sewing, there are still so many things that you can make. Whatever you make, just remember that when you take the time to make a gift for someone, you are also giving a part of yourself.

When it comes to decking the halls, you can create all that holiday spirit with your own two hands. There is something so comforting and homey about handmade. Decorating my house for Christmas is a big job, but I enjoy it because most of my ornaments and decorations are handmade. Whenever I pull something out of the box I'm brought back to the time where my children made me an ornament in school, or the time that I got together with friends or family to make that garland. Of all the memories, my favorite is when I pull out the felt Santa (photo in upper left corner) that sits on my tree branch that my grandma made when I was a baby. That's a 50 year memory and it's still going strong with a guaranteed smile!

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Start a handmade holiday family tradition

Why not start a new crafty tradition? The ladies in my family love to get together for all kinds of things. For years it was for baking and cookie decorating. Last year we started a whole new tradition. We got together for painting glasses, then a couple weeks later we did it again. Even my three year old niece joined us, we start them young. We had so much fun that we decided to do it every year. When I think about Christmas, this time spent with family creating fun things is what I think of most and are my favorite of memories.

Check out these great tips on how to organise your own craft party.

Now that you know how fun it could be to make it a handmade Christmas, where do you start? Well, you can check Instagram, Pinterest, sewing blogs, or some of the many projects and tutorials right HERE on So Sew Easy!

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Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

  • Handmade tote bag or purse
  • Present your gift in a handmade bag instead of wrapping paper
  • Paint wineglasses or coffee mugs
  • Mug rugs
  • Wineglass charms, aprons, simple drawstring bags
  • Zipper bags of all sizes for earbuds, coins, etc.
  • Lunch bags or small snack bags (filled of course)
  • Coasters (check out these snowflake coasters), potholders, embellished kitchen towels
  • Soaps (melt and pour type makes it easy)
  • Jewelry, picture frames, ornaments
  • A physical or digital scrapbook page, framed
  • Themed gift baskets
  • Tasty kitchen gifts (breads, cookies, mason jar gifts)
  • Home baked cookies on a pretty holiday plate (check out this awesome sewing machine cookie cutter)
  • Your own cake, muffin, brownie, or cookie mixes in a pretty bag, don't forget the instructions.

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No time to actually make your own handmade items?

Even if you don't think you are the “crafty” type, you might surprise yourself. If time is your issue, you can always support the many handmade artists by purchasing from their Internet or brick and mortar shops!

Etsy

If you would love to find Handmade gifts and items for the holidays, look no further that Etsy.  With crafty people worldwide setting up to sell their handcrafted goods on Etsy, where ever you are, you can find handmade items for the holidays to bring back some of the charm and create traditions or memories of your own for the next 50 years.

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Hi! I'm Sheryl from Sher's Creative Space. I love to spend time in my studio creating with fabric, ribbon, beads, buttons, and anything else I can find. I like to have open fabric storage because I'm so inspired by color and enjoy putting various fabrics together. I can spend all day in there playing and creating! I blog at Sher's Creative Space Blog.

 

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