Green Options » handmade holidays

Handmade Holidays: Recycled, Personalized Collages

Becky Striepe — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:00:47 +0000

The weather is getting colder, and we have a handmade holiday on our minds! Handmade gifts have heart, are better for the environment, and, if you opt to buy, it supports independent artists!

If you want to have a totally handmade holiday, now is the time to get started. Over the next couple of months, we’ll be posting about recycled gifts and giftwrap you can make yourself and great handmade finds for sale!

A personalized collage is a great gift for family or maybe your best pal! Hero Arts has a great video tutorial on making beautiful collages. We’ve got the video and tips for turning this into a green craft project after the cut!

Read more of this story »

Handmade Holidays: Felted Acorn Ornaments

Becky Striepe — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:00:32 +0000

The weather is getting colder, and we have a handmade holiday on our minds! Handmade gifts have heart, are better for the environment, and, if you opt to buy, it supports independent artists!

I just love ornaments! Not only do they look lovely on the tree, they make great little stocking stuffers. In this video, Kim Buchheit of Wildly Wooly shows us how to make acorn ornaments out of felted wool and real acorn caps! You could also use them as pendants, like in the photo above, by just stringing them onto a cord or some hemp and adding a simple clasp.

Read more of this story »

Handmade Holidays: Recycled Felt Journal Cozy

Becky Striepe — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:00:51 +0000

The weather is getting colder, and we have a handmade holiday on our minds! Handmade gifts have heart, are better for the environment, and, if you opt to buy, it supports independent artists!

Really, it was like kismet. My girlfriend’s birthday brunch was on Sunday, and on Saturday my booth at the Cabbagetown Chomp and Stomp was right next to the lovely Lightdaughter Press. Since my friend is back in school, I picked up one of their journals printed with “Today you will be happier than a bird with a french fry” printed on the cover. To make the gift extra special, I decided to make her a little cozy to keep it in along with her favorite pen. I just love that her gift is a combination of a purchased handmade item and something handmade by me!

Want to make your very own journal cozy? Here’s how!

Read more of this story »

Handmade Holidays: Scrap Wood Snowmen

Wenona Napolitano — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:26:10 +0000

Do you woodwork? Chances are you have a box of leftover odds and ends of wood that can be turned into something cute for the holidays.

My husband has a huge box of wood pieces that he throws leftovers into after he’s done making a project. These pieces can range from tiny little scraps to half a two by four. But for some reason he had a bunch of pieces that were all about the same size left over from making something and we came up with these cute little snowmen.

Read more of this story »

Handmade Holidays: Stockings Made from Scrap Fabric

Wenona Napolitano — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:20:11 +0000

Holiday stockings don’t need to be made from plush furry fabric or rich red velvet. They can be made from any fabric you like that reflects your style, eclectic tastes, or interior decor.

A long time ago I worked for a furniture store. One day they were clearing out all the sample fabric swatches and books that had been discontinued. And what were they going to do with it all?

Toss it in the dumpster. Stacks and stacks of rich, fancy, and fabulous pieces of fabric. All to the trash. I just couldn’t let it happen.

Read more of this story »

Handmade Holidays: Farm Fresh Apple Butter

Becky Striepe — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:00:11 +0000

The weather is getting colder, and we have a handmade holiday on our minds! Handmade gifts have heart, are better for the environment, and, if you opt to buy, it supports independent artists!

When my pal Jes from Cupcake Punk posted about making her own apple butter, I just new this was the perfect holiday food gift! We’re all about mason jars full of tasty treats around the holidays, and you know we’re into canning around here, so this seemed just perfect! Not only is apple butter a crowd pleaser, but since apples are in season right now, you can probably find local ones pretty easily!

Read more of this story »

Handmade Holidays: Wrapping Gifts using Furoshiki

Becky Striepe — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:00:38 +0000

The weather is getting colder, and we have a handmade holiday on our minds! Handmade gifts have heart, are better for the environment, and, if you opt to buy, it supports independent artists!

There are lots of ecofriendly gift wrap options out there if you’re feeling the traditional, paper wrapping thing. If you want to branch out a bit, though, you might try wrapping some gifts this year using the traditional Japanese method furoshiki. Here’s how!

