Holiday Craft Time!

It's time to start on holiday crafting. Long fall days at home are great for simple and complex crafts, and I'd like to think that anyone can do them. Some foraging is required if you want to keep crafts low/no cost, but it's worth it. Homemade gifts show thought, care, and love. Any shmuck can go buy a gift basket, but it's a loving (and talented) friend who will make a useful or beautiful gift for you. Ok, so we all buy gifts, but make your crafty friends feel good by telling them that last bit.

What are you making? Here's my craft to-do list followed by some solutions for cost-reduction. This list is, of course, edited because some of my readers are recipients.

• Food gift baskets filled with all homemade or home preserved (though locally picked) food. Baskets will include a combination of... apple butter, apple sauce, cheeses, bread, jam, butter, candy, pastries/sweets, and preserved veggies.
• Christmas crackers (traditional English "poppers" filled with candy and toys)
• Blankets
• Framed photo/art gifts
• Holiday Stockings
• Dresses for the girls
• Hairbows and accessories
• Handmade wreaths
• Garland for the tree
• Word magnets (the kind where each little magnet is a word and you can make phrases)
• Plush doll (for baby)

There are a few more things I'm making that I have to keep secret but these handmade touches will help fill up your gift list with love.

Food baskets are great for giving to other households when you cannot get each individual a gift. Just make the basket to their tastes. Each basket only needs a few items and a few trinkets to make it right.

Savory basket
Homemade bread
Homemade butter
Homemade ricotta cheese
Nice butter knife
Container of cherry tomatoes and mozzerella balls that have been drizzled with garlic infused olive oil.

Sweet basket
Homemade Fudge
Homemade Spice Cake
Homemade Apple Butter
Decorative Plate

Healthy Treats
Homemade oatmeal breakfast bars
Trail Mix made from local ingredients
Veggies home-preserved while fresh
Sugar free homemade jam
Homemade whole grain bread



See how easy it is to fix up a food basket? One you get all the ingredients together, fill the bottom of a big basket with shredded newspaper, tissue paper, etc. then neatly place your items in the basket. Wrap it with a clear celophane bag or colored plastic wrap and tie it all up with a pretty ribbon.


How do you reduce the cost of these time consuming gifts? Well, first start saving baskets. Free/low cost baskets are everywhere. Thrift stores, garage sales, etc. Also, start saving clear bags after you use the product in them. These clear bags can be used to wrap candies, bread loaves, pastries, etc. Other things to save include ribbon, twist ties from bread, jelly jars, newspaper, tissue paper, etc. I do my canning in the fall, so canning a few extra veggies or a few extra jars of jam is easy, especially when I pick up free veggies and fruit. Pick up non-perishable ingredients on sale during the year. Bread flour I already have at the house and a loaf of homemade bread in my machine costs about 50 cents. The nice additions in a basket like a pretty knife or decorative plate can be picked up from a discount store since you only need one for the basket. Thrift stores are also great to check for that kind of thing. I have found pretty antique plates in great condition that go well in these kind of baskets.

Instructions for everything else can be found by simple internet search. While you're using some free time online, look for crafts to do or search out some of the ones I listed.