September 9, 2013

Pinterest DIY Christmas Gift Ideas

Martie Handmade cheap star ornaments, coffee filter chandelier, do it yourself napkin rings, initial door decor, initial door hanging, make handmade placemats, make shirt into pillow, Pinterest DIY Christmas gift ideas, sewing jersey knit fabric, small star ornaments 4 Comments

Pinterest DIY Christmas Gift Ideas

Have I ever told you about that time I made all my Christmas gifts by hand? Today I’m sharing my BEST Pinterest DIY Christmas gift ideas, and these are ones I actually made and gifted to my family! First, I’m sharing a little backstory, so bear with me.


Here’s how it started: I was looking for a way to have a fabulous Christmas without having to sell a kidney. Money was tight, but Christmas is my favorite! I hate the commercial, materialistic aspect of Christmas, but I love the gift-giving aspect of Christmas. So, along about July of that year, I decided I would make all of my Christmas gifts by hand. From the depths of my brain, I pulled out idea after idea. I pored over Pinterest like a mad person. There are TONS of Pinterest DIY Christmas gift ideas, trust me! Madre and I went thrift shopping for inspiration, and then I promptly stole her sewing machine. I worked like a switch-engine on my crafts  day and night, until I skidded into Christmas sideways with all of my handmade gifts.

It was the most joyful Christmas I could remember in a long, long time!

I made several of these small star ornaments out of twigs for our tree, and this was a good picture to get you in the Christmas spirit before looking at all of my handmade gifts. Twigs from the yard, jute twine (<—click to buy!), a hot glue gun (<—click to buy!)  and glitter can make some pretty cute, definitely cheap star ornaments!

Make a Shirt Into a Pillow!

For my little sister, The Squirt, I decided to make a shirt into a pillow. Sewing jersey knit fabric is not a lot of fun, so I must really love The Squirt. I already had the flippin’ sweet Napolean Dynamite shirt, a friend gave me the European Accents one, and the Bonaroo shirt came from a local thrift store.

Squirt has been to Bonaroo, and we watched Napolean Dynamite together for the first time, so these shirts were perfect. Actually, we watched it one night, then watched it again when we got up the next morning. Squirt and I really know how to appreciate stupid humor.

The thing to remember when sewing jersey knit fabric is not to stretch it as you sew, unless your end goal is ruffles. It took me a few practice runs to get this one just right! The Squirt received this cute bag, because she loves the color orange, and she likes floppy bags.  It’s made from a t-shirt, as well; I found my confidence in sewing jersey knit fabric and just kept going!

initial door hanging

This next one was such a fun project, I made some for a few different people. This one is for Jimmie, and I made this initial door decor letter out of foam board and jute twine. The background is an old placemat, but the colors were fun and it works for spring, summer or fall.  I (okay, Coach) used a grommet tool (click this link to buy one!) on this project to add those grommets for hanging it. That’s an interesting little contraption. I love the finished look of the grommets on this initial door hanging, but I’m glad I have a husband who doesn’t mind helping me out! I’m sure I could have used the grommet tool myself if I’d taken the time to practice. 

I think my initial door decor turned out cute, though, eh?  The other two that I made were similar, but I finished those out with fabric flowers and ribbon instead of burlap, and I used store-bought wooden letters like these, which I painted in coordinating colors, to save myself some time and headache. It took forever to wrap that foam letter with jute twine! I gifted these to Coach’s Grandparents and to his Aunt and Uncle. It’s so neat to visit them and see something I made hanging on their doors!

make handmade placemats!

I was proudest of this next group of stuff.  I decided to make handmade placemats, napkins, napkin rings, and kitchen towels for Jimmie.  They are made from a flat sheet and a shower curtain that I found at Goodwill, with a piece of fusible interfacing (<—click to buy my favorite kind!) in the middle to make them more stiff so they’d lay flat. The fabric flowers were cut from a window treatment, also found at Goodwill.  I actually use shower curtains a lot, because there are already button holes in them…I’m not a master of doing those on the sewing machine yet. The hanging tab for that cute kitchen towel needed a button hole…nothing better than having one already built into your fabric!

My do-it-yourself napkin rings were super easy to make! I just cut a section of paper towel tubing and covered it with fabric with my hot glue gun, then added my handmade fabric flowers. The matching kitchen towels were a hit, too! Jimmie was excited that I decided to make handmade placemats and all the accessories for her, because these items were actually on her Christmas list!

coffee filter chandelier

Below, you will find a gift of Jimmie’s that took weeks to complete. Coach and I must have used 742 glue sticks on this coffee filter chandelier, but I saw it on Pinterest, and it just had to be in Jimmie’s bedroom.  It’s a paper lantern covered in coffee filter papers, and it hangs proudly from the ceiling of Jimmie’s beautiful, girlie boudoir (<—-which you can read about by clicking that cool link I just created).  The coffee filter chandelier is all OVER Pinterest, actually, and it’s got to be one of the most popular Pinterest DIY Christmas gift ideas ever. Jimmie LOVES this thing! All you need is an inexpensive paper lantern like this one from Amazon, and 40-gazillion white coffee filters (also available on Amazon).

more sewing with jersey knit fabric

JiJi, my wonderful stepmother of 37 years, likes lightweight jackets to wear at her chilly office.  So, I hacked up a long sleeved t-shirt, added some embellishments, and voila…

Ok, I’m lying.  It wasn’t quite that easy. I started feeling like a boss when it came to sewing jersey knit fabric, and I used that stretching technique to make the ruffles. Again, some trial-and-error was involved. Nope, it wasn’t quite perfect, but I’m pretty sure she loved this repurposed tee shirt jacket anyway!

And last but not least, I even found time to make something from my Pinterest DIY Christmas gift ideas for Pooh’s Girl Scout Christmas party!  They played Dirty Santa, and needed an inexpensive gift.  How’s 25 cents for inexpensive?  All the jersey knit used in this bag was purchased at a local thrift store for a quarter.

a crafter is re-born!

So, all this creating was like fuel for my fire.  I realized after Christmas was over and all the gifts were given with love and sweat and blood and tears, that I had just had the best Christmas in my history.  Everyone knew it was going to be a handmade Christmas at my house, and I wondered if they were all thinking that it was going to be a big flop. I wondered that myself, at times, but thanks to all these amazing Pinterest DIY Christmas gift ideas, my gifting was a huge success!

I accomplished my goal, and I do believe my family was pleasantly surprised by all of their neat gifts!  Daddy-O scored some nice, fleece, camo lounge pants.  Madre made off with a really cool scarf, made from some of her favorite old t-shirts.  Pooh and Tigger got some cute pajamas, made by their Mama.

And I?  I saved a whole buttload of money, and got inspired to start drawing more, creating more, sewing more, and using these skills to make extra income. What a beautiful Christmas gift!

X,O,X,O,  Martie