Time to Plan – Gift Ideas! « DesignsBySiCK.com Embroidery Articles

by SewMagical

OK, folks. I know it’s only the middle of October, and Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Yule are still roughly 9 weeks away. I also know that some folks are already making (or have already made!) their holiday gifts. But I also know that some folks are sitting there, scratching their heads, thinking “Gee, I have a holiday invitation. I want to make something really nice for the host/hostess. What can I make that will not only look nice, but be useful too?”

With that thought in mind, I’ve put together a list of gift ideas, using designs available here on Designs by Sick.

** Make a Freestanding Lace centerpiece and then embroider a set of napkins with a coordinating design. As an example, the 3D Christmas Bells design 7 (http://www.designsbysick.com/details/bell)
and the Christmas Ornament Lines design #6 (http://www.designsbysick.com/details/xmasorlines) would match up nicely.

**Help decorate the tree by making a set of FSL Ornaments http://www.designsbysick.com/details/rsfslornaments These would be great for homes with young kids/pets – no breakage or glass fragments to worry about.

**Made some Borderless Ornaments (http://www.designsbysick.com/details/borderlessornaments). Add a pin back to make a brooch.You can find pin backs in both sew-on and stick-on styles at your local craft store. You can also attach stick-on magnets to make refrigerator magnets.

**Make Napkin Rings http://www.designsbysick.com/details/fslnapkinrings, then attach a Borderless Ornament. To complete the set, make napkins with similar design. http://www.designsbysick.com/details/simpleborders

**Use design 03 from simple borders http://www.designsbysick.com/details/simpleborders to make napkins, then use http://www.designsbysick.com/details/rosebowl or http://www.designsbysick.com/details/rosebowl2 to make a set.

**Use corner designs from http://www.designsbysick.com/charts/jnrosebordersminiset to decorate napkins, then stitch border designs from the same set on fabric, and make napkin rings.

**Get a plain solid color mug from the dollar store, then use http://www.designsbysick.com/details/coffeearomas to make a Coffee cozy with mug mat. If you get a mug with a design on it, match that design to make the mat.
For both of these ideas, you can include some tea bags or coffee singles to make the gift extra special.

**Sometimes it can be hard to make gifts for men. Why not decorate a sweatshirt to match his interests?. You could use cars (http://www.designsbysick.com/details/americanhotrods or http://www.designsbysick.com/details/rwconvertibles) military (http://www.designsbysick.com/details/MilitarySilhouettes) or dogs (http://www.designsbysick.com/details/dogs, or http://www.designsbysick.com/details/malamuteshuskies as an example.

**Maybe you want to make a gift for kids for some quiet time. Try: http://www.designsbysick.com/details/appliquetictactoe.

I hope these ideas will help you get started on your gift making. Go, sew, and make something wonderful. And by the way…..Happy Holidays, whatever you celebrate!

[editor's note: And - you can get a cup or glass of your favorite beverage and settle down to peruse the many, many ideas others have used in the Projects area of the website - their creativity never ceases to amaze me] :

http://www.designsbysick.com/articles/category/projects/