Wow! Less than a week until Christmas?! Aside from wrapping all my gifts, I think I’m ready. (But do you think I’ve managed to wrap any of them yet? Ha! That’s what Christmas Eve is for, isn’t it?)
I normally only post ideas from June to November, but I couldn’t resist showing you this one. If you’re looking for a quick, easy, and affordable add-on, these tassel angels are perfect. They’re perfect for topping a wrapped package or for hanging on the tree.
I used Caron Simply Soft Party–an acrylic yarn with a metallic thread wrapped around it. Make a tassel, wrapping the yarn about 22 times around your hand. Don’t cut the loops. Attach pipe cleaner wings and halo, and you’re good to go! I’ve made a video to show how to make them.
How to make tassel angels
So that’s all, folks! I hope you’ve enjoyed this year’s Handmade Christmas ideas. I’m always on the lookout for new projects, so if you have ideas to share, I’d love to see them.
Have you made any handmade gifts this year? I’d love to see them! Tag me on Instagram as @bronwyndp and use the hashtag #bronwynshandmadechristmas.
Thanks for another fabulous year! I’ll be back with another Handmade Christmas project on June 25, 2019. In the meantime, stay tuned for new knitting and crochet designs. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter to stay in the loop!
What’s your stress level this time of year? Does someone on your gift list need to chill out? This might be the handmade gift for both of you.
Sensory toys have become increasingly popular over the past few years. Stress balls and squishies are suddenly current and cool. What used to be a sort of gag gift is now a welcomed desk accessory. Go figure.
Last spring, a teacher asked me to make stress balls for her class to help them while taking standardized tests. I had crocheted a stress ball for her the year before because I knew she had a few particularly troublesome students. She asked if I could make one like it for each of her 26 students. The problem was that she didn’t think of asking until the week before testing and there simply wasn’t enough time for me to make them.
Crocheted stress balls made from the Ideal Sphere pattern. I made them reversible–happy on one side, angry on the other.
So I came up with a faster solution. I made bean bags out of polar fleece. I started by tracing 3-4″ circles onto one layer of fleece using a Sharpie. Before sewing two layers together, I used black yarn to embroider eyes. By doing this before sewing, I was able to simply tie the two ends of yarn in a knot to secure. With right sides together, I sewed along the markings, leaving about 2″ unsewn and backstitching at the beginning and end. I trimmed the fleece to about 1/4-1/2″ from the stitching. I turned them right-side out, filled them with poly pellets (not too full), and then hand-sewed them closed. Twenty-six worry pets!
Here are some other options for knit or crocheted stress balls:
Swirl Ball Mystery (knit)–I’ve made this one. It’s an easy 3-color garter stitch ball. It looks neat as an ornament, too.
Out of Yarn (knit)–This looks fun, and it’s a good way to use up scraps.
Ideal Sphere (crochet)–I’ve used this pattern a few times. You do have to pay attention since the increases and decreases aren’t stacked, but it does make a nice sphere.
Puffballs (crochet)–Frankie Brown has so many clever designs.
Jett the Octopus (knit)–This is my own pattern, so I’ve knit it approximately one million times. Ok, it just seems like it. But I did make 22 of them for my son’s class four years ago. I’m pretty proud of the fact that despite the number of arms, there are only 4 ends to weave in on the entire toy.
Any small toy that fits nicely in the palm of your hand.
With the fleece toys, I wasn’t too concerned about the poly pellets escaping. I was just sure to keep my stitches small and tight. Besides, these were being used by third graders; even if the beads did come out, they shouldn’t be putting them in their mouths. But for knit and crocheted toys, I’m always more cautious. I found nylon knee high stockings on closeout a few years ago, so I stocked up just for this purpose. (Small balloons might work, too.) Fill the toe of the stocking with about half the amount of pellets you think you’ll need. (If I’m using a cut end, I tie a knot and then turn the knot to the inside before filling.) Then insert the pouch of pellets into your knit or crocheted toy. Continue filling the stocking with the desired amount. Tie a knot in the top of the stocking and trim. Depending on the size and shape of the toy, you may want to add fiberfill before and/or after adding pellets. Finish the toy as usual.
