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November's giving away to December, SASS is about to drop, and you have no idea what to get aunt Norma for the annual gift exchange. Also, if you're like me, you have no money. Fortunately, there's another option: DIY gifts! Cheap (usually) and automatically thoughtful. A win-win. I enjoyed the DIY thread last year and didn't see a new one around, so I thought I'd bring up the subject again. Post your past DIY gifts and share new ones you'd like to try! I'll start with a few I've found to be well-received. Flavored Custom Sugar Cubes  Infused sugars tutorial Basic sugar cube tutorial This tutorial uses a small cookie cutter as a mold, but silicone ice cube trays also make excellent molds for sugar. An easy project, though it requires an element of forethought since the sugar needs to infuse for a while. The cubes also take a day or two to dry. If you started it now, you could easily have a batch of sugar cubes ready for the holidays! I'm making a batch of mint and a batch of citrus sugars this year, so once I get them molded into individual cubes I'll post em up. They're a great gift for a tea drinker since it's tough to find (good) flavored sugars in stores, and it costs an arm and a leg for sugar lumps that aren't in cube shape. Candy Vodka  Skittles Vodka Jolly Ranchers Vodka It might seem cheesy, but present this stuff at a holiday party and it completely vanishes. You can use basically any hard candy for this, and the sugary sweets mask the off flavor of even the most bottom-shelf booze. A classier option is to infuse with vanilla bean or orange peels, but like the sugars, it takes a good few weeks. Salt Dough Ornaments  Salt dough can be stamped, impressed with textures, painted, etc. The classic recipe is 1 part salt, 1 part water, 2 parts flour, baked at 250f for 2-4 hours. They don't last forever, though, so you may want to either seal them or work with a longer lasting clay if you dream of heirlooms. Star Wars Snowflakes  Instructions here. These were posted in the last thread, and they're too good to forget! I've mostly posted projects that are accessible to most skill levels, but I usually sew toys and sculpt/paint/etc. as well. Past projects and future ambitions would all be topical!
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Nov 30, 2014 04:11
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 05:23 |
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Cool! My husband and I own a coffee roasting company (check us out in the SA Mart) so lots of people will be getting fresh coffee this year  I'm still thinking of other little gifts I can make. I started with these cinnamon ornaments, much like the salt dough ones you posted above.  http://www.katyelliott.com/blog/2011/12/cinnamon-applesauce-heart-ornaments.html Then I'm going to make cinnamon pancake mix from this link (sorry for Pinterest screen shot)  http://tatertotsandjello.com/2014/11/happy-holidays-cinnamon-shake-pour-pancakes-jar-gift-idea.html I'm also going to make homemade foaming hand soap as soon as I find the soap containers. I have all the ingredients. Also going to get some fleece and make legit easy fringed blankets because I'm just a novice sewer. I'm more of an advanced knitter but with my job and 2 year old I have been working on the same cowl for months, a row at a time it seems. One thing I would like to make if I have time and can find cool fishing lures is this for my brother (for real not going to spend a thousand dollars getting it from Anthropology).  Looking forward to seeing other ideas!
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Nov 30, 2014 19:08
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YAY I was hoping this thread would pop up. This year I'm going back to making candies, thinking caramels, candied nuts and of course have to have some [url="http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/easy-oreo-truffles-95085.aspx"]Oreo truffles[/url Anyone have tips for salt dough or air dry clay? I wanted to do some ornaments, but the air dry clay was this wet sticky mess that I couldn't manage to do anything with and then my salt dough stuff burned.
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Nov 30, 2014 23:56
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SASS2013
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Any links to previous years' threads?
