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Homemade gifts are the best kind of gifts.
With just a little imagination, items for every room of the house can be created and given to loved ones for birthdays, Christmas, and special occasions. Items that last the test of time include special photos placed in handmade photo frames, recipe book holders with family recipes already tucked inside, pillowcases embroidered with the recipient’s name, and culinary wreaths created with special scented herbs from your own garden.
A mosaic picture frame created from broken dish pieces, shells, river pebbles, beach glass, or old buttons will be treasured for a lifetime. Use buttons taken from your child’s favorite clothing items after they have outgrown them, or buttons from Grama’s button jar–buttons you and your own child played with when you were toddlers–and glue them onto an inexpensive photo frame. Paint the background accordingly. In other words, if the photo inside is one of your latest Granddaughter, maybe a light pink or lavender background and pastel buttons would look lovely on her dresser.
If the photo you’re sending is one of your sister’s family building a sand castle on Lake Huron, frame the moment with beach glass picked at the same beach. If you don’t have enough glass, add small shells, marbles, or several coins. Anything that could be picked on the beach will do.
When creating the picture frame, use the picture as a guide. If it’s a cheerleading photo, cut out a hole in the middle of a high school football program–preferably one from their school–and mount it over the frame. Paste movie ticket stubs haphazardly around the frame, or use fabric in colors that symbol the school colors.
Recipe book holders are family treasures. Every family has special recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation. But, not every member of the family have all of these recipes memorized, especially the younger segment of the family tree. Make a recipe book out of a plain photo album, or purchase a blank recipe book. Fill in all the family recipes you can think of and add recipes this particular family member has enjoyed over the years. It doesn’t matter if it was something simple like frozen Kool-Aid. Add the recipe–the sentimentality and memories it will bring will be well worth it! If there’s time, pass the book around to other family members and encourage them to add one or two of their favorite and/or personal reciipes.
Pillow cases and sheets embroidered with a loved one’s name is priceless. In the first place, embroidered sheet sets and pillowcases are expensive and time consuming. Trust me, they will be appreciated! The only thing I suggest is that before you begin with any pattern, make sure you aren’t adding flowers and intricate designs to a pillowcase for Susie if she prefers less cluttered items. Make her’s with straight, clean lines and don’t get fancy. If in doubt, ask. And don’t use bold colors if Mary likes pastels. Even though it’s your gift and you may enjoy the more bold colors and intricate detail, if the recipient doesn’t, the work will have been for naught. If you insist on going bright and flowery, check first, some surprises aren’t that welcome. On the other hand, if your design will be personalized with name, initials, or with a pet’s name...I say use the surprise approach.
Throw pillow covers filled with embroidery are beautiful, as are baby bibs, toaster covers, and aprons. Do not, however, embroider a child’s name on their sweatshirt, t-shirt, or hat. When a child’s name is made public on his/her clothing, strangers are more likely to strike up a conversation, calling them by name, and the child is more likely to be less frightened of strangers, and in today’s world that is not a healthy way to bring up a child.
Culinary wreaths, or wreaths created from dried flowers and shrubbery is another excellent gift. Dry a variety of herbs from the garden and weave them into a wreath. If you haven’t used pesticides, the herbs will be perfect for cooling use throughout the winter months. Even if you haven’t used pesticides, I suggest you wash the herbs thoroughly before hanging to dry and then to use the brown sack method described below.
Cheyenne peppers wrapped on a ring make a festive wreath and are great when making hot dishes.
If your aunt loves zinnias and boxwood, and you have them in your yard, take advantage of the situation. Cut the zinnias in their prime and dry them in a dark place. (Boxwood can be used green.) The best way to do this is to tie a rubber band around the stems of several flowers, punch air holes into a brown paper sack, and insert the flowers. Hang the sack from the rafters of the garage by gathering the end with the stems sticking out, wrap with another rubber band and hook on a nail. The same goes with nearly every flower and shrub. Of course the foliage will shrink, wrinkle, and discolor, but if you keep that in mind and gather more than you think you will need, you’ll be all set.
The wreath may be created with green items or dry items. Colored items will lose some of their brilliance, that is to be expected. The sun will bleach out the colors before you know what happened, so remember the paper bag method. Use holly shrubs for a thick leaf with a seasonal flare, or rose hips. My favorite wreaths, and the ones my sisters love the best, are the holly–nothing else–or the rose hips. I use small 6-8 inch rings and wrap the rose hips or holly in bunches of about two 4-6 inch stems at a time. The finished product is airy and beautiful. (You’ll need lots of Band-Aids.)
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