thrifty gifts part two

more from the thrifty gift madness!

one gift i haven't photographed was a giant magnet/chalkboard for my brother sam. he just bought a new house and we salvaged the metal 'for sale' sign and painted it with chalkboard paint. i bought a packet of plain magnets and the girls drew little pictures which we varnished and glued to the magnets. he mounted it right onto the wall and will no doubt soon be covered with all kinds of bad words from his mates!

i made this basket for mick's sister (in his family we draw names and get one gift for that person), inspired by my crafty friend clare...i spied her gorgeous baskets while at her house recently and she explained how to make one - i've been hanging out to try it ever since and i think i am now obsessed!

with the most massive pile of weeds and grasses in front of me, i gathered bunches of them together and wrapped fabric strips around them - then coiled and sewed together as i went with a large needle and wool thread.

it's pretty big - about 12 inches wide and 4 inches high...clare has made small ones, tall ones, square ones...they look amazing on a shelf with treasures inside. can't wait to make more!

my dad is always a tricky one (aren't all dads?), i wanted to make him something special as he has done so much for us while we have been back here. he lives in a little granny flat bachelor pad behind our house (which is awesome by the way), so i knew his bed was lacking 'dad personality' with an old wool blanket on it. my dad's favourite thing is following my brother sam's mountainbike career, so i asked sam for a bunch of his old tshirts to cut up. i got a few signature shirts from my other two brothers as well - and we even found an old school uniform shirt! i cut all the tshirts into 12x12" squares and sewed them together. for the back i used an old beadspread of mine, cut it to size and sewed the two pieces right sides together. i flipped them around the right way, sewed up the top and then 'quilted' it by stitching through all of the seams. it's not exactly perfect, but i think its perfect for my dad - and he LOVES it, so i am happy :)

(lisa, you have to do this with all of marty's old tshirts!)

as for mick - well, we weren't supposed to get each other gifts but we did anyway (lucky!). again, using scraps of old clothing (mostly jumpers i've been using tp make banjo's nappy covers) i crafted a little crazy-quilted pouch for his palm to be carried safely in...

ii love the way it turned out and made my mum a laptop case using the same technique. it would be a cool ipod or mobile phone cover too! here's how to make one of your own...

(i forgot to say here that you do this twice - no, sadly they do not magically multiply!)

 
poor mum - ivy and i started making her a rag rug back in november (from some old sheets also found in the shed. do you need anything? come and look in our shed!) and at 11pm on christmas eve i was sewing up the piles and piles of braids we had made - my eyes were stinging so bad and the rug was only the size of a large dinner plate not a decent size rug at all! many more hours need to be spent on that bad boy, but luckily my mum is awesome and didn't mind at all. i love that she is a 'thought-that-counts' kind of gal, because there was a lot of thought!

coming soon...clothes i have been making out of all that shed-junk too (am i glad that i hoard stuff? YES!).

Comments

[Leonie- Australia]

How creative! Thats how Christmas should be.

[Liz]

Indeed very creative! I especially LOVE the dad&son blanket.

[Alaina]

I just learned to thread my machine correctly last month. So as a newbie who's had a sewing machine for years, I think I can sew "crazy" lines because I know straight for me isn't so straight. Great idea with the old sweaters since I bought a book on things to do with old sweaters a few months ago.

[Serena]

What beautiful gifts....and how creatively clever you are, Em!!

[julie]

oh, I just wanted to buy a laptop case, I will ask a friend to do this case for me (I don't have a machine)
thanks Em! very creative, I hope i can make things like this for my future kids! :)

[Sandy]

I especially love that beadspread!! It's just so amazing and lovely looking. It's perfect!

[nadene]

oh - i so have THE biggest pile to re-purpose.
looking forward to more from you the 're-purpose queen' ☺ shower us with re-purposing projects............love it.

[Georgia]

Oh you are such a good crafty girl. I always try to make gifts for extended family- but as I spend all year making things for my hubby and kidlets ("want a scarf? give me a few days..."), it just doesn't seem special to me. Maybe I have things upside down. But I love that you were able to sneak around making things for your littluns. Very cool. As for the basket making, watch out! It's addictive. My mum made (and sold) baskets for a number of years. Every time she came to visit me she'd be collecting bits of garden for basket making. I STARTED a t-shirt quilt thing like that for my eldest...ha hum...3 years ago. Must get round to finishing it some time....

