We are broke. Literally, absolutely broke. This isn’t the first time we’ve been spotted in this habitat as the majestic brokealopes that we can be…but we’re six months into mutual unemployment and our savings is all but dried up with little crumbs leading us back to when I, so brilliantly, decided I could afford to go to school full-time without working and then the caca hit the fan, as it usually does.
So this year, we’re going handmade for Christmas. I mean…it’s because we’re incredibly thoughtful and no pre-bought gifts will satisfy our understanding of our families…yeah, that’s the one. No really, it’s a mix of both.
I love handmade gifts from other people. I hope people love handmade gifts from us.
Projects for this year include yarn wreaths and embroidery. Enjoy.
Freelance Embroidery
I have always loved sewing, embroidery and cross stitching. This year, I did some freelance embroidery on linen and added some buttons and stain to the hoops for a little extra. I’m worried that blue is a little light and I might have to cut it out and redo it…Say it ain’t so!
If you haven’t noticed by now, I love kitsch. Bad.
This one is my favorite, I think. Definitely took the longest. Although I used linen for all of the others, I used plain old off-white, on sale fabric for this one. It’s not any harder when you’re freestylin’…rapping, that is.
If you’re wondering where to get started: Pick up some super-cheap embroidery hoops, as many colors of thread as you’d like, needles (if you’re going to use buttons, get a set of different sized ones so they’ll fit through the holes (that’s also what she said)) and either linen or fabric. There a lot of resources online – including the different types of stitches and ideas and what not.
Isaiah mixed several colors of paint and water to get a fine wood stain that would leave the grain in tact, but you can paint them or buy wood stain for an added touch if you’d like.
When you’re finished and have painted the hoop, stretch the fabric again really tight over the hoop, tighten the hoop as much as you can and cut the excess away.
Estimated cost per project: $4.50 or so.
Yarn Wreaths
I’ve seen them everywhere. I know I’m not starting anything new here, folks. I used this yarn wreath tutorial to get started. I picked colors that I thought complemented each family/person’s personality and colors at home, some felt and some “ornaments” for an added touch…I went to Michael’s and they were about 60 cents each in the floral section…Hobby Lobby had a crappy selection.
Things you’ll need, you ask?
Well, okay.
Hot glue gun, Felt, (Any other accessories), Straw or foam wreaths, Yarn, Scissors.
The first one I made, I used “Super Saver” yarn, which worked the best out of all of the different brands and styles I chose (I made three so far, in the middle of three more). Hard to tell in the extreme lowlight that exists here at FIVE pm, but it’s dark grey, not black or purple or some other color you’re thinking of…I’m not a mind reader, jeez. I used goldenrod and purple flowers and a mixed-color floral pick.
Next, I worked with purple yarn with yellow and grey felt flowers and a floral pick. Also, we’ve been drinking quite a bit of wine lately. This was, by far, the worst yarn I worked with. It’s silk-sheen..which means it’s really pretty, soft and sparkly but a crazy bitch-and-a-half to work with. As you might be able to see, no matter how tightly I wound the yarn and layered it up, you can see the straw through in some parts and it’s so thin that this little yarn wreath took me the longest out of all of them. Yikes.
These are a couple of the floral picks I used. I love the one on the right and I didn’t get a good photo of it and already gave it away! Oh no! This is the worst…I might get over it…eventually…we’ll see…kidding.
This one is much bigger than the other two (that’s what she said) and the above, left photo is of the ornament I used. I worked with some weird, fluffy looking yarn for this one, which was more expensive and kept getting knotted…I had to keep cutting and retying…cutting and retying and yadda yadda.
Estimated cost per wreath (averaged between large and small costs): $6.50 – $8.00 or so. Some are a little more, most are at the low end of that estimate.
Hope you have a great, handmade holiday this year…but if you’re not broke, don’t feel guilty for buying presents, it’s all good. For some more handmade gift inspiration, check out Craft My Life, where Lisa is posting awesomely creative DIY projects for the season and some of the Pinterest gift guides. There are, obviously, ten globbering-jillion other options for inspiration, but those two are my favorites. I also like to peruse around Etsy and figure out what I could make myself…admission of guilt, maybe.
Happy holidays, folks. We’ll post a template tonight. My grandma’s in town from Ohio for my graduation – which I still am not prepared for in the least…emotionally and I need my gown steamed and to pick up my sash. Why is everyone rushing me? Jeez…
Happy holidays. Merry Christmas.
