Followers

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Saving Christmas - Week #10

It's not that I want to prolong Christmas anymore, but I did want to give you a round-up of the rest of the projects that I made people for Christmas this year.  I am proud to say, that my goal of making everyone on my gift list a gift instead of buying gifts was achieved, except one!  (My niece is so hard to figure out at the age of 10 - she's not girly and not into the toys too much more, so I gave her the Monopoly U-Build game.)

So, back to the subject, here's the projects that I made.
I made this Boxy Dopp Bag from Kojo Designs for my brother for Christmas.  I put shave cream and razors in it for him.  I also gave one to my 14 year old son, but gave him travel shampoos and such.  (He's not quite shaving yet, and I'm not quite ready to let him!)

I was actually able to make this for very little, as I used a skirt that I had bought and never worn.  It is made out of a black pin-stripe material and used the silky lining of the skirt for the lining of the bag.  The only thing I paid for was the zipper, which was more difficult to find than you might think!  I did end up shortening an 18" zipper to the 14" I needed.

I did make some changes to the bag featured on Kojo Designs by making all the rough edges facing each other and inverted the bag on itself (a little complicated to figure out, but once together makes the bag look more finished.)   The other change I made was not to have the strap on the side, but inserted it into the end of the bag.

I made this knitting needle and crochet needle roll for my Mom.  I wasn't sure if she had one of these, but couldn't remember seeing one for her.  What I liked about this bag was that it was for both the knitting needles and the crochet needles.  It as small and big pockets and should even have storage for the round needles for knitting and for her scissors.

Again, I was able to make this out of materials I had on hand, so the cost was nothing for me.  The prints were all from the Daisy Kingdom pattern.  Funny that I had these all from several different places.  I am thinking about adding these to an Etsy shop that I am hoping to open in the next few weeks, so please let me know if you'd like one!

The roll all rolled up.
I made little hand warmer rice bags for my hubby when he goes hunting.  Again, this was made from two different pairs of holey jeans that I have around and then of course rice.  I will be making up a tutorial of this project, because it is really quick and satisfying to make.

This last summer, my kids made a small purse and a pencil holder out of Capri Sun boxes.  My Sister-In-Law has been saying that she wanted a bigger bag for herself, so this one I made for her last minute.  I think the most difficult part of this project was trying to keep all the Capri Sun boxes to make it. 

Side view of the Capri Sun Bag

Close up of how I attached the handles.  I wanted to be sure that they stayed on when it is filled.

A sneak peak at the bottom.
 Well, I think that about covers it.  I should really include a picture of my craft room, as it looks like a tornado went through it with all of these project being created.  I hope that you enjoyed this series and look forward to seeing any more of your projects that helped you Save for Christmas this year.  I think we had an all time savings because I finally tried to be OK with just giving handmade gifts this year.  I always feel guilty and end up buying things to go with my handmade gifts.  My husband is off work for a month right now, so this forced me to be creative, and I think that it really came out great.

4 comments:

  1. Love all your homemade gifts --- especially that Capri Sun Tote!!
    That's one of my goals for next year --- to make more of my gifts. Since I always run out of time to finish them all, I plan to work all year towards that goal!
    Thanks for sharing these great gift ideas!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great work!Love the Capri Sun Tote. Visiting from Frugalicious Friday.

    ReplyDelete
  3. SO cute! What a fun bag!
    Thanks for linking up to Making It With Allie! I can't wait to see what you have for next week!
    AllieMakes.Blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear what you think! Thanks for your feedback!