[Renee Alam]

Amazing gifts! I wish I had family members that made me handmade gifts.I don't know if I could say I have a fave, but I am loving that basket you made & I think I'll try to make my own handmade ipod covers... maybe we'll work on that if we get a snow day tomorrow. Your gifts are very inspiring.... I think we will surely try to make things tomorrow see what we can come up with. Great job with all the gifts... I'm sure your family is thinking how lucky they are to be able to receive such great gifts. :)

[Jacqueline]

I do hope you share the instructions for these baskets! It looks wonderful.
And about the quilt: the best gift one can get, no matter what age!

Jacqueline

[deb]

i've been wanting to make a t-shirt quilt forever (using shirts from my three kids). of course, i have yet to collect the shirts. you've inspired me to start collecting. or maybe i can do one for kiele and send her off to college with it in five years.

i absolutely love the way yours turned out. what a special gift for your dad.

love your blog.

[Sherri P eh]

Wow Emily, I'm impressed again! I too might be able to make the palm cover, as sewing straight isn't one of my strengths! Which is why I'm really in awe of the quilt you made for your Dad. How cool is that?! And I'd love the basket for me. These gifts are so extra special because you made them, with lots of love I'm sure! They'll be forever treasured.

[Bron]

You are so inspiring and I love reading how much you think outside of the box...It is very special to have family who appreciate your love and ideas.

[margie scherschligt]

Such an enjoyable post on a cold, frosty, Minnesota morning. Thank you!

[Amy]

Thanks for the inspiration! I think I need to make the palm cover for my husbands new iTouch...he needs something and this way it will be wrapped up in something that was lovingly made.

[DeVonne]

those are all amazing gifts. my craftyness went as far as some chipboard ornaments. So inspiring!

[Stacy (Mama-Om)]

I can't believe that's your first basket! Wow!

My mom made my brother a quilt from all his old t-shirts (and crazy bermuda shorts he used to wear in high-school)... now it's on his kid's bed.

I love the palm case. I think I could do that (I just started sewing here and there again, for the first time in MANY years)... I love the crazy lines!!

[Stacy (Mama-Om)]

P.S. I love your new header and typeface for the blog!

[Cheryl aka cherpea]

girl you are nothing if not FILLED to the top with great ideas... thank you so much for sharing your ideas with me...

heee heee love the idea of recycling the for sale sign wish our real estate agents used metal ones here ... they wouldn't be safe any more! alas they use crappy bendy plasticy things that are no use for anything! well anything worthwhile...

[Chiara]

Great gifts!! Tehy are all wonderful :) Your daughter (also your relatives) are very lucky!!

[Ruby]

I simply love your crafty, home-made gifts! When my son went away to college, he did not want to part with his favorite tee shirts, which were much too small and ratty to take along so I made throw pillows for his dorm room. he loved them! years, later after college, med school & residency, I told him it was time to clean out the shed. As he went through the boxes he found one of the pillows, the tee shirt was one featuring the old team colors of our NFL football team..his son has it now! hugs & kisses, R

[amy rehnae]

well, somehow or another i just now made my over to your blog...and oh! so glad i did! what an inspiration you are! truly! i have also just spent the last hour looking at your 52 week art journal project (too cool!) ...would it bother you too much if i did something kind of like this (just for myself, not for a group) and used your prompts as a jumping off point? and if i blog about it i promise to give credit where credit is due!...right back over here to you? please let me know if this would be ok with you...i think this may be just what i need to get me back into the creating just for me habit! thanks so much!
~amy rehnae

[holly c.]

Emily these gifts are awesome! Thank you for sharing.

I'd love to see pics of your Dad's bachelor pad and your shed sometime!

Keep on inspiring!

Holly

[Goddess Leonie]

that is SO FREAKING COOL panda bear... i LOVE the bushgrass bowl... love it all!

you rock my cotton socks off :)
xoxoxoxo

[liz eaton]

i want you to come to my house & craft. dang cute stuff. i want to make it all. i even have a new sewing machine to use.