If you’d like to knit Jett the Octopus, or any of the other patterns for sale in my Ravelry store, you can take advantage of the Indie Design Giftalong. From now until 11:59 p.m. EST on November 29, you can save 25% with the code giftalong2018.
I normally end my Bronwyn’s Handmade Christmas posts in November, but I do have one more super quick project up my sleeve. I’ll share that in the next couple of weeks. (You know, when I have nothing else to do.) Meanwhile, I wish you happy crafting, happy gifting!
What? I’m sure you’re thinking I’ve lost my marbles. Why would I even dream of giving SpaghettiOs to someone as a gift? Besides, this is supposed to be Bronwyn’s Handmade Christmas. And popcorn? That’s kind of boring.
Well, that’s exactly the point. You want these gifts to look as uninteresting as possible. Why? Because they are diversion safes — containers that look like everyday objects on the outside but hold valuables on the inside. You can hide your cache in plain sight!
If you search online, you’ll find all sorts of diversion safes that you can purchase or DIY. It’s a good idea to consider who you’re giving the safe to and where they’re most likely to use a safe. Personality and lifestyle are important to keep in mind. Does your recipient like to travel? A small, portable safe (think Chapstick, sunblock, deodorant containers) might be nice. Does your recipient stash cash all around the house? Then a pantry-based safe (popcorn or canned goods) might be better. (I really like this Miracle Whip safe that you store in the fridge.) Are you making this for a kid? Use an item that wouldn’t look out of place in a kid’s room (think books, wipes containers, stuffed toys). One word of caution: choose something that you won’t forget is a safe and throw away because it looks like it’s used up or old!
Canned good version
Full disclosure: I made this SpaghettiOs safe about 10 years ago. (I used this tutorial on Instructables.) This one is mine, but I made a second one for a friend. For whatever reason, this friend loves to hide money all over her house. She has told me, “Now, if I die, I have money here, here, and here.” Do you think I’m going to remember all of her hiding spots? Are you kidding? But I guess I’ll know that we should look.
This type of safe uses a food can that is opened from the bottom with a side-cutting can opener, leaving the top of the can intact. The old-fashioned opener won’t work. A smaller, plastic bottle with a lid needs to fit inside. This small bottle is held in place with plaster of Paris, and its lid is glued to the cut bottom of the can. This allows the bottom of the can to screw on and the entire safe to stand right side up, completing the illusion.
Plaster of Paris adds weight to the can, making the bad guy believe the can is actually full of SpaghettiOs.
I chose a tall can of SpaghettiOs for a few reasons. First, it was tall enough to fit a plastic spice jar inside. But more importantly, I knew that she hates SpaghettiOs, so she would never try to open the can by mistake and destroy it. It would also be obvious enough to her that she would question it before tossing it in the trash when cleaning out the pantry. Anyone else rifling through the cabinet would just question her eating habits.
Popcorn jar version
I made the popcorn diversion safe this week. I think it took me all of 15 minutes to make. I even had all the supplies on hand.
Fill a Mason jar nearly full with popcorn kernels. Press a wide-mouthed bottle into the popcorn until the mouth of the bottle is just below the mouth of the glass jar. I used a medicine bottle, but some tutorials I’ve seen online use a clear water bottle that is trimmed down. There is one spot on mine where the white bottle peeks through a tiny bit near the top. The popcorn shifted a little, so I should have added a few more kernels to fill it; a clear inner bottle would have been disguised better.
Add popcorn around the sides of the bottle until all the space is filled, all the way to the top. Squeeze hot glue in and around the popcorn near the mouth of the jar, ensuring that contact is made with the jar and the bottle. Tip the jar over to test that no popcorn will spill. Let the glue cool, then cap with a jar lid and ring.
