Homemade Holiday Presents! Lets help each other! Ideas WANTED!

[MKCP5]

I am thinking of making relaxation bags for most of all my people I have to buy for- hot chocolate mix, a corn heating pad, and home made bath bombs- any other ideas as to what to add? I was thinking maybe some tea lights or maybe a cd with soothing sounds?? Any ideas?

What is a corn heating pad???

 

[reservations4five]

What is a corn heating pad???

I use mine all the time!

http://http://www.diamondthreadworks.com/microwave_heating_bags.htm

 

[HLDisney]

I am thinking of making relaxation bags for most of all my people I have to buy for- hot chocolate mix, a corn heating pad, and home made bath bombs- any other ideas as to what to add? I was thinking maybe some tea lights or maybe a cd with soothing sounds?? Any ideas?

How about a sleep mask?

http://www.crafts-for-all-seasons.com/sleep-mask.html

I've never tried this before but the instructions seem pretty straightforward.

 

[Tweevil]

I purchased the items to make the exploding boxes today and they weren't hard to make! They are much smaller then I would have thought and it just didn't turn out nice enough for me to give to anyone!

Wait... I have boys and I can't find this in the thread... can you explain the directions or point me in the right direction??

 

[Tweevil]

Just an idea for packaging....
I make cookies so one year for work I did cookies and was pondering what to put them in. Well... for a few dollars I got a sleeve of the chinese food takeout containers - white coated paper with the metal handle - and used those for cookies with a nice tag. Worked like a charm, kept them fresh and looked pretty for man and woman alike.

You could use this for cookies, soaps, bath stuff you make, etc....

 

[timmac]

Not sure if this particular suggestion has been posted yet, but I'm a huge fan of homemade liqueurs. Cheaper than buying them outright, they often taste better, and they have that invaluable personal touch. Also, they're a big hit for holiday parties!

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

Wait... I have boys and I can't find this in the thread... can you explain the directions or point me in the right direction??

Here is the link from a previous post
http://glitteradventure.blogspot.com/2006/11/exploding-box-class.html

LOL I don't think it is what you were thinking for your boys... Exploding boxes does SOUND fun!

 

[loveysbydesign]

Here is the link from a previous post
http://glitteradventure.blogspot.com/2006/11/exploding-box-class.html

LOL I don't think it is what you were thinking for your boys... Exploding boxes does SOUND fun!

Maybe you're thinking of Christmas Crackers..they'd be fun to make!
I found this link with directions to make them!!
http://www.ourbigearth.com/2008/12/13/holiday-traditions-handmade-christmas-crackers/

 

[impresently]

Out of the homemade gifts I have made for people, those easy melt and pour soap bars got the best reaction. You can really have fun customizing them with different essential oils, exfoliants, different types of soap bases like goats milk or aloe vera.

There are super easy to whip out a large batch and satisfy your gift list. Just melt the soap base in the microwave, add your essential oils or other scents, add exfoliants if you wish, pour it into a mold, let cool and you are done.

You can find some of the materials for melt and pour soap at your local craft shop, but I have found that brambleberry.com is a one stop shop for everything for melt and pour soapmaking.

I would have posted a photo, but I have to do 10 post first I guess.

I have a post on my blog with a video tutorial given by the good people at brambleberry at 100homemadegiftideas.com.

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

I would have posted a photo, but I have to do 10 post first I guess.

I have a post on my blog with a video tutorial given by the good people at brambleberry at 100homemadegiftideas.com.

Want to get to 10 post really quick? Post on some of the game threads. You know change one letter to make a new word. Or the the first word you think of when you read the word from the previous post. Or true, false- next poster is...

They are fun and add up your post number quick

Click Thread tools and subscribe so if you are ever bored one night...lol

 

[impresently]

Another one I had some success with is homemade refrigerator magnets as gifts. They are pretty simple and a lot of fun to personalize for each gift recipients.

You need the following:

1. Flat glass gems that are kind of like clear marbles that you might be able to find at a local craft store. You can also find them at wholesalerusainc.com. I would get the 1/2 inch to 1 inch diameter varieties.

2. Circular 3/16" thick magnets that you can find at save-on-crafts.com and your local craft store. I wouldn't get the thin self adhesive kind because they just don't have enough magnetic force to stick firmly to the fridge.

