Christmas Craft Crunch 2012! Handmade Gift Ideas for Last Minute Crafting

You might be in the midst of a Christmas Craft Crunch right now. Perhaps, you are so behind you haven't even thought of the handmade gifts you will make yet. Here are some ideas we have for quick gifts to make. It's not too late to have a handmade holiday!

Dew Drop Cowl

craft: knitting

time: 6 hours

I whipped up one of these in between bigger projects and it knit up fast and easy! I've been wanting to work with the luscious silk yarn Maiden Hair for a while and this pattern looked simple enough to show off the unique texture of this yarn. The Dew Drop Cowl pattern is available as a free download on Ravelry and one skein of Maiden Hair will make 2 of them - perfect!

Felted Wool Baby Jacket

craft: sewing

time: 2 hours

Emily just cranked this out for her niece! She used our 100% wool fabric and Nani Iro double gauze for the lining - that's going to be one cozy baby! This is a free pattern from the geniuses over at Purl Soho - get the pattern here.

Dandy Scarf

craft: knitting

time: 6 hours

Allison blew our minds the other day when she came in wearing her new Dandy Scarf made from the Madelinetosh Pashmina worsted in our favorite color - Edison Bulb. This neon scarf will brighten up anyone's holiday season. The pattern by Dull Roar is available here at Fancy Tiger Crafts. Knitting this pattern on a worsted weight yarn with larger needles means it will go faster! Craft Crunch!

Alfalfa Baby Hat

craft: knitting

time: 2 hours

Miranda made this baby hat the other day and it is so cute we couldn't even photograph it on a real baby because the cuteness factor would blow up this blog. A small project like this means you can splurge on a luxury yarn like Fibre Co. Terra because you only need 1 skein. The pattern is available here from the lovely ladies over at Kelbourne Woolens.

Okay, you should probably start crafting and stop reading blogs now if you're going to make all this...

Holiday Project: Felted Acorn & Fabric Giftwrap!

These little felted acorn ornaments are a great way to adorn your holiday gifts! We wrapped our gifts in darling Hope Valley prints by Denyse Schmidt, but this project is a fabulous way to use up fabric scraps from sewing projects past. The eco-friendly wrapping is re-usable and oh so easy! It doesn't even matter what's inside because your gift will be the most adorable and coveted item under the tree.


Here is how we made our felted acorn ornaments:

1. Take a pinch of wool roving about 3" long (we have over 120 colors here at the shop to choose from).
2. Roll the roving in your hands first and then dip the loose, woolly ball into a bowl of hot, soapy water (we just use dish soap).
   
3. Now roll the wet ball over and over in your hands until it is nice and felted (this may take a few minutes so be patient.) You can alternate dipping your ball into cold water and the hot soapy water to speed up the felting process.
   
4. Once your ball looks nice, rinse it in cold water and set onto a towel to dry.
   
5. When your felted ball is dry, simply hot glue a real acorn top to it. You can collect all different types of acorn tops for different sized balls. We tied a piece of yarn around the top of the acorn to hang.
   

This project is great for kids ages 3 and up. No time to felt? We also sell felted wool balls already made up in our spinning and felting room!

Have fun and Happy Holidays!