I like both of these safes because they feel as heavy as the real thing. If anyone were to poke around in the pantry, these safes would shift around just like their genuine counterparts.
So take a look around your house for items you can convert into diversion safes. Do you have someone in mind who might appreciate something like this? I’d love to see what you come up with! Share your projects with me either by email or on social media. Be sure to tag them with #bronwynshandmadechristmas.
Hand-drawn Mandala Bookmarks–Bronwyn the Brave Designs–Bronwyn’s Handmade ChristmasWith the start of school, I’ve been inspired by all the fun school supplies out there. For this month’s Handmade Christmas idea, I channeled my inner schoolgirl and drew you a picture!
Adult coloring books and zentangling have been popular for a few years now, so I’m sure you’re familiar with them. It’s relaxing just to draw or color for a few hours. The problem is that typical coloring book pages remain hidden inside their books and no one gets to see them. I’ve come up with a way to share my pretty drawings and create extremely inexpensive but useful gifts.
My favorite way to showcase my drawings is to slice them up and turn them into bookmarks. I’ve also turned a couple into tags for my son’s school bags. And if you make a mandala that you really love, why not frame it and hang it in your home?
I made a bunch of bookmarks a few years ago for my son to give his classmates. (I’ve had parents tell me that their kids still use them three years later.) I had a few left over to give as my own gifts. My only mistake was that I forgot to make copies!
But not this time, my friends! I scanned my original black and white drawing for you to color yourself. I’m not claiming to be a great artist, and this is very obviously hand-drawn, but isn’t that the point? I’ve also included a few tips to get you started on your own mandala drawing. (more…)
This month’s handmade gift idea is weighted blankets. Have you heard about these? If you haven’t, imagine a blanket made with a couple hundred bean bags sewn together. It’s not quite the same, but it sort of looks like it.
So why would someone want a weighted blanket? They are said to be therapeutic for adults and children with autism, ADHD, anxiety, insomnia, restless leg syndrome, and other sensory disorders. A friend with restless leg syndrome swears by her blanket and even travels with it when she can. Hers weighs 16 pounds. It doesn’t feel like 16 pounds when the weight is distributed over your entire body, though. (I’ve traveled with her and have carried her blanket in a tote bag through the hotel. Trust me—it’s 16 pounds.)
A few months ago, a different friend asked me if I’d ever made one of these blankets. I hadn’t, but it didn’t seem too hard. She wanted this for her daughter who was a freshman in college and dealing with a lot of anxiety at the end of the school year. I was more than glad to help.
After some discussion, we decided that while a soft minky fabric might be comforting, it might be too warm. We settled on some Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton quilting fabric in two colors—Oasis (a gorgeous teal) and Graphite (a medium gray). I bought two yards of each on Amazon (about $6/yard).
How much weight? A rule of thumb for how much weight to add is to multiply the individual’s weight by 10% and add 1-2 pounds. My friend’s daughter weighs around 125-130, so we went with 14 pounds. I have a small kitchen scale that weighs to the tenth of a gram, so I converted 14 pounds to 6350 grams. Poly-Fil Poly-Pellets come in various packages, but the best deal I found was on 6-pound bags at Joann.com with a coupon. I bought 18 pounds and added a ball of cotton yarn to bump me up to free shipping. (Be sure to buy the hard plastic pellets like the ones inside Beanie Babies, not the Styrofoam beads for bean bag chairs.)
I didn’t bother trimming off the selvedges, but I did even up the cut ends. With right sides together, I sewed the two lengths of fabric on three sides, using a ½″ seam allowance. I then turned it right-side out and pressed it.
How many squares? To make things easier on myself, I made the squares the same width as my quilting ruler—3.5”. I divided the width and length (each) by 3.5 to determine the number of pouches. This gave me 12 columns by 20 rows—a total of 240 squares. Doing the math—6350 grams divided by 240 pouches—that’s about 26.5 grams of pellets per square.
