Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Gifting Clutter

So I began stressing about Christmas about this time last year, and I swore I would get a jump on Christmas for this year, but of course I didn't. I had wanted to do more DIY Christmas stuff for this year, but I didn't. We're not spending Christmas with my family this year, and I'm okay with that, but it does mean I need to get ahead of the game so I can mail gifts in time for Christmas.

I know what I want to get for mom and I know what I want to get for dad, but I have no clue just yet what to get for my step-mom and my sister, and Scoob always wants something off his Amazon wishlist, which makes it easy if impersonal. I always try to think of something for him that is uniquely for him that he didn't even think about wanting, but it's not easy since he sticks just about everything under the sun on his wishlist.

All the cleaning the past couple of weekends got me wondering what I should do with the old magazines that have been piling up. I usually purge them every six months or so, and it's about time to do it again. It just seems like such a waste to throw them out.

I found this cool magazine bowl DIY project tutorial a while back. I remember thinking this was a cool idea for old magazines the first time I saw one in a store (I've also seen photo/mirror frames, purses, boxes, and other things) and I've seen them all over the place now, like at Crate & Barrel, and every gift shop of every museum I've been to in the last year or so. The instructions seem simple enough and it would probably make a good kids' project, too.




It's a personal preference, but I like this variation on the magazine bowl better:




I couldn't find a tutorial for it, but it looks a lot more labor intensive that the regular coiled bowl. Considering the satisfaction of making it yourself and the visual punch payoff, I think it's totally worth the extra effort.

If the bowls seem like too much for a kids' project, take a look at these stars. I'm betting that these would make great Christmas ornaments that everyone will enjoy. I think these could easily be adapted to hold a picture in the center as well




I think I feel my crafting genes kicking in, so if you're on my Christmas list, forget you ever saw this post. Do you have any crafty DIY projects you're working on as gifts? I'd love to hear about them. (Always looking for inspiration.)

2 comments:

  1. I have made photo ornaments, using up all sorts of scrap booking materials. I tend to print the photos in black and white or sepia format, for a more timeless quality. I use wallet size pictures, a couple of different card stocks for layering, and ribbon, rick rack or any other cool material that will make a good loop (AKA a hanger). It is something I saw in a magazine years ago and really liked.

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  2. P.S. With all your cool pictues, have you considered making a personalized book? There are so many sites that offer publishing... Snapfish, My Publisher, Shutterfly, to name a few.

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