Wayward Girls' Crafts: special gifts

Showing posts with label special gifts. Show all posts

Fast, easy, fantastic: quick thank you gifts for teachers!

We often give gifts to our kids' teachers at the end of the school year. A couple years ago, I hit on a gift idea that became a favorite: a "spa kit." (This may have been inspired by a birthday gift from Mom.) After a long, stressful school year, teachers need to relax! What better way than a spa kit?

I made the spa kit easy on myself: I hit up the dollar store and put together a basket or gift bag of things like exfoliating scrubbies, eye masks, bubble bath, bath pillows, lotion and scented candles. This year, I made the spa kits even more special with the addition of handmade "spa cloths."

The handmade gifts add an extra touch, and they're super quick to make: it took under three hours to make the first set of five hearts. I already had the yarn from another project, so it was no extra cost. Plus, there are tons of cool crochet or knitting patterns online for free (Ravelry lists over 4500 patterns, but you might need to be logged in to see them)!

The spa cloths came especially in handy with my two-year-old accidentally spilled her water bottle all over us and one of the gift bags. They got their very first use right away!

Want to make your child's teacher gift even more special? Have them write a thank you note, mentioning their favorite activities or memories of the school year!

My spa cloth projects on Ravelry

Patterns
Sweet Somethings (heart) by Julie of Simply Notable
Leafy Washcloth by Megan Goodacre of Tricksy Knitter (with mods from Ravelry user Penserosa--decreases at edge)
(Also to come: Starfish Cloth by Dione Read of Sew Funky)

Yarns
Hearts
Peaches & Cream in Hot Blue
Lion Brand Microspun in Red

Leaves
Knit Picks Shine Sport in Green Apple (held double for the larger leaf)

(Starfish will be done in Knit Picks Shine Worsted in Snapdragon)

Scrabble Board Present

Every year we draw names in November and exchange presents on Christmas Eve. These presents are usually homemade or personalized. We call this Gift From the Heart. This year, don't tell her, I got my grandma. She loves Scrabble. I saw something similar to this online somewhere and knew I could do something like this for my Grandma this year. I spelled out all 12 grandkids names in Scrabble letters. We were a few letters short but I thought I could figure out some good ways to connect names and such. I ended up having to add the word "love" (yes, I know "av" isn't a word, this is the only way it would work!) to get everyone to fit. And...if you look closely I made another "J" and "H" tile on the blank tiles with a sharpie. I'm sure you can buy some additional Scrabble tiles online but I figured why not just try. Using Tacky Glue, I very carefully glued on the tiles, making sure they were straight and aligned. What do you think? Be nice, this took me a couple of hard hours to do!

I also added "Grandma" to the top where the WGC logo is but forgot to take a picture!

What I'm making for Christmas

Unfortunately, most of the people I'm giving gifts to read (or write!) this blog, so I can't share some of my cool ideas. But a few people don't, so I can share some gift ideas of what I'm hoping to make for Christmas gifts.

My older daughter is taking a ballet class, and I worry about her getting cold on the drive, so I want to make her a set (and my younger daughter will surely want a set, too, so she can also be a "bahweena!") of these:

Leg warmers (I'll probably add some poofy edging on the top)

Source: ravelry.com via Jordan on Pinterest

Ballerina shrug (with no finishing!)

Source: ravelry.com via Jordan on Pinterest

I think my older daughter's will be off-white and my younger daughter's will be lavender.

For my son, I've almost finished a red version of this Hallows Cardigan (based on a sweater Ron wears in one of the Harry Potter movies):

Source: ravelry.com via Jordan on Pinterest

(My husband reads the blog, so, sweetheart, YOU GET NOTHING.)

And then for some other family members (who are NOT my sisters, though I love you all), I love finding useful little things that you'd never think of, but use constantly.

This is hard. But sometime last fall, I came across this:

Source: simplicity.com via Jordan on Pinterest

It's an organizer that hangs on the back of a car seat. And yes, it's sewn, not knit. I could definitely use one of these, and I think most families could, too.

Of course, I can't forget me! I should ask for some yarn to indulge, right? Probably some time around Valentine's day, I might be ready to start a BIG project for myself: