DIY holiday gifts

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I made some rhubarb schnapps yesterday, and I think I'm going to make some more and give it to some people for Christmas (it takes six weeks to mature, so I have just enough time, I think). I might also make some different jams and marmalades and curds for people.

What do-it-yourself gifts have you made? Have you ever received a gift someone made themselves? What did you think of it? Did you think they were cheap for not just spending twenty bucks on you and calling it a day, or did you appreciate the effort? (My husband is insisting that if I want to give people stuff I've made, we also have to buy them a nice present so that they don't think we're poor or something.)

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000

Answers

I've baked stuff before, and made chocolates. This year I plan on making loaf soap and giving slices as gifts. Most people seem to appreciate the effort made. My cousins usually make something for my parents for x-mas, because they don't have a lot of money (that is why we don't exchange gifts - to save money) and my parents ususally appreciate the cookies or candies made because they know it takes time to do it, and they really don't need anymore "stuff".

If anyone doesn't appreciate something handmade, they are shallow and don't deserve gifts.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000


I've made bead bracelets and necklaces for my nieces and they were thrilled.

I'd rather get something that someone made that I can use or eat than a gift that was purchased that I have no use for.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000


How do you make loaf soap, Nicole?

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000

I love handmade gifts. I used to be more crafty but lately I haven't been so inclined. I've made caramel corn, fudge, cookies, spicy bagel chips, brandied fruit, and other stuff over the years. I've also designed calendars for my family with our birthdays and other trivia listed on each day, and one year I wrote and designed a cookbook full of family recipes and other jokey trivia. Having access to a print shop at work is helpful in these endeavours.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000

I was thinking about starting a topic about this last night!

I love getting stuff that people made. I hardly ever do, either.

I used to make gifts all the time because we were broke. Now we're not as broke, but I'm probably going to make a lot of stuff anyway because I thought of a bunch of cool stuff that my gift recipients would like.

Last year my friend wanted some aprons. I made her a gingerbread-guy one and a Joe Boxer print one that was a picnic-table red check with big black ants all over it. I always make that same friend necklaces and earrings, too. Years ago, I gave Tania a t-shirt that I decorated. This weekend she was wearing it, even though it was faded. Her boyfriend told me how happy she'd been when she'd discovered it was clean that morning. I was so proud and squealy and stuff. I'm going to make her another t-shirt this year. I think I'm gonna totally rip off the design from the one Ruthie Camden wore on TV last week.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000



(Okay, THAT post was all about me, but...) Nicole, I loved the soap you made me and Shelly, I loved the bracelet you were wearing last time I saw you and I think those are fabulous ideas and people will love them. And Maggie and Jackie, your gifts sound fabulous too and people who don't appreciate them are just silly.

I have five little jars of burnt lime marmalade in my cabinet. It's awful, but I made it myself so I'm keeping it for sentimental value. Anybody want some for xmas? It'd go well with burnt toast.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000


Thanks Gwen!

Jackie, I got the idea from this site:

http://www.soapteacher.com/Recipies/RecipesPicturesIdeas.htm

And then I went to Michael's craft store and got the stuff you need to make the soaps. It is as easy as making chocolate.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000


I'm getting so stoked about making stuff, now! (And that's the third time I've used the word 'stoked' today -- the other two times were in two consecutive sentences in an email to Gwen.) Here's some stuff I'm considering making (because they all look totally easy and also yummy): vanilla sugar
quince brandy
various curds (cranberry, passionfruit, lime)
various jams (raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, greengage, soft-set peach and redcurrant)
pink grapefruit marmalade
muscat jelly
figs in rum syrup
pickled plums
various chutneys (spiced apple, pineapple, paradise)
Egyptian lime pickles

What I'm thinking is that those all look terribly yummy, and most people probably don't have a lot of them in their pantry or larder. So I could give someone one of each of those, with serving suggestions (muscat jelly with foie gras or other meats, pineapple chutney with cold ham or to glaze a baked ham, pickled plums with cold meats, etc), in a picnic basket (nice ones here can be had for under a tenner). Does that sound lame?

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000


Thanks, Nicole! I'm in such a mood for crafts, now, that it's unbelievable.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000

What, pray tell, are Egyptian lime pickles?

I'm going to make oatmeal scrub stuff and mix CDs. Last year I made fudge for everyone in my family and my boyfriend's family, and each time I gave it to someone they would say, "Oh. Fudge." So this year I'm buying all of them stuff so They Won't Think I'm Poor (TM: Jackie's husband).

