Make your own Christmas presents

Are you having trouble finding something for friends and family for Christmas? Or perhaps you just want some new ideas of things to make. It may sound like a bit of a palaver making your own presents if you haven't done it before, but so is trudging round the shops not knowing quite what you are going to get or finding it all sold out already.
There is still a week to go and all of these ideas are easily managed in that time, and you don't have to be an artistic genius either!

Tin of biscuits.

OK, sounds a bit boring but if you paint the tin yourself or even better get the children to do it and make the biscuits it really is a wonderful, personal present.
You will need a plain tin, some paints suitable for painting on metal, paintbrushes, newspaper or plastic sheet to protect the table and then ingredients for your biscuits - I'll leave that bit up to you!

If you are an artistic genius then you could paint a wonderful scene on the tin. If not then you could make a spotty tin, paint on stripes, have an attempt at snowflakes or stars or even paint the name of the recipient on the lid. If the children are doing it then they will no doubt come up with something great. At the moment the tins we do are quite abstract but my 6 year old has been doing great reindeer on our Christmas cards.

Make a soft toy!

Now if you are making something for a young child they won't care that it is all wonky and has lopsided eyes. In fact just tell them it is a monster and they will be thrilled. There are more detailed instructions with photos on our website but here is what you need to do.
You need two pieces of fabric and some scraps for a face. Needle and thread or a sewing maching. Place your fabric pieces one on top of the other right sides together and cut out your toy shape. If you want a doll then just do a very basic person shape but you can't go wrong with a monster as it really doesn't matter how they turn out. Sew all the way round the outside but leave a gap at the end so you can turn it the right way out. Stuff it and sew up the hole. Then cut out some shapes for the eyes and mouth and any other motifs you want to add and sew them on. Use bold fabrics or bright colours for a really funky look.
Children can make these too. My 6 year old is just learning to sew and made one of her friends a tiny pillow for a doll. It didn't take her long and it was the first thing she had ever sewed. Of course she was really proud of it and made a great gift.

Paint a T-shirt.

You will need a T-shirt or you could use an apron, cushion cover, cotton bag etc. and some fabric paints. You can either get the children to paint a design on or make hand or footprints on the front or the back. Read the instructions for the paint carefully as some need to be ironed afterwards to fix. One year we bought a whole lot of T-shirts, bags and aprons. We dyed them different colours with dye suitable for the washing machine and then painted, foot-printed and wrote names on them afterwards.

Make your own calendar.

If you can get a blank calendar then half your work is done. If not simply collect 12 or 13 (depending on whether you want a cover or not) thick pieces of paper together, punch holes in the top and tie together. Then you can write the month and dates at the bottom leaving a big area at the top to stick family photographs on or draw or paint, or cut out drawings your child has done during the year to stick on.

Artwork.

All you need is a special drawing your child has done and a frame. If you like you can stick the drawing onto a bigger piece of coloured paper. Choose a colour to compliment the drawing. This makes a lovely present for close relatives who probably don't have as many of your children's drawings on their walls as you do!

DVD.

Now we are getting a bit technical here, but if you have a computer and a digital camera you could make either a little film or a slideshow of still images. I am making slideshow of photographs of the children throughout this year for my Granny who has Alzheimers, adding lots of captions of course so she knows who everyone is. This is great if you have family who live in another country or just too far to be able to travel often.
You might find you already have a programme on your computer to do this, otherwise there are quite a few good programmes out there that don't cost the world and are easily downloadable. A good investment if you think you might make more slideshows in the future.

Give your time.

This might sound a bit boring but will be very much appreciated by people who have little time to themselves or don't get out much. Make up a beautiful gift certificate offering your services as a babysitter, chef for the evening, gardening help or any other skill that might be appreciated by the recipient.
Some friends of ours did this recently for my husband's birthday. They presented us with an amazing certificate offering to babysit one evening and even included some money for us to buy tickets to the cinema or theatre. It was fantastic for us as it was the first time we had been out together on our own since our now 2 year old was born!

Hope this has given you some ideas. If you have any ideas of your own then please leave a comment.
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and, as they say here in Switzerland, a good slide into the New Year!

Happy poggling!

Mairi