shelhop

As I mentioned in another post, my family is getting together this weekend to have our very first "Craft-a-thon". We're pooling together all of our craft supplies and craft ideas and making gifts for the holidays. Inexpensive and uncomplicated ideas, because we all enjoy doing crafts, but we never get into the overly complicated stuff.
So, at the request of another member, I thought I would post some of the ideas I'm "bringing to the table" this weekend. In addition, if any of you have ideas to post, they would be greatly appreciated. Stuff that we can do in an afternoon is what we're looking for.
Here's what I've got in mind so far:

First off, we have a few little ones that will want to help, so one thing I'd like to put them to work on is making gift bags.

Decorative Gift Bags

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If the mailman knew that my heart races when the UPS man comes by, would he still bring me freebies?

shelhop

We love the idea of these plates; they're easy to do, and they turn out beautifully. Add some holiday cookies and they make a perfect gift. You just have to remind the recipient that the front can be wiped off, but these cannot be submerged in water.

Decoupage Plates

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If the mailman knew that my heart races when the UPS man comes by, would he still bring me freebies?

shelhop

Everybody is wild about candles. So we're going to be making some fancy votive holders. These are so easy, the possibilities are endless, and they come out looking gorgeous.

Decoupage Votive Holders



My seven year old daughter recently made a pair of these for her piano teacher (who just happens to be my 80 year old grandmother). We bought the votive holders at Goodwill for a quarter each. Then we took an unwanted copy of sheet music and cut it up in little strips, then she decoupages the pieces on in colage fashion. It turned out beautifully, and costed next to nothing.

I have candlemaking supplies. We're going to pour scented candles in these to make them really special.

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If the mailman knew that my heart races when the UPS man comes by, would he still bring me freebies?

shelhop

I thought the younger kids would enjoy these.

Snow Globes

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If the mailman knew that my heart races when the UPS man comes by, would he still bring me freebies?

shelhop

Puzzle Wreath Ornament

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If the mailman knew that my heart races when the UPS man comes by, would he still bring me freebies?

shelhop

There are too many great ideas on this website to list. You have to just go check it out. Head towards the bottom of the page for great craft ideas.

Free Christmas Craft Projects

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If the mailman knew that my heart races when the UPS man comes by, would he still bring me freebies?

shelhop

If you've never tried these, you're missing out. They are so incredibly easy and turn out beautiful. I buy the clear glass balls at Big Lots, save the boxes and repackage the finished project in a four pack for gift giving.

Painted Glass Ornaments

__________________
If the mailman knew that my heart races when the UPS man comes by, would he still bring me freebies?

shelhop

My teenage daughters and their cousins plan to make Christmas jewelry for their school friends. We purchased some very cute little miniature ornaments (the kind for the mini Christmas trees) and went to a craft store and purchased the wire fixtures to make earrings (the dangling kind). Quite simply, they're going to affix an ornament to the wire fixture, make them up in pairs, and have a cute, yet inexpensive gift for their girlfriends at school.
They have snowflakes, Christmas light bulbs, angels, etc.

Sorry, wish I had a picture for you, but this one is just being made up as we go along.

__________________
If the mailman knew that my heart races when the UPS man comes by, would he still bring me freebies?

shelhop

Here's a couple more ideas that I have, (although I don't have a finished product yet, so no pictures...sorry.)

The first one is some cute little magnets. Buy the glass aquarium marbles. The clear ones with the flat backs. The ones I will be using are the jumbo size, and I bought them at the Dollar Tree, about 15 in a package.
Find a photo you'd like (mine will be pictures of my children) and cut it into a circle to fit on the flat side of one of these glass marbles. Affix with decoupage, to the flat side, so the picture shows through the glass.(As you can tell, I use a lot of decoupage.)
These are going to make great refrigerator magnets. You need the heavier magnets which you can find at craft stores. Hot glue a magnet to the back, and you have a very cute personalized gift. I'm making them in sets of five, because I have five children, then boxing them up for Grandma. She'll love them.
Once again, endless possibilities. Maybe you have a friend or relative that decorates her kitchen in cows? Or Roosters? Or Sunflowers? Just find pictures of whatever they're "into" and you've got a nice gift.

Something else I've come up with is for all of the attendees of my little craft-a-thon. While they're here, I will be taking lots of pictures. Little do they know that those pictures are going to be used as the subject of my own little Christmas gift to each of them.
I purchased simple wooden frames (flat frames with a wide border). Again with the decoupage, I am decorating the frames with different cutouts, etc. You get the idea. Then I will work on the computer to get a great picture of each guest, print it out at the appropriate size, frame it, and WAHLAH! What a perfect Christmas gift for everyone that attended our first annual craft-a-thon!

__________________
If the mailman knew that my heart races when the UPS man comes by, would he still bring me freebies?

shelhop

Surfergal actually brought these items to my attention in another thread, but these are so neat, I wanted to add them to my list. Thanks, Surfergal!

CD Clock




Personalized Memo Board



Season's Greetings Blocks








This is all one set of blocks. Very nifty!

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If the mailman knew that my heart races when the UPS man comes by, would he still bring me freebies?