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000



If someone gave me fudge, I would be thrilled. Then again, I am a fat- ass. Okay, here's the recipe for Egyptian Lime Pickles. I guess you're supposed to eat the peels as well (they look gorgeous and yummy in the picture):

10 limes
1kg coarse salt
approx 500ml olive oil (not extra virgin)
1 tablespoon tumeric
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
3 dried red chilli peppers, crumbled
3 x 350ml preserving jars
30 x 20cm baking tray or Pyrex dish

Cut the limes into eighths lengthways and cover the bottom of your dish with them. Cover the limes with the salt and then put in the freezer for at least 12 hours. Remove from the deep freeze and thaw thoroughly. Put into a colander and rinse under the cold tap. Shake dry. Put a third into each clean, waiting jar. Decant the oil into a measuring jug and stir in the tumeric, cumin seeds and crumbled pepper. Pour the oil to come to the very top of the jars (and if you need more than 500ml to do this then simply add more -- if the limes aren't submerged you'll get mold). Close and put away in a dark place. Leave for at least 3 weeks before eating. The longer you leave them, the more tender and exquisite they are.

This recipe comes from the book I just won't shut up about, Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000


Three weeks. I'd better start now, then.

Jackie, have you ever actually eaten them? Cuz if you have and you think they're good, I'll try making them.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000


Jackie, when I saw the word "stoked" at the bottom of my monitor, I thought "that post must be Jackie's." Heh. I think your gifts sound good and I especially like the idea of including serving suggestions because people like me would need and appreciate them.

And Keli and I were just talking about the fudge and the mix CDs last night. We're all in the crafty mindset, huh? My relatives always love fudge. Maybe your peeps were just sad coz they knew they'd gobble it all down that night.

Nicole, I'm running to see your soap link. Have you seen those soaps by Primal Tendencies? They're loaf soaps made so that they have little pictures when you slice them. Like there's a clear one with a big, black telephone shape, or a light green glycerine with a darker green glycerine fish... They're horribly expensive but I always buy them, anyway. Let me look and see if they have a website, because if you haven't seen them, it'd be a good idea source for you. (NOT that you haven't come up with zillions of good ideas on your own, though, coz I'm sure you have.)

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000


I haven't eaten them before, but I have to say that I enjoy limes anyway, and I enjoy sour things, like pickles. In the preface to the recipe, Nigella says, 'You either have a sour tooth or you don't -- I do.' So do I, so I'm going to make them.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000

I wish I had friends around here who I could do crafts with...Are there such things as craft groups? Cuz I was much better at making stuff when I was at school and I could compare my work to that of my fellow classmates as we worked.

Everyone's invited to my house for arts and crafts! (I just realised that craft groups do exist, but they're called arts and crafts groups. Der.)

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000



Oh, and there's a whole chapter in this book on cooking projects you can do with your kids -- the fudge recipe is in there, and it looks totally easy, so I think I'll do that too. (I also have been looking at websites for children's gardening projects because I'm a novice at that too, and hope that if it's easy enough for a child to do, maybe I won't fuck it up too badly.)

AND there's a recipe in the children's section for a candy called Rocky Road, which look like chocolate-covered peanut clusters but have mini-marshmallows and brazil nuts in them. I think I might make those, too, and put them in pretty tins. A relative of mine makes chocolate-covered peanut clusters at Christmas, using melted Ghiardelli chocolate, and they're wonderful.

I'm losing control, people.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000


Oh, yeah, I always make stuff for Christmas. At first it started due to lack of funds, and then I kept it up because it seemed more practical and thoughtful than (as Dave Barry says), "Oh look! I bought you a gift!". There's always people you don't know especially well that you end up giving gifts. I make about 12 billion fancy cookies for that purpose. A mixture, so people can toss the ones they don't like and eat the rest.

I also like making my daughter's gifts. One year I took a clear green sweater box, and decorated it to look like an underwater kingdom. Then I put in dollar-store/closeout Little Mermaid figures (which she loves). It's still one of her favorite toys, and because it's self-contained, she takes it everywhere.

I really love the kind of gift, bought or made, that says someone was thinking about what I'd like. Everytime my husband makes me agility equipment or buys me dog-stuff instead of taking the easy way out and going for jewelry, he gets that many more marriage bonus points.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000


Gwen, not only have I seen those soaps, I have some. They were all over the stores in Florida. I just got one with a dolphin in it, and one with a sailboat. I've made soaps with a butterfly in it, and I have the makings for loaf soap with a heart in it.

