Crafters are busy making their wares for the upcoming holiday season. It may seem early to be thinking about the holidays but it takes time to make handmade treasures.
Better to be ready than to be rushing at the last minute. Hardcore crafters probably started weeks ago. For the rest of us, now is a good time to start. Making crafts is a great way to pass the time during dark, cold evenings yet to come and also a way to enhance your decor.
Handmade crafts are great items for your home or garden, as gifts for others or to sell at various sales. This time each year, I gear up to make items to sell in support of my chosen charity. For me it's a great creative outlet and gives me a chance to give back to the community.
You don't need to be overly creative to enjoy this hobby. There are tons of neat things to make so you should be able to find a craft that suits your talent. Having an incentive to make something unique helps. Think about creating a lovely craft for your own home or as a gift for someone specific. Knowing where the handmade treasure will end up will help you determine what type of craft to make. Crafting is also a great way to spend time with the kids and keep them busy while indoors.
Easy ideas
Wreaths are always a hit for the holiday season and can be personalized for specific gift recipients. For instance, if you need a gift for someone who loves to sew, you can adorn a wreath form with sewing notions, ribbon and other like items that the recipient can either use or just to hand in the sewing room as decoration. Other ideas for a theme wreath are hobbies like fishing, golfing, baking and my personal favourite, dog bone wreaths like the one pictured here.
Wreath forms can be pricey at peak crafting times so I usually try to purchase mine off-season at clearance prices. I also use items like embroidery hoops (from thrift stores) as wreath bases. You can also make your own base using long, pliable branches from a grapevine or willow tree.
Once dried, the wreath form will tighten up and provide a nice base for an earthy, rustic wreath. You can adorn these earthy wreaths with natural items like pine cones, acorns, dried grasses, sea shells and the like. Set off the earthy colours with splashes of red using dried berries, red ribbon or painted acorns. Unusual items like small pieces of driftwood, beach glass, dried grasses and so on can all be found in the country or cottage and used to create a unique wreath.
Pantry items like walnut shells (painted or not) cinnamon sticks, whole nutmegs, cloves (for scent) and even bay leaves can also be used. From the junk drawer, incorporate decorative buttons, old jewelry, wooden chopsticks or bits of lace and ribbon. Let your imagination lead the way.
For a more modern look, spray the entire wreath with silver paint once it has been completed and then add red or green touches. As a hostess gift, make an ice wreath filled with dried cranberries, birdseed, nuts and so on that can be hung outside to feed the birds over the winter.
As it melts in spring, the birds will clean up the leftover goodies. These can be made now and kept in the freezer until needed.
The kids might enjoy making this one with you: Use a decorative jelly mould or tubular cake pan, filled to about three inches with water, as the form. (As an aside, you can make decorative ice rings for punch bowls using this same process. Freeze red and green cherries into the ice ring. It will look pretty floating in a large punch bowl and will keep the punch cold.
When it finally melts, you'll have nice decorative cherries floating in your fruit punch. Instead of plain water, use the actual punch to make the ice ring. That way the punch won't get watered down as it melts.)
Small or large, indoor or outdoor, wreaths make great holiday gifts and sell well at craft sales.
Other fun crafts
I happened upon packages of miniature wooden clothespins at the dollar store recently and purchased a package knowing I would use them in some fashion or other. I finally decided to make holiday card-holders in various fashions using the tiny clothespins. Lengths of red ribbon with the clothespins hot-glued onto the back were one design and another was made into a decorative wreath on which holiday cards can be displayed. You could easily turn this idea into a personalized gift by pinning family photos to the holders instead of greeting cards. Dollar stores have tons of craft items, so use your own imagination and take advantage of the affordability of crafting.
My newest craft endeavour is to make painted rocks for both inside my home and the garden. I have just started this process, but again, it's easy enough to find rocks and with a little guidance from books and/or the Internet I'm hoping to create fun items like the rock mouse pictured here. If this sounds like something you'd like to try you can start with simple designs like ladybugs and work your way into more detailed designs.
If you are interested in creating some handmade crafts this season but don't know where to start, check out crafting ideas on the Internet. There are thousands of great ideas out there just waiting to be utilized.
Happy crafting!
connieoliver@shaw.ca
