I'm not a super crafty person. I have never woken up in the morning and thought to myself, "I'd like to get out the hot glue gun today." If I have creative energy, I write something. When we were on the farm, I used my creative muscles to churn out 50 to 100 flower bouquets every week during the season.
I'm not bad at crafts, but I don't have the patience that being a "crafter" requires.
That said, I'm grateful that I have some crafty skills to fall back on every Christmas. I know the basics on a sewing machine. I have one simple embroidery stitch that I can use to make an iron-on pattern come to life. I am familiar with mod podge applications and know that even a simple art project looks near professionally done if put on canvas or framed.
We had some lean years on the farm in which my crafting skills allowed us to give decent homemade gifts to everyone in our fairly large families. Things aren't quite as lean, anymore, but the sense of frugality has endured. We've started planning this year's project already, and while I can't reveal that one here, I thought I'd share some that have worked well for us in the past.
1. Ugly Doll Pillows
Have you seen these things? They are like tiny stuffed monsters, and there is a pillow variety you can view here. I kind of love them, but the number of our small nieces and nephews X $20 was an obstacle. So I spent $30 on felt and fleece and stuffing and made 7 of these with my sewing machine. Pretty quick. Super easy. Big hit.
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