I have also made x-mas tree ornaments that people claimed to have liked.

Jackie, if you can't find a group of friends to do crafts with, your local craft store may have classes you can take. Michael's always has some sort of class every week.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000


I just went crazy making those gylcerin soaps with things embedded in them....I got blocks of glycerin at Hobby Lobby, and went and bought plastic bugs and rubber ducks and even a six-armed rubber Vishnu from Toy Joy down on Guadalupe to embed in soaps...you just melt the glycerin in the microwave, pour it into a paper cup or some such mold,a nd stick the toy in it. They came out really cute, and it was pretty cheap and so much fun to make them.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000

Oooh, I am so excited to make soap now. I'm making soap for everyone.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000

This morning I promised myself that I'd clear a space in my sewing room and get started on my xmas crafting. So far I've only played online instead.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000

Most of my recent Christmases have been fraught with homemade gifts (because I'm cheap and broke). I think as long as what you make doesn't look as cheap as it is, you're OK. ALSO I usually only make gifts for women... men don't seem to appreciate crafty things quite as much as women do.

One Christmas I crocheted doilies. One Christmas I made a "family tree" in a shadow box out of real twigs, with a paper leaf for each family member (with each name on a leaf). I got that idea from Martha Stewart. I just did one for my mom and one for my mother-in- law. One Christmas was Embroidery Christmas: tree ornaments for those "less important" people, pillow cases for mother-in-law, and a plaque/framed wall-hanging about my (dead) grandpa for my mom. This Christmas I am making mother-in-law a shadow box containing a baby outfit which both her son and my son have worn (and other little mementos), and I am making father-in-law a John Deere throw blanket (which he can take with him on the truck, lest mother-in-law have a heart attack over a green-and-yellow blanket in her mauve living room). Haven't thought of an idea for my parents yet... maybe soap??

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000


Thanks, Gwen! In fact, I just made another braclet for my 10 year old niece this morning. I used smaller beads this time, though.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000

Kathy, those shadowboxes sound cool. And many times I've been deterred by the yellow and green of the John Deere print. I wish they'd make another one in blue and yellow or something.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000

You all are so cool. Last year I had a Christmas ornament party and people loved it. They all clapped for each "entry" and the winner got one of those life-size chickens from Michael's that has the real feathers. I think they're supposed to go on hay bales for western parties. They were fighting over it!

Jackie - where'd you get the figs in rum and the chutney recipes? Are they from that same Goddess book? They sound really good. PS _ I know you were laughing a few months ago at this, but people have been asking me to make Jammie Dodgers again for Christmas...yummm

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000


All those recipes are from the same book, How to Be a Domestic Goddess. I'm interviewing the author this week and am pooping myself.

Gwen, is it okay if I post the recipe here, or would you rather not clog up the boards with that? I won't be offended if you tell us to take it to email -- not MUCH, anyway.

(Just kidding.)

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000


I want the recipe!

Because of you guys I got all crafty today and tried to make another loaf soap with a heart in it. I forgot to move the plastic mold when I was melting more soap, and the mold kind of got melted in one corner. Oops. I also made some oatmeal scrubbies, and a dinosaur soap.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000


Here's the recipe for the Figs in Rum Syrup. Again, it's copyright Nigella Lawson: 1kg black figs (about 18)
500g caster sugar (granulated is okay)
500ml water
75ml white rum, plus 2 tablespoons (30ml) and more as needed
1 x 1-litre jar

Wash the figs and wash dry with [paper towels] -- gently so as not to break the tender skin -- and set aside in a colander while you get on with the syrup. Put the sugar and water in a large pan and bring slowly to the boil, so that the sugar's dissolved before the liquid reaches boiling point. Let the syrup bubble away for 15 minutes -- not too vociferously but don't, either, let it dwindle to a simmer. Take off the heat, add the 75ml of rum and, gently, the figs. Swill the pan so that the figs are more or less covered and cook at a simmer for about 90 minutes with the lid on at an angle, so that the heat doesn't build up too much, but not too much liquid evaporates. Every now and again, using wooden spatulas or some other tool that won't tear the figs' skin, turn the figs so that all parts are covered and cooked equally.

Remove the figs to the clean preserving jar, put the juices back on the heat, and let boil for 10 minutes to reduce further. Remove from the heat, add the 2 tablespoons of white rum, stir to combine and pour over the figs in the jar. If there's not enough syrup to cover them, pour in more rum.

Close the lid and leave in a dark, cool place for at least six weeks and not more than six months. Makes enough to fill a 1-litre jar.