I couldn’t find my marking pen, so I used a sliver of soap to draw my lines. Some of the lines got smudged away as I handled the project, so I did have to re-draw them occasionally. The soap worked in a pinch, though.
Next, I sewed the long columns. This made twelve 6-foot-long tubes, essentially. I weighed out 26.5 grams per tube and shook them to the bottom. (See Tip #2 below.) This was trickier than I expected because the pellets are imperfect with little burrs that catch on the fabric. Once all twelve columns were filled for a row, I placed a row of pins to keep the pellets from sneaking into my seam line and sewed across the width. Twelve more pouches…sew across. After a few rows, I didn’t worry so much about getting every single pellet in its proper square.
Note how I pinned the fabric to keep the pellets from creeping into my seam line.
I continued weighing, filling, pinning, and sewing until I got to the final row. I pinned the last row as usual. I tucked the raw edges under and pinned again. I sewed straight across the end.
Tip #1: Set up your sewing machine on a long table so you can spread the blanket out while you sew. I normally use my sewing machine on an old computer desk. After sewing a few rows, the blanket started to get heavy and unwieldy. When I moved everything to a longer table, the sewing sped up considerably.
Tip #2: Fill the upper portion of the columns near the openings and wait to shake the pellets down all the columns together. You’ll be able to tell which column you’re on, and you won’t accidentally miss one or fill one twice.
Bonus Tip: Sewing this blanket can be a surprisingly great workout! My weighing station was on my ironing board, but I was filling and pinning the blanket on the floor. That means I did roughly 250 squats over the course of 24 hours! Add to that, schlepping a heavier and heavier blanket back and forth. I don’t necessarily recommend this workout, but it gave me a great story.
This project costs quite a bit more than my typical Handmade Christmas ideas, about $66 total per blanket. (Shop around and/or wait for good coupons.) If you plan to make several, you might get a better bulk discount on the pellets. This is obviously a special gift you’d make for someone who could really benefit from it, not one to give to all your neighbors and cousins and fringe friends. But this could be the best gift ever for a very lucky person in your life.
Weighted Blanket
Finished Measurements: Approximately 43” x 71”
Materials
Cotton quilting fabric in 2 colors—44-45” wide, 2 yards of each
Poly-Fil Poly-Pellets—about 10% of body weight plus 1-2 pounds
Kitchen scale
Marking pen, quilting ruler, scissors, pins
Sewing thread—2 spools
Paper cups for weighing and pouring pellets into blanket
Instructions
Press fabric. If necessary, trim fabric to square up the ends. Place right sides together.
Using 1/2” seam allowance, sew together along one short and two long edges.
Turn right-side out and press.
Mark lengthwise lines for columns. Sew along these lines.
Mark perpendicular lines for rows, but do not sew yet.
Weigh Poly-Pellets for each square. (See above for calculations.) Pour pellets into each column. Once all columns have been filled, lift blanket and shake pellets to bottom. Pin and sew across row. The squares will not be firmly filled, so don’t worry if they look droopy.
Continue filling one row at a time until all squares have been filled. Pin last row to keep pellets from escaping. Turn both edges to the inside and sew across top of blanket, close to the edge.
Trim any remaining threads and wash blanket to remove pen marks.
Happy Thread the Needle Day! The origin of this special day (July 25) is unknown, but as a crafter, I naturally think of sewing. This month’s project for Bronwyn’s Handmade Christmas uses the simplest sewing ever, so this one would be great for getting older kids involved.
