Holiday Gifts. Anyone making them?

[katlnhats]

Kirsey,

I'd love to hear that, the fleece towels and also try it Now... about those sugar cookies... LOL

Kat

[katlnhats]

Bestmidwest,

Crocheted dish towels come out so nice Everyone that's "ever" attempted to teach me how to crochet, knows after awhile that I'm a lost cause. I won't even go into "how" many have tried. I wish I could.... but I really do make a mess.
The things in a jar? You mean foods, right? There's some great recipes for those and they make really good gifts too!

Kat

[Kygal2003]

I would LOVE to make some Christmas gifts, but honestly just don't have the time to do so now. One year I made just about all the women and girls on my Christmas list a tote and change purse each. They really enjoyed those!! Last year, I made my mom and grandma each a quilt.

[galena]

I make candied nuts and sugar cookies (the same recipe my Grandmother and Mother made). I limit it to just these 2 items so I don't go crazy making a dozen of this and a dozen of that. Speaking of cookies, my kids have a tradition where they get together with their cousins a few weeks prior to the holiday and have a cookie decorating party. I do all the baking and make several colors of frosting and get all those colored sprinkles, etc. and the kids have a great time. It's fun to see how creative they get!

[Barbi727]

Money is usually tight so i make most of the gifts.i'm giving some paintings i did over the summer,i'll make candles and pillows and angel ornaments.i can't think of what else at the moment.but there are alot of craft sites with cute ideas.

[bestmidwest]

Kat..I know what you mean about the crochet. I like it because I can generally do my own thing and it still comes out ok. I actually made Susan and Eric sweaters last year without a pattern. It gives me the ability to adjust as I go, unlike knitting. My friend keeps trying to get me to knit, but one wrong or dropped stitch and oooops! I have made three of the towel toppers and I'm seriously thinking that's going to be about it. The actual crochet on the topper is fine (takes me about an hour), it's the sewing on the first row that's killing me. I have to take a needle with yarn and make about 100 loops, binding the raw edge down. I know that some people just crochet the topper and sew it to the towel, but I like the way the finished product looks when it's actually crocheted on, it makes it feel more secure to me.

Yes..I was thinking about doing the soup mixes in the jar...like a pretty layered bean soup mix. The only thing is, I have to find jars. Think they would like it just as much in gladware with a pretty bow on top? I would really like to see pictures of your soaps when you are done, especially the kitty ones!

[katlnhats]

Hi,
A good soup mix is a good soup mix, but if you don't use the gladware, check around for canning jar sales, since the season is just about over with - I've gotten some great buys afterwards on those...
I don't have pics of my kittys but I have these... wait, no I don't. LOL I have to upload them to photobucket, I forgot that DoD won't let me do it from the computer. I'll post them here though, or at least the ones I have.

Kat

[yankeedownunder]

Hi,

I'm new here - happened to follow a link I noticed where Kat was talking about the Body Parfaits. As it happens, I am actually the original creator of Body Parfaits back in 1997 in Clearwater Florida, when my company name was The Age of Elegance. If you'd like to see a photo, I'll be glad to post it if I can figure out how

My best friend at the time helped me name the Body Parfaits. She wasn't a toiletry or soap maker but she was good at giving my products their names. I made the mistake of sharing how I made the parfaits (from scratch) to my raw ingredient supplier who was (at the time) located in St. Petersburg, Florida. She has since moved to West Virginia and I to Australia. Anyway, she 'shared' my recipe at a Soapers Convention in South Carolina and forgot to admit it was my recipe and my creation. Oh well - lots of people all over now enjoy the Body Parfait and I'm glad for that. I did write Rachel and ask her to give me credit for the Body Parfait since she had it on her website, but instead she changed an ingredient. It's still intellectual property theft but would have been very expensive for me to try to do anything about it.

So that's the story of the Body Parfait. Created by me, Dianne Watson of The Age of Elegance.

Oh, here we go, I see how to add the photo. :-))

Blessings,
Di

[QwkSand]

I'm not good in making stuff on my own, so I think I'll just save money to buy presents. My siblings aren't that sentimental, anyway; they'd probably just put aside something I'll make. So I'll just buy stuff that will be really useful for them.

Do you guys have any suggestions on what I should buy my brother and father, by the way? I have no clue. As for my sisters... no clue, either... haha... Guess I'll have to take in suggestions for gifts for both men and women!

thanks!

[katlnhats]

Qwksand,
LOL, you're cracking me up! What do they like? Wait... (that's what you asked, kinda, huh?). Hmm, suggestions:
A sweater
Father & Brother - any power tool, they'll want it! LOL
Sisters - little or older?
Perfume or sets, bath sets and if you run out of ideas there's always gift certificates to places they like

Kat

[Debbie42]

Qwksand when my mom passed away she had tons of stuff that people had qiven her that she had never even used. How about have a portrait made of your family as long as you stick just to the special that the store of your choice is offering it is really cheap unusually about 6 bucks put it in a nice frame and give it to your dad as a bonus you have pictures for you and the rest of the family to. Or take him out to a nice restaurant my moms favorite was not really a nice fancy place but to take her to Long John Slivers.

[katlnhats]

Debbie,
What a good idea! My favorite place when we "do" eat anywhere but here isn't fancy either, it's the Diner down the road! But, we like it.

Diana - thanks for doing the picture I didn't know about the name but if you want to keep it yours, you'd have had to trademark it. I've seen them made all different ways, with many different things and it's fun to experiment but you could've kept that name, darn it. By the way, yours look so nice!

Kat

[sunlover5]

Bumping ...
Is anyone making gifts this year?
And if so, what are you making?

I'm making ornaments again this year. Just for family members because I'm so slow at it LOL

[june72]

We make deer jerky for hubbies neices & nephews...they want that over presents.

[sunlover5]

June, that sounds like a great idea -- gifts people actually request and will enjoy eating!

I actually have done so much online shopping since Black Friday that I am more than halfway done with my list It looks like I'll have time to make a few more ornaments plus some candied nuts for the neighbors and coworkers after all.