(According to the book, these are at their very best about 3-4 months after bottling, eaten with vanilla ice cream.)

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000


I often make things out of wood as gifts, but it's too complicated to explain here. If you're stumped for ideas, you can go to:

www.soyouwanna.com

And it will tell you how to do just about anything. Another neat site on that level is:

www.howstuffworks.com

It explains how things work (duh) and by doing so tells you how to make a lot of stuff.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000


I'm getting all excited jut reading this. I have to go out *tomorrow* and get vodka to make liquer, jackie. Slightly drunk people are fun on holidays.

What am I making this year? I don't know yet. I'm planning on forcing some bulbs and I need to have them in by this weekend at the very latest. I want to help my son write a book that we can do a very small print-run of.

Soap sounds good, but I might run out of time. I mostly hate baking, but Chris made excellent shortbread last year. He says that he'd like to do so again.

I have to get moving and finish a felt doll that I have in on the hipmama auction (fund-raiser).

Gwen made me the most kick-ass mix cd. And included a cartoon and a waxed maple leaf. I wish I was that crafty.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000


Don't forget to get the cheapest vodka you can find! That's what Nigella says to do, anyway. (Yeah, she's pretty much my hero these days.)

I wish I could make something to give to my nieces (aged 3 and 2), but they'd probably choke on a beaded necklace or bracelets.

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2000


One year, a friend of mine made everyone homemade gifts and then got me something from the store. I was incredibly pissed. I felt like she had spent a lot of time and effort thinking about other people and spent 3 seconds deciding to get me a gift certificate. I'm an ungrateful harpy, I know, but I really do think it's the thought that counts.

I'm kitchen challenged so I tend to not make food for people. What I do is get them *ingredients* for stuff, stick it in a cute basket and make a little recipe card or something. This year, my bf--who is an excellent chef--is cooking for everyone, I'm so excited. I'm totally going to pass it off as my own work. bwa ha ha.

Aside from that, I'm making a calendar for my family. I've got the Photoshop and Calendar software, plus I have access to one of those binding machines. I made a pretty extensive list of everyone's b- days, school vacation days, anniversaries, etc. I've been collecting photos from everyone all year, including some childhood pics that I "borrowed" from my mom's house, so it should be pretty good.

I'm also gonna try that soap! weee!

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2000


Gardanna, when I made a calendar, I included the birthdays of famous people born on the same days as my relatives. They really seemed to enjoy that.

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2000

ooo! good idea! Just in case anyone else is doing this, I found this website: http://www.famousbirthdays.com

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2000

I come from an artsy family that also loves food, so we have all always been into hand made gifts. For my nieces I once made cloth dolls and made the eye and hair colors the same as theirs. I once made salsa in decorated mason jars and the men especially loved it. My brother once brought fresh baked loaves of french bread for everyone at Christmas. One of my sisters makes hand made block- print Christmas cards every year. They are always late, but they are beautiful and I have saved them all and framed several of them. This same sister now has a lot of $$$$$ and she still makes hand-made gifts, just bigger and better ones, like 5 foot tall wooden Santas for your yard or a whole wooden nativity scene. My other sister made the cutest little pin cushions last year. I like getting hand made stuff but I haven't made any for a long time cuz I don't have the time anymore. Now I just shop online.

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2000

I made the most kick-ass rag doll yesterday. It's the best one I've ever made and I'm so, so proud.

It's the details that made it the coolest: 58 braids for hair, each one wound at the bottom with red thread; felt sandals on her feet, an appliqued carrot on her dress.

whoo=hoo!

[shameless plug] The item described above is up for a benefit auction at hipmama. Here is where to head if you'd like to read a full description of the item and go to that bid. [/shameless plug]

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000


Sask, that doll sounds incredible! If I had a little girl to buy it for, I would! I looked at some of the stuff on auction, and I think I'm going to bid for the handmade x-mas cards. Thanks for telling me about this auction! If I can't make stuff on my own for x-mas, I'll buy handmade stuff.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000

Thanks, Nicole. I'm pretty pleased with it myself. It took a hecka long time though (about ten hours). There are some really good things up for auction. I was admiring those hand-made Christmas cards too.

I think Gwen's going to put up a cartoon there too (signed and everything, I heard).

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2000


Lessee...have made flavoured vodkas, baked cookies, made dolls, made ornaments, painted, made jewelry, made purses...I usually wrap gifts in something creative/interesting and put unusual items on top, like I fastened chocolate coins and mini-ornaments last year and have put earrings on bigger packages, put Fimo/Sculpey dolls on others...I'm all about making stuff. And luckily my family likes what I make.