Read more of this story »

Handmade Holidays: Recycled Gift Tags from Greeting Cards

Becky Striepe — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:00:13 +0000

The weather is getting colder, and we have a handmade holiday on our minds! Handmade gifts have heart, are better for the environment, and, if you opt to buy, it supports independent artists!

To get things started, check out Sheryl of Twisted Limb Paperworks’ awesome video tutorial for making your own gift tags from last year’s Christmas cards:

Read more of this story »

Handmade Holiday (Last Minute) Gift Wrap Tips from Green Expert Danny Seo

Lucille Chi — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 05:07:46 +0000

Over the Summer on our sister site Feel Good Style, we shared the book Simply Green Parties by Danny Seo, and now for the winter holidays I’m pleased to present his classic book on green gift wrap.

Pictured here is the cover of Simply Green Giving: Create Beautiful Gift Wrapping, Tags and Handmade Treasures from Everyday Materials. The how-to manual on eco gift wrap includes:

“clever ways to recycle ribbon, cards and paper from presents people give you. Last, but not least, there are gorgeous last-minute gift ideas that don’t look like an afterthought and are gifts people will actually love.

A few highlights:

* Use an old cardboard globe as a gift basket
* Use colorful wood cigar boxes as handsome gift boxes for homebaked treats
* Recycle old books into a ring boxs

Read more of this story »

More Last Minute Gift Ideas: Handmade Holidays

Jamie Ervin — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:44:53 +0000

Christmas is literally days away now. It always seems like we have so long to plan and then WHAM, the big day sneaks up on us (at least that’s how it happens for me).

The kids in our house are all taken care of. They each get one gift from Dad & Mom, one from their siblings and one from the Jolly Old Man (Because, yes, the Polka Dot Family believes in Santa). I try to bust those out relatively early because my kids are my priority and if everyone else has to wait, so be it!

When we get to the rest of my family, things get a wee bit complicated. My Mother is one person I really enjoy giving gifts to. She has ALS and may not have many more holidays with us. She is in a wheelchair, with no motor function, no ability to speak (or eat) and now has a tracheostomy. As you can imagine, it isn’t easy getting a gift for her. My plan was simple (or so I thought). I was going to have the kids each do artwork with fabric paint on some thick white cotton fabric. I was then going to use pretty fabrics in between the artwork and make a quilt backed in some really soft, cozy fabric. Mom always has a blanket covering her and I thought this would be a nice (sentimental) gift.

Read more of this story »

Handmade Holidays: Fun Rolling Pin Art Projects

Lucille Chi — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:51:43 +0000

Rolling pins always remind me of the holidays of my childhood. Recently I discovered a couple cool craft projects to try with rolling pins, that would make great holiday activities for kids of all ages:

1. A couple seasons ago Craft Chi shared a fantastic tutorial on rolling pin prints. The site features a step-by-step how-to in photographs, so you can explore the process before you jump in, explaining it’s“a nice, easy way to print wrapping paper or even fabric. I don’t know whether these would be considered relief or collagraph prints, maybe both. You could also carve a wooden rolling pin if you desired. But this way I can remove the cork and reuse the rolling pin.”

I like the idea of combining organic paints and dyes into the project for an all natural product.

Read more of this story »

To My Mother, Who Should Buy Handmade This Holiday Season

Julie Finn — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 12:28:54 +0000

“I pledge to buy handmade this holiday season, and request that others do the same for me.”

Dear Mom,

I know that this is coming a little late for you, since you’re the kind of woman who starts asking everybody what they want for Christmas back in June, and wrapping presents in August and just sticking them under the side table because the tree won’t be up for another three months, but still, you should know: I took the handmade pledge, and I wish that you would, too.

Read more of this story »

Handmade Holidays: Creating Special Gifts and Memories

Wenona Napolitano — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:23:18 +0000

My family always creates handmade Christmas cards for each other and extended family members. Sometimes we also make special gifts for each other. This year the money crunch is on and I think handmade will be the norm and not the exception.

Read more of this story »