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Dec 1, 2014 01:58
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frenchnewwave posted:
This is awesome, thanks for the suggestion. There's now going to be a lot of co-workers enjoying my specially labelled 'gently caress Yeah Pancakes'
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Dec 1, 2014 03:14
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mick ohio posted:Any links to previous years' threads? Found them! 2013 2012 2011
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Dec 1, 2014 11:56
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Oh, good, I was just thinking that this thread was due again. Last year, I made gift baskets filled with Brickle, Oreo Balls made from Trader Joes candy cane Jo Jos, 2 jars of wine jelly(1 each red and white), and a big bottle of Coquito. It worked out pretty well, and this year I'm going to do something kind of similar. We're thinking of making fudge, more Oreo Balls, maybe more Brickle, and I still have to think of something alcoholic for the adults. If anyone wants to try the Coquito recipe, by the way, do what I did and use cinnamon sticks and whole cloves instead of ground, and put those, the vanilla, water, and a bit of sugar into a pot and make an infused simple syrup instead of just blending it all together. The test batch I made needed a bit of extra sweetness anyway, and the infusion just tasted better than the ground spices for some reason.
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Dec 2, 2014 02:56
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I am doing homemade vanilla in little 4oz bottles with legit labels and all. My wife is doing lavender sugar with lavender from our garden and whipped coconut oil lotions for the ladies. frenchnewwave, Specialtybottle.com has foaming hand soap containers. They are pretty cheap looking plastic though. I picked up a couple of them with my last order and they work great, but definitely look inexpensive. I'm hoping to classy ours up with some decent spray painting.
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Dec 2, 2014 18:23
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frenchnewwave posted:
Phone posting so I can't give you an exact link, but Wholesale Supplies Plus sells foaming hand soap containers.
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Dec 2, 2014 23:15
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Thanks guys! I'll check em out!
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Dec 2, 2014 23:40
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Now that I'm not on my phone, I'll dump some DIY projects that are easy but impressive: Wood Photo Transfers  These are relatively easy to make, but you can gently caress it up if you aren't careful by rubbing too much off. Glitter Ornaments Using Floor Wax  I hear Mop and Glo works if you can't find the Pledge floor wax. Since the glitter is on the inside, no glitter mess everywhere. The same technique can be done with swirling paint or cheap nail polish on the inside for a different, non glitter look. Even melting crayons looks cool. Wax Tarts  You can use small soap molds or silicone molds instead of the clamshells, but it's best to devote any molds you do use to craft use only because the scents may not be food contact safe/make your food taste weird if you use them again. Solid Perfume  Base+skin safe fragrance oil=yum. Lip Balm From a Premade Base  Premade bases= no need to buy a ton of waxes and oil, just the base, tubes and flavor. There's also a three ingredient Coffee Balm recipe. Duck Soap  M&P is easy: melt soap, add color and fragrance, pour. You can do plenty of cool poo poo with it. Peppermint bark soap, lotion soap, and here's a basic M&P tutorial that isn't quite as grating as earlier Soap Queen videos. Motherfucking PEPPERMINT BARK  Make a lot of this because you will not be able to help but to eat a shitton of it. I usually use almond bark because it's less finicky than chocolate. Crush candy canes, spread chocolate layer, let set, spread white chocolate and sprinkle crushed candy canes on top of the white chocolate while it's still liquid. Break into pieces, eat a lot. Layered Baking Mixes  Edible sand art. Infused Booze  Also check the thread in GWS for tips on infusing. Some stuff won't be ready by Christmas, though.
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Dec 3, 2014 04:08
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Totes interested in those glitter ornaments. I love glitter. Might add that to my list. Also going to consider that peppermint bark! I usually do fruit and nuts in chocolate but I love mint and chocolate. I also got my foaming soap bottles in the mail, thanks for the recommendations! I'll be making peppermint hand soap soon. I was going to make my coworkers cookie mix in a jar (cowboy / cowgirl cookies) but I have a lot of coworkers so that could get expensive. Instead I'm going to make a big batch of these chocolate pretzels. Made a trial batch tonight and they are yummy. 
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Dec 7, 2014 00:10
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Some friends of mine put on an annual white elephant ornament exchange. My entry this year is this:  I made a tiny blizzard book and put it inside a plastic ornament from michael's, then I added ribbon and plastic Christmas lights and snowflakes.
