Handmade Holidays, Part 1

A lot of us would really like to be able to do a handmade holiday, but we have pressures from our kids, advertisements, and society in general to buy the name brand toys, clothes, and other things that make retailers rich. Well, this year I'm sick of it. Fortunately, I have some artsy kids that love items crafted by hand. Not to say they don't appreciate the $40 - $70 toys on the market, but with 5 kids how in the world does one do that? What makes me the most angry is that same said toys will inevitably break within just a few minutes, or, God willing, days. Your hard earned money is sunk in the trash bin or the junk toy pile with little more than pretty wrapping paper to console you and your child. So why not make something that will last and maybe bring more joy than plastic playthings? We're also going to try to be realistic about this. Kids aren't dumb, and they will know if you used toilet paper rolls to make trucks. So we're going to go a little beyond that, stay within an inexpensive realm, and find some really cool ideas.

First up: Girls. I think girls are easy. Maybe because I am one, but they are delighted by things that are fairly easy to obtain. My 6-yr-old is really into hair bows. She thinks they are the greatest things ever. Bad news is: Mommy doesn't have a lot of ribbon and can't tie a bow very well, so I had to find out how to do these. I love to sew, and I think that gives a lot of room for improvisations. CreativeMind on Cut-Out-And-Keep had these really cute, simple little bows that would be perfect for little embellishments:


See Fabric Bows and 1000's of others - or share your own on Cut Out + Keep

I also shared with you last week about Duct Tape bows. I mean, you can make enough for your child, your child's friends, all your nieces, and maybe even grandchildren (if you're of that age) from a single roll of tape. And it costs about $8. Nice little gift I think.

Most little girls also love dolls. Trying to find a doll pattern that isn't scary is the real issue here. Mine don't really care for dolls, though. However, same 6 yo loves "Hello Kitty." I found this really cute felt doll on Cut-Out-and-Keep by Danyelle W. that is crazy inexpensive to make. Buy one pack of felt squares and you can make 10 of these for almost nothing!


See Felt "hello" Kitty Doll and 1000's of others - or share your own on Cut Out + Keep

I should also mention that this kitty's head is not really that complicated. It's round with ears. So you can make pillows, appliques, hair bow accessories - it's really limitless.

Next time, I'll be posting some things for my bigger (10) girls. If you have some suggestions, let me know in the comments! Here's to a Happy (and inexpensive) Christmas!

Duct Tape!

Well, I'm always a little late on the "fashion trends." I honestly own only 3 pairs of shoes, mostly utilitarian, so I'm not big on "what's in." So I was a little surprised when I found out that Duct Tape (Duck Tape) is such a hot fashion trend. I've seen people make dress dummies out of it, and a few other ingenious things, but never really considered it as a fashion medium. So when I was on Listia today I saw a lot of listings for duct tape hair bows. Now my 6-yr-old is really into hair bows, so I found this whole idea intriguing. To my surprise and delight, I can actually buy the duct tape for about $8 a roll on Amazon. So that means that from the 32 feet that come in a designer roll, I can make approximately 21 bows at around $.38 each! Talk about an easy and inexpensive Christmas present!

I also found some great tutorials on YouTube and Instructables on how to make the bows. They're so simple. There are also a ton of other ideas on making things with duct tape. It's not just for cars anymore!