Last Minute Gift Ideas! and your Friday DIY

Say you're going to a neighbour's for a potluck, or you forgot about Teacher's presents until last minute (I have been guilty of that myself!). Here are a couple of last minute gifts you can throw together using things you already have on hand! YAY!

#1. Treats. Everybody loves homemade treats, anytime of year! But don't go crazy...remember these are last minute gift ideas. Grab a nice gift box or some plastic-box, and throw in the following: pretzels, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, craisins and raisins, mixing as you go. For this particular batch I used two cups of pretzels, one cup each of the chips, 3/4c. craisins, and 1/4c. raisins (which are much less cool than the craisins.) If you add them in layers, they are easier to mix.

I'm never too sure about allergies and what not, but if you know there aren't any, add some nuts or peanut butter chips...yum!  Wrap a pretty bow around it and add a card or tag! Or in my case, a strip of fabric in a snowflake print (tag to be added later!). This is what Lucas' teachers got this year, as they have been jealous of the snack mix I send with Lucas for snack time!

#2. Gift card holder...without the gift card! You'll need some basic sewing supplies for this one: needle and thread (I like embroidery floss), buttons, scrap pieces of felt and fabric. Grab a gift card or card from your wallet (for measuring purposes only). Lay it down on a piece of felt and cut around it, leaving a little extra on the edges. Now take that piece of felt and cut another piece to match, but cut an extra piece at the top for a flap. This flap can go on the short side or long side...it doesn't really matter.

Take those two pieces of felt, and cut two pieces of fabric the same sizes. This will line the pocket.

Sew your button on the top of the smaller piece of felt. Then stitch the fabric to felt, using a simple running stitch. Use some fun, coordinating thread!

Now you need to sew both pieces together. You can use a simple running stitch or the fancier stitch whose name I always forget!

Once the pocket is basically finished, you will need to cut your button hole on the flap. I like to fold the flap down to see where the button touches, then cut there. Make adjustments as necessary, and finish the edges of the hole with a simple stitch.

Grab that old card you used as a template and use it to cut a piece of paper the same size. Now you can write your funny message:
"If I was giving you a gift card, I would put have it in here! Now you have somewhere fancy and sophisticated to store all the real gift cards you will get this year! Merry Christmas!!" or something else along those lines!

If you're doing a lot of these, like more than three, create the text on your computer's photo editing software and print it out as a wallet sized image as many times as you need. Then cut it out and place in the pocket.

Put the whole thing in an envelope or handmade card and you're set!

#3. Framed art. Print off a nice photo you took during the year and stick it in a frame. Again with the pretty bow and card or tag, and you're done! I am not above taking a frame off my own wall to re-gift in a bind! But remember, print off a nice photo, like a mountain, old building, sunset, etc. No family pictures...unless you're giving it to your Grandma! If you want to get really fancy, do some quick photo editing on three photos, making them black and white, to make a framed series of pictures. Ooh la la!

#4. If you are a card-maker, which I am not, make a nice set of blank cards. Grab two sheets of 12x12 cardstock in the same colour (if you can manage). Cut a rectangle measuring 4"x8" (you will get four per sheet, for a total of eight cards), and fold it in half. Decorate each card the same, with whatever you have on hand, but try to make them as generic as possible. "Celebrate" is a good word to put on a generic card. Add some envelopes to the pile, and tie a pretty bow around the whole stack. I actually did this one year for my aunt and she really liked it...and then she started making cards herself!

#5. If all else fails, stop by the liquor store on the way to the party and buy a nice bottle of wine. As far as I'm concerned, you can go wrong with wine!

I hope you enjoyed this real post! I did!! And I have totally used some of these gift ideas myself, so I know they work!
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On a DIY-aside, I seem to have misplaced my nice Christmas card holder. Which is funny because it doesn't fit in a box, so it's usually just in the way when I don't need it, and now that I do need it...well... So I made one to serve temporarily in its place. I used a nail that was already in the wall, tied on a long piece of yarn and started attaching cards with some small wooden clothespins.

You can even clip cards to other cards. I get a lot of cards, so while this might not be the prettiest, it serves the purpose. I don't even have all the cards up yet! I might need to make a matching on on some other wall, as I'm running out of room on this one!

later skater alligator