Handmade Gift Giving Guides

Okay, Halloween's over and the stores have started stocking up for the holidays. As Christmas (and whichever winter holiday[s] you find meaningful and celebrate-able) approaches, I've started thinking about what to give my loved ones. I like to get family members things that are less harmful to the planet and its inhabitants. In a few weeks, I'll post a quick list of social justice-oriented gift giving guides. Another (arguably better) way to do that that is to make your own gifts.

I know you probably haven't even started thinking about presents yet, but since it can be surprisingly time consuming to make holiday gifts, I decided to post a list of ideas early so you can all get started in plenty of time. Trust me, it's not fun when you are still knitting presents right before the relatives arrive!

Lucky for me, lots of other blogs have already done the hard work for me. [Disclaimer: because these are older posts, some links they use may not be active anymore]


Sew, Mama, Sew! issued roundup of handmade gift ideas last year that really captures a great range of ideas. I especially like the ideas from the gift compilations section, like the picnic set above.


West Coast Crafty also offers a long list of handmade holiday gift ideas. A favorite of mine are the cute matchbox ornaments (above) from Crafty Chica.


And another list of "festive" craft tutorials from Whip Up, including the wool wreath (above) from swallowfield
And another from Handmade Parade, featuring a cute cashmere headband (above) from Bitter Betty Blogs.

Finally, Skip to My Lou provides a fabulously creative list of options...too many good ones to pick just one, so you'll have to check it out for yourselves!

If you're feeling overwhelmed by all the options, take heart: there are always the basics.

• knit a scarf or hat
  
• make a food jar of some kind of mix (ie. brownie mix, cocoa in a jar) minus the liquid ingredients
• make holiday ornaments...practically any material will work
  

And don't forget, if you're not up for making your own handmade gifts you can always buy other people's! Sign up to take the Buy Handmade Pledge.