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Dec 7, 2014 23:32
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This thread is so my jam. I should post every day. Do y'all yarn? You should yarn. You can learn pretty quick off of YouTube. My mother in law requested this hat after she saw me sporting it. I think I made it for my SASS swap partner too last year. This is a free crochet pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bobble-slouch-beret I am a terrible knitter and I found these knitted mittens to be pretty easy. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/toasty-knitted-mittens
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Dec 8, 2014 00:50
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I knit and may make a few more washcloths before Xmas but since I have no free time it takes me 100000 years to finish a project (give or take). If I start now I might have knitted gifts for Xmas 2015 
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Dec 8, 2014 01:35
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I miss when this thread was in GBS. I completely couldn't find it last year and I was really sad. That being said, I've tried a lot of the recipes from old threads and can say that the Brickle, the Cheese Straws, the Skittles Vodka, and the Pomegranate Jelly are all excellent. Once all of my gifts are made I'll post photos. Here are some tasty things I'm making this year: +Super Moist Pumpkin Bread No seriously it's delicious even though its vegan +Chocolate Ganache Truffles I use coconut milk instead of cream because I think it holds a little better and I also play around with flavors. I've made orange truffles recently but I think I'm going to do half-orange and half-Bailey's this year. +Raspberry Chocolates I really like making chocolates which you could probably already tell. Its pretty simple to devote a day to the truffles and to making and filling homemade chocolates. I'm using a simple raspberry filling and for the fillings. The rest is just Ghirardelli chocolae with a little bit of coca butter added to make it shiny. +Honey Mustard I already bought a cute pile of antique jars to fill with this mustard. It was about $10 for 1lb each of yellow and brown mustard seeds. I haven't tried it yet but it looks like it'll be delicious. I made my own labels in photoshop so they're extra cute. +Italian Herb Mix I had a small herb garden this year and throughout the year I snipped and dried herbs for presents. I made four small 4oz jars full of Italian Herb mix (Rosemary, Basil, Oregano) with the Ball herb lids. They came out super cute as well. +Garlic Rosemary Olive Oil I made a bunch of little bottles of this for my wedding and my in-laws have been asking for me to make them some more. I made two big bottles this year, one for my parents and one for my husband's parents. I think I made mine a bit too strong though so in future I'll use less rosemary or not chop the leaves before hand. If you have the time, you can just wash, dry, and then 'bruise' a sprig or two and leave it in the bottle for several months. The cooking method works too though!
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Dec 8, 2014 02:14
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frenchnewwave posted:I knit and may make a few more washcloths before Xmas but since I have no free time it takes me 100000 years to finish a project (give or take). If I start now I might have knitted gifts for Xmas 2015 I started last January, not lying.
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Dec 8, 2014 06:56
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Feel free to use any of these idea but I want pictures if you do. For kids I make up little books about them: http://subversivecrafting.blogspot.com/2010/10/books-about-you.html or felt if they are really little:  CharlotteSiblings get merit badges this year:  Merit Badges Merit Badges Merit BadgesLast year was from my obsession with Community:  Community
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Dec 8, 2014 18:13
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 05:23 |
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Budget is a little tight this year, so I'm planning to do a lot of food gifts. I ended up buying way too many oranges recently, so candied orange peel is in the works. I've never made it before but it looks super easy. Does anyone have a favorite method? I'm also planning to do candied ginger and peppermint bark because they're both really easy and tend to go over well. These fingerless gloves are super quick and easy to knit, if you do yarn. I've made them for myself and my husband, and it probably only took 1-2 nights per pair. Mine took a little longer because I was stashbusting and used two different yarns (and also ended up a bit shorter..) The gray pair is Vicki Howell Sheep(ish) held double, and the red/black may or may not be Brown Sheep bulky. I don't know, I got it from a friend. Either way they're super warm.  
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Dec 8, 2014 21:32
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