CHRISTMAS CRAFTING - the Frugal Way!

Oooh, the smell of cinnamon and apple cider! Don’t you just love the holidays? Ok, some people love them more than others… I happen to “love” the holidays! Have you ever noticed, how people are starting their x-mas shopping sooner and sooner? One my favorite places to shop, are the local craft shows in the area. To either sell my wares, or just go for fun. You can find some of the most unique gifts, and get some great craft ideas too.

Here are some of my favorites holiday frugal gift ideas.

Hand painted glass ornaments:
Take your old glass bulbs and paint them. Take a pencil, stick it lead side down into a piece of styrofoam or something that will make the pencil stationary. If possible, take the whole top off your ornament (where the hook is located), and place upside down on the eraser end of a pencil. You can use spray paint and spray evenly to get a smooth clean look. Or, use a technique I like to refer to is “drippy painting”. This is achieved by using the sprayer 3 to 4 inches from the surface and let the paint drip to the sides. It looks pretty cool if you use 2 or 3 different colors. After it’s all dry, replace top with hook and feed a pretty bow or piece of lace and tie a pretty bow. You can personalize it with a permanent marker. Wrap it up in a pretty box & tissue.

Cookies in a Jar
Turn your old canning jars into great recipe favorite gifts. Fill them with dry cookie mixes, then tie a recipe on a string and attach to the jar. Take a piece of cloth or netting and put it on top of the sealing lid then screw on the top lid.

Life’s Little Emergencies
Don’t know what to do with those old baby food jars? Take a humorous twist; place silly objects inside the jar with a note saying break jar in case of emergency. I like to call these Emergency kits.

Blue Jean Quilt
I saw this great idea on how to use your old jeans. Cut the jean material into squares all the same size, fray the edges sew then together below the fray line. Make it as big as you want! What a great funky look.

Frugal Bowling
One year, I made bowling pins out of the plastic milk bottles for my niece & nephews. I cleaned them up real good, put a red stripe around the neck of the bottle and bought one of those plastic balls from the discount store. They thought it was great!

Christmas is about showing others your appreciation and how much you care for them by giving them a thoughtful gift. When things are made from the heart, they mean so much more. Until next time… Happy Crafting!

For more tips and tricks please visit my new website at http://www.karenskrafts.net/