Handmade Christmas in Review

Now that the big day is over, I can finally share with you the thrifty gifts I made for my own family and friends. I guess this could be considered part of the Thrifty Gifty series.

First off, my kids wanted Snuggies. Now, they are not terribly expensive, but 1) I still knew I could make them for less, and 2) Firstborn particularly wanted the free booklight that comes with it, but that only comes with the adult sizes. When I started looking into making them I also discovered that the back is open, which neither my kids nor I knew. Since they are just as likely to lay on their stomachs reading as they are to sit on the couch watching TV, I knew this wasn’t ideal for them.

I looked for fabric to repurpose at thrift stores, but didn’t find anything suitable. I ended up getting fleece throws at Walgreens. They were on sale for $1.99 each for a 50”x60” throw, and I needed two for each Snug-EEE (my version).

Basically, I put the two throws together and sewed a T shape, leaving an opening for the head and cutting away the shaded areas (also leaving the ends of the sleeves open, of course). I should have had her stand with her arms stretched out, but wasn’t thinking ahead.

I left them long to keep feet covered up, though I probably should cut a little length off since they’re tripping over them.

As luck would have it, I found book lights at Dollar Tree. I decorated the outside of the box, so they would “get” it. Cost for each Snug-EEE/book light set: $5.

For Craig, I made a felted hat from a $1 thrift store sweater, using this tutorial. It is grudgingly modeled here by Skippy.

For the kids’ teachers, I made the salt scrub. Hobby Lobby had scenting oils for body products in the soap making section. I did a peppermint-vanilla combo. Including jars, gift bags, etc, this came out to about $5 per teacher (plus I have lots of supplies left over). The kids didn’t really understand what was so great about salt scrub; when I told Skippy to write a note to his teacher on the card, he wrote “Mrs. B, this is some kind of salt”.

And for Dixie, who at Thanksgiving kept hinting that she was jealous of my sweater pillow, I made three similar ones, again from $1 thrift store sweaters (but I forgot to take a photo). I already was planning to and had the sweaters at Thanksgiving.

For me, Dixie made this adorable felted sweater pincushion, Betz White -style! I’ve been wanting one for a while, and then a few months ago the dog chewed up my old tomato pincushion, pins and all, so I really needed one! The dog, btw, showed no ill effects whatsoever.

It was a good hand-made Christmas!