I've sold stuff I've made, so I guess it's okay, but I always feel kinda guilty when I don't also get them a little store-bought thing. It's weird guilt, like, if I don't get them a little something that's store-bought/returnable, then I'm saying, egotistically, that my home- made stuff is SO COOL they couldn't possibly be disappointed or unhappy with it. And 'take it or leave it'. You know?

I know. I'm weird. *sigh*

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2000


ma used to make pikeled eggs every xmas i hope i get some this year!! i tryed to amke them once but that were gross!!! this year im broked cuz i spent alot of money in my wdding that did'nt happen so i thnik im gonne just give some paintby numbers picktures.

-- Anonymous, November 19, 2000

Floosie, you might want to look into auctioning your paint-by- numbers on eBay. I've seen them go for some pretty good prices there.

-- Anonymous, November 19, 2000

I made the pineapple chutney tonight and oh my gawd, it's like a religious experience. I honestly had no idea how it would turn out (mustard seeds? Turmeric? Oookay...), but it is amazing. I'm going to make a ton of this stuff and keep it in the house at all times. It's savoury enough to use to glaze a ham or to serve as a sauce with ham, but it's sweet enough to have with a pot of fromage frais or yoghurt.

I also made apple butter without a recipe, and it's pretty good too. I'm loving this easy shit.

-- Anonymous, November 23, 2000


Not to give as presents, but I want to make stockings from a kit. I remember making one when I was a kid. I'd like something different than just the plain red and white ones.

-- Anonymous, November 25, 2000

I rock. I think that needs to be said. Joe's school is having a bake and craft sale on Thursday. And I made possibly the most kick- ass homemade play-dough I have ever seen. Ha! Take that massive lack of baking/cookie making skills. I don't need you anyway.

I made three batches of this playdough recipe (if you'd like a reasonable sized batch make only 1/3).

6 cups flour 3 cups salt 12 tsp. cream of tartar 12 tblsp. cooking oil

Sort of sift this together until well-mixed. Then add 6 cups of boiling water and stir as hard as you can for as long as you can. (If you want colour or scent, disolve it into the first pint of boiling water so that it spreads evenly.) When the mix cools down so that you can touch it, knead until smooth.

So I made one batch of red, one batch of yellow, and one batch of blue. When everything was kneaded and smooth, I cut each lump of coloured dough in half and then halved one of the halves. Then I made green, purple, and orange with the stuck together primary halves. Then Chris and I divided each colour into sixteen even (or close to even) chunks. We had purchased clear plastic pint containers from the grocery deli and, after we rolled the coloured dough into cylinders, each container got a cylinder of each colour.

Then I made labels on my computer with a little 'rainbow play-dough gif' and the recipe.

I'm making this sound really complex, but it wasn't. AND they look gorgeous. We made fourteen for the sale and kept a double batch in an old peanut butter container for Joe to play with.

-- Anonymous, November 25, 2000


Sask, that rocks!

Yesterday I was with my mother at a gift shop and saw these cool candles that were decorated with different beads, and they were selling them for about $20-25 each. I looked at them closely, decided I could do the same thing they did, and went out and got cheap candles and some beads and made some nice gifts. My mom was so impressed she bought candles and beads and is going to make some today.

-- Anonymous, November 26, 2000


I'm resurrecting this topic for Eva.

I don't have time to make much DIY stuff for xmas this year, sadly. I've been thinking about making little personalized booklets for my kids, though. Secret booklets with funny pictures and fill-in-the- blank stuff. I need to hurry up and create those so I can (ahem) have them printed in time.

On a completely unrelated side note: my workplace has a really good color printer.

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2001


I've been making gel candles, hand lotion, and cookies in a jar to give away as gifts.

The gel and hand lotion base you can order through www.gelcandleshop.com and you can also order colors and scents and all sorts of cool stuff for candles and lotions through them.

And I've been getting info from www.cookiesinajar.com for the gift jars. Pretty inexpensive, and I think people who like to bake would enjoy the gifts.

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2001


I'm doing TDIFY: "Target Does it For You" this year. Having produced the first grandchild on both sides, I'm having Target make calendars with 12 photos of my daughter. They're only $20 each which is affordable. They also did my Xmas card this year for next to nothing. I have always made my own cards and hope to again next year but everyone loves a picture of a baby, right? Well, maybe not everybody, but that's what they're getting anyway. Like it or not.

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

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