I was immediately drawn to the paper snowflake-inspired Felt Ogee Ornaments made by Betz White. I found this project a while ago, and I’m so happy that I finally got around to making one. Betz recommended 3 mm felt because it is stiff enough to hold its shape. I couldn’t find it locally, so I bought a wool/rayon blend on Amazon. I thought mine was a tad too thick because it wrinkled a little as it bent around. I’m wondering if 2.5 mm or 2 mm felt would work better. The biggest drawback is that the thick felt is not typically sold in stores. I think the results are definitely worth the online shopping trip.
I used sewing thread to sew the overlapping edges and tied surgeon’s knots to secure. I used invisible quilting thread for hanging.
I made my own felt beads for this. Yep. With plain ol’ wool yarn. (more…)
Here we go again! It’s time to start planning our handmade Christmas gifts! With six months to go, we can surely get it done without working up to the last minute, right? Well, we can at least try.
For our first project of 2018, I thought I’d pull out the trusty crochet hook and some kitchen cotton. When my friend Pam posted some bowl cozies on Instagram a few weeks ago, I knew they’d make great gifts. These can be used to protect your hands and lap from bowls of hot soup or cold ice cream. My 10-year-old son, Grady, has already tested and approved their use for ice cream! Thanks, buddy!
With a price tag of a couple of dollars per ball of yarn, you can afford to make several per recipient. One cozy used just a hair over two ounces of Peaches & Cream. Keep in mind that solid colorways come in bigger balls than the variegated (2.5 oz. vs. 2.0 oz., generally). And while vibrant colors are fun, they tend to bleed when washed, so that’s something to be mindful of, especially when giving them away. (more…)
It’s time for the final push! We only have one month until Christmas! Can you believe it?
Every time I write about a new craft I’ve made, I feel a slight pang of guilt. I’ve always dabbled in all sorts of crafts, so it’s not like I’m a monogamous crafter or anything. Knitting is my main squeeze, though, so that is my go-to when I want to make a handmade gift. But wait a second. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to blog about knitting in, say, June when we still had several months ahead of us? Well, my favorite things to knit are accessories because they are quick and make a big impact with only a small amount of time and effort. I’m a procrastinator, and I know many of you are, too, so quick and easy are key features when you’re on a deadline.
[It just occurred to me that knitting is a little like childbirth. Yeah, of course, you created this thing of beauty and the knitting project is your baby and all that, but I’m thinking about the effort you put in. You always hear moms bragging about how many hours they labored. It seems like the most dramatic stories come at the extremes: “I pushed for FOUR hours!” but also, “I only pushed for 22 MINUTES! I guess he was in a hurry.” (True story. 22 minutes for me. Not bragging at all.) So when it comes to knitting, we’re especially proud when we finally complete a sweater or afghan that took 2 years to complete but also when we whip up a cowl in only a few hours. Or is it just me?](more…)
When I was in junior high and high school, I did a lot of counted cross-stitch, but I didn’t do much straight-up embroidery. I haven’t done much needlework (aside from knitting and crochet) since then. Over the past few years, my Pinterest feed has been full of beautiful embroidery. The designs range from cute to fanciful, traditional to modern. I’ve been pinning the gamut with hopes of picking up needle and floss again one day. Lately, I’ve been especially drawn to the Japanese folk embroidery technique called sashiko.
Traditional sashiko calls for white cotton thread on indigo-dyed cloth, but modern applications can be found in other colors. Literally “little stabs,” sashiko stitching is made by a basic running stitch. You might be used to using an embroidery hoop, but being able to scrunch the fabric and take several running stitches at a time is easier without the hoop. This keeps lines straighter and is less taxing on your arm and shoulder. (more…)
So many people swear by essential oils nowadays, so I think this month’s Handmade Christmas gift idea is perfect. Make one of these bracelets for the friend who loves her oils and another for the friend who could use a boost but hasn’t tried oils yet. I made this first bracelet for a friend who has been struggling with hormonal emotions. We’d been talking about essential oils, and she said that she hasn’t remembered to use them lately. I thought this might help. The key is using a few lava beads that absorb the essential oil and diffuse the scent throughout the day. (more…)
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