3. Clear drying adhesive like Diamond Glaze Adhesive.

4. Photos to print out, or cut images from a magazine. This is the fun part because you can chose the images based on the gift recipients interests. Do they have a favorite hobby, musician, actor? You cna get free royalty-free images at everystockphoto.com

The process is simple. Using the clear adhesive, apply the face of cut photos to the flat side of the flat glass gems. Glue the magnet to the back of the photo. Let dry and you're done.

Hope this helps.

 

[impresently]

Another one I had some success with is homemade refrigerator magnets as gifts. They are pretty simple and a lot of fun to personalize for each gift recipients.

You need the following:

1. Flat glass gems that are kind of like clear marbles that you might be able to find at a local craft store. You can also find them at wholesalerusainc.com. I would get the 1/2 inch to 1 inch diameter varieties.

2. Circular 3/16" thick magnets that you can find at save-on-crafts.com and your local craft store. I wouldn't get the thin self adhesive kind because they just don't have enough magnetic force to stick firmly to the fridge.

3. Clear drying adhesive like Diamond Glaze Adhesive.

4. Photos to print out, or cut images from a magazine. This is the fun part because you can chose the images based on the gift recipients interests. Do they have a favorite hobby, musician, actor? You cna get free royalty-free images at everystockphoto.com

Hope this helps.

 

[kkmcan]

My mom made a few wine bottle nightlights a couple of years ago and they are gorgeous! You take an empty wine bottle (the blue bottles are pretty) and drill a hole on the bottom big enough to run a strand of white christmas lights through. Thread the lights in through the hole.

Then she attached some decorative glass grapes to the neck with some matching raffia ties. I don't have a picture but you might be able to find some by googling wine bottle light.

Plug it in and its so pretty.

 

[Colleen27]

My mom made a few wine bottle nightlights a couple of years ago and they are gorgeous! You take an empty wine bottle (the blue bottles are pretty) and drill a hole on the bottom big enough to run a strand of white christmas lights through. Thread the lights in through the hole.

Then she attached some decorative glass grapes to the neck with some matching raffia ties. I don't have a picture but you might be able to find some by googling wine bottle light.

Plug it in and its so pretty.

Along those same lines, my MIL made all of us glass block holiday decorations using the same basic idea - drill into the glass block, insert a strand of Christmas lights, then add ribbon and a bow to make the block look like a present.

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

Along those same lines, my MIL made all of us glass block holiday decorations using the same basic idea - drill into the glass block, insert a strand of Christmas lights, then add ribbon and a bow to make the block look like a present.

OOOHH! My daughter decorated a glass block for an art glass using the glass jewels that look like flat marbles. I bet that would look awesome with lights inside. The kids could create these as gifts. Thanks! I am going to try that.

 

[ShellChelle]

I made these "dalmation" cookies for my granddaughter. You could put these in a basket with the disney movie 101 dalmations!

I love those! Where did you find the Dalmatian ribbon and the cookie cutter?

 

[Ericandus]

This year for neighbors and teachers, I plan to make homemade bread and give a loaf wrapped with an inexpensive tea towel and raffia, and a jar of homemade apple butter. I found a FABULOUS recipe at southernplate.com. It's sooo good! I want them to look something like this...

 

[Littlemotherhaywood]

Wow! So many great ideas. It took me three days but I finally finished the thread, lol.

One thing we've done in the past and will probably do this year is a jar of chai. My dh used to work in a cafe and they made chai from scratch. We order all of the ingredients in bulk and then mix it up and put the tea and spices into jars with cinnamon sticks around the sides decoratively (inside of course) and then top the jar with a pretty fabric and include instructions. The small ball jars make about a gallon of chai. We order the ingredients from Frontier through a local co-op to get them inexpensively. A nice mug or tea pot would probably dress up this idea nicely.

 

[hipchickie]

One thing we've done in the past and will probably do this year is a jar of chai. My dh used to work in a cafe and they made chai from scratch.

Oooh recipe Please!!!!

 

[Littlemotherhaywood]

I'll have to have dh sit down and write it out for me. I know what all goes in it, just not the quantities, lol.