Friday, November 11, 2011

Handmade Holiday Challenge!

I mentioned last week that I wanted to have a giveaway for those of us who make handmade Christmas gifts.  My goal is 5.  I want to have 2 quilts (maybe 3!), some rice heat therapy bags, and a purse for a teacher gift.  I am also planning on making some gift bags.  I know this is more than 5, but I also want to enjoy my family during the holidays.  If I find time to make more than 5...bonus!

I know that not everyone appreciates handmade gifts, but there is always handmade gift wrapping.  Instead of paper gift bags, how about making some fabric ones?  They can be used over and over again, maybe even being one of those things that everyone fondly remembers about Christmas.  Doing gift cards?  How about some cute little zipper pouches to put then in?  They could be holiday, but you could also make them a little more special and use something the person likes or their favorite color.

My first handmade holiday item is this bag.  I used  Christmas Cheer Charms from Connecting Threads.  I made a disappearing nine patch and added a 2 inch red border for the front.  The back and the lining are the same red.  I didn't have any interfacing that was heavy enough, so I used heavy canvas to line it.  It will pretty much stand up on its own! 
 It's about 16 x 14x 2 1/2 , making it large enough for lots of gifts! 

I really like this bag and I think it would even be cute to carry around during the holidays.  It would be great for holiday market shopping...any place where you were going to be picking up lots of little things. 

Now for the giveaway!  To be a winner, you must:
1.  Be a follower of Taken Patiently.
2.  Make 5 Handmade Christmas gifts.
3.  Post pictures of your gifts somewhere...your blog, Flickr, Facebook.
4.  Leave a comment on the blog I will post on December 23.  That's 6 Fridays from today.  That's less than 1 gift a week.  Easily doable!
My goal is to make one gift a week. Week one-DONE! In order to keep everyone on track, I'll post my gift on each Friday. Please feel free to comment with a link to what you made. Maybe I'll post some of them next week, along with my next gift.
I would love to see pictures of what you are making.  I understand that you may not want to post pictures until after you give the gifts, so the giveaway will be open until December 31st.  I will announce a winner on or around January 3rd.

What are you winning?  How about a $25 gift certificate to Connecting Threads*?  I love their fabric and thread.  They have some very cute new collections and great basics.  They also have a good selection of pre-cuts, which I really like because I hate cutting fabric. 
If you aren't familiar with Connecting Threads, maybe you would like some charms? 
I'm giving away 2 charm packs of the Christmas Cheer Charms (48 charms total) to help spread the word about this Handmade Holiday challenge.  Be a follower and leave me a comment for a chance to win. You could tell me what you are planning to make or maybe share the best handmade gift you ever gave or received?    For an extra chance, blog, tweet, or FB about it and leave me a comment telling me you did.  I'll announce a winner next Friday.

*Connecting Threads didn't pay me for this endorsement, nor are they giving me the gift card.  I would be open to both of those things, though!  I just really like their products and thought I'd spread the holiday cheer!

9 comments:

Mandy Mc said...

I subscribe to your blog via Google Reader. One of the best handmade gifts that I've ever received is the dollhouse my Granddadddy made for me. It was amazing!

Christy Ross said...

I'm a blog follower. And I'm making 15 reusable bags ... most of them with the same fabric you posted. MAN, I love the bag!

I'm hoping Saturday will be a big day for me in terms of making those bags!

Melissa said...

Not entering the contest, of course, but wanted to let you know that I posted about your contest over on our Notions blog. I'm going to post it in our Gifty Galore group too. Your bag is so cute!

-Melissa
Connecting Threads

✾Jamie Lee Cooley✾ said...

I saw this on the Connecting Threads blog and became a new follower. I am making pretty much ALL my holiday gifts, and I wanted to buy everything else local. I pretty much will buy most presents at a Maker's Market in December, but I am torn about the one big present I am buying (a Kitchenaid stand mixer for my cousin). Purchasing it locally would be so much more expensive than buying it at Kohls. I'd love to buy it locally, but I can get it almost $75 cheaper at Kohls. That's a lot of money for a SAHM. I even sent a survey to my daughter's classroom teacher and dance teachers. I wanted to be sure we picked appropriate styles and favorite colors. It was fun to see what they wrote! I hope they love their gifts!

Marie Pasco said...

I subscribe on google reader and very impressed that you are having a contest...maybe on day i'll get back into blogging. I think I'm going to make at least one more of the bags I made saturday and a coin purse.

Sisca said...

I accidentally found your blog and I like what I saw. I never quilt or sew before I came to Texas ( I am married to a Texan! ). After being here in Texas for two years and three days I still don't know much about quilting and sewing but I think I will take that challenge of making 5 handmade gifts : ) it would be fun and I want to thank you for the inspiration. So sign me in : )

Heather said...

Hi! I came from Connecting Threads blog. I'm now following. I always make a few gift bags, they are easy to make and a gift in themselves. This year I'm going a little more easy on myself and making no sew fleece blankets for my 4 children, I'm also knitting and plan to make several dish clothes and a scarf. I followed a great pattern to make a market bag, so I'm thinking of making a few more of those. I really love presenting a gift inside a reusable market bag. Thanks for the post! I'll be back on the 23rd :)

Mandy Mc said...

I just tweeted about it...I really want those charms ;-)

✾Jamie Lee Cooley✾ said...

Thank you for the charms! I received them on Friday. I am making good on the handmade gifts, done already:
pillowcases for my dad
pillowcases for my mom
pillowcases for my sister
(is there a theme here?)
Now, will homemade dog biscuits I baked count???