Handmade Holidays: Crafting for the men in your life

Ok, so, I am really terrible at choosing presents for men.  It's so difficult!  I never know what they want and anything I make is usually a little girly.

Here are a few things that have helped me give my xmas gifts this year!

Crocheting:

 It gets chilly everywhere and everyone needs scarves and other warm items.  This year I made a scarf for my gentleman caller and a pair of fingerless gloves for my friend Ross.

Sub-zero Men's scarf (pattern and name courtesy of my friend Mary)

Supplies:

2 skeins of soft yarn in main color (I like Vanna's Choice by Lion Brand)  I chose a deep navy blue
1 skein of the same yarn in a contrasting color, I chose a charcoal gray
Size I crochet hook

Now, the trick to making men's accessories is keeping them simple and in a tight knit.  This scarf is all single crochet, easy peasy!  Start by making a chain as long as you want your scarf, mine was 300 chains long, with your base color. 

              Row 1: Single crochet into the second loop on the hook and in every chain across.  Chain 1.
              Row 2:  Single crochet into the second loop on the hook and in every chain across.  At the last loop do not pull your yarn through the last two loops.  At this point, take your second yarn and leaving a 1 in. tail pull it through the last two loops of the 2nd row.  Chain one (with the 2nd color.)
               Row 3:  Clip your first color so it also has a 1 inch tail.  Hold the tails again your second row and single crochet into the 2nd loop from the hook, around the tails.  This sounds complicated, but this is how you change colors and keep them from falling apart.  The new crochet holds the tails in tightly.  Continue to crochet in every loop.
                Row 4:  Chain 1.  Single crochet into the second loop on the hook and in every chain across.  Change colors again
    
Continue this pattern until the scarf is as thick as you want it.  Add fringe by cutting 6 in. strips of yarn and tying them to either end.

Fingerless gloves

Supplies:

Same as above, 2 colors of your favorite soft yarn, 1 skein each
Size I crochet hook
Darning needle

These get tricky depending on the size of the man's hand.  Luckily I have some rockin' students who let me measure this on their hands.  I chained 40 + 1 (for turning) and then single crocheted into the second chain from the hook with my base color (I used charcoal gray.)  Continue until you have about 20 rows, using your second color, add one more row to finish it off (I used navy blue.)  Now, you should have a large rectangle.  Fold it in half  vertically.  Thread your darning needle with your primary color and start sewing along the edge from the top of the glove (the 2nd color should be on top.)  Only sew about 1 in.  Now, skip an inch (leave it open...I just wove my thread into one side of the glove so I didn't have to knot and re thread.)  Once you leave the 1 in. gap, sew the edge shut all the way to the bottom.  Ta da!  The gap is the space for the thumb and the glove should come across his knuckles.  Perfect for use with an Iphone!


Food:

I always make my dad food for his birthday and Christmas.  He loves my peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and additionally loves my cashew bark.  These are really simple.

Cashew Bark

Supplies:
Melting chocolate (I buy this at candy shops, probably about a pound)
Cashews
Baking sheet
Microwave safe bowl
Spoon
Parchment paper

Pour your chocolate into a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 20-30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until completely melted.  Lay your parchment paper on a baking sheet.  Arrange cashews in small circular shapes (lay as flat as possible, don't make mounds.) about 2 inches apart.

Spoon teaspoons of chocolate over the cashews.  These should look like cookies, the chocolate will cover the cashews and melt around the shapes.  make them about 3 inches big.  Pop these in the fridge until they are nice and hard.  Peel them off the parchment (best stuff ever...no clean up!) and put them into a box lined with tissue paper.  You can also make these with other nuts (almonds, pecans, peanuts) if that's what the man in your life prefers!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups flour
1 bag of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Cream the butter and peanut butter together.  Add the sugars and mix well.  Stir in the eggs, vanilla, salt and baking soda.  Stir well.  Add the flour 1 cup at a time.  Mix thoroughly.  Stir in your chocolate chips.

Drop by teaspoon fulls on a baking sheet (line with parchment paper for easy clean up!)  And bake for 8-10 min.

Once done, slide onto a cooling rack.  Package these up nice and pretty for a fabulous treat!


Other crafts:

Lego Belt

I found this online, I think I might make it for my brother next year.  So cute!  See the caption below for the blog link.  Craft-O-Maniac is such a great blog!

http://craftomaniac.blogspot.com/2011/03/lego-belts.html

                

Homemade Holiday Gifts: Button Barettes

I have really short hair and the only thing I can do to jazz it up is to wear fun hair clips. This post is kind of a rip off on my Button Earrings but it's fun to have options for crafting, right?

Button Barettes

Supplies:

Your choice of bobby pins
Cute buttons
Glue
   -I like E-6000 or Amazing Goop

Sort through your buttons and find some small, flat-backed ones that you like.  I used some of my stragglers from my last project and stacked different size buttons make different designs.  To glue your buttons together put a little glue on either side of the objects and let the glue set for about 1 min.  Press the buttons together and let them harden for a few minutes.

Grab your bobby pins and choose the ones you want to use.  I like the small 1.5 in. ones in the blonde shade. 




The blonde just looks so much better in my hair!

Take your buttons and squeeze a little glue on the top of the bobby pin, where you want the button to be placed.  Add some glue to the back of your button and let the glue set for a minute or two.  Press the button onto the bobby pin.  Presto!  Cute hair clips in 5 min. or less.  Let the glue set for 24 hrs. before wearing (you don't want to get any of the glue in your hair!)

These would be great accessories for holiday parties

If you're gifting these cut an index card in half and decorate it.  Make two small, vertical slits in the center with an X-acto knife and slip the barrettes on!

Try mixing it up and adding rhinestones or glitter.  Or, if you want different colors, try spray painting your clips different colors before adding the buttons.

Homemade Holiday Gifts: Nightmare Before Christmas Earrings

Got a quirky friend on your giftlist that likes Halloween more than Christmas?  I created these fun earrings that would be perfect for her!  These aren't anything from the film "The Nightmare Before Christmas" but when I finished them they seemed as though they'd fit in perfectly in the costume department of that film!

As you've heard before my mother is a collector of many crazy things.  She sent me a bag of diary keys recently that she had found at a garage sale.  Remember those tiny little metal keys you had for your middle-school diary?  I have about 15 of them now!

Nightmare Before Christmas Earrings

Supplies:

Two matching diary keys, about 1 in. long
Mod Podge
Black glitter
Two dangly earring blanks
4 jump rings
Needlenose pliers
Paint brush
Disposable cup

At least these keys will be good for something...they didn't do much for those diaries. 
My brother found out he could break into mine with a bobby pin!

Lay the diary keys out on your work surface.  Pour some Mod Podge into your cup, slowly add your glitter, stirring with the paint brush.  Keep adding glitter until it is a very glittery consistency.

Dip your brush into the glittery mod Podge and paint a thin layer over the top of your key.  Keep it thin or else it will clump.  Do the same to the other.  I poured a little dry glitter on top because I was impatient to finish these!  Let the first layer dry for about 20 min and repeat.  It should take about 3 layers of glitter to get the key completely coated.

Let them dry for 1 hr. and then flip them over and repeat on the other side.  Let dry for another 20 min. and coat with a thin layer of plain Mod Podge.

Let these dry for about 30 more minutes (they shouldn't be tacky) before assembling the earrings.

Open one jumpring with your pliers.  Loop it through the hole in the top of the key.  Loop another jumpring into it and close up the jumpring.  Take your dangly earring blank and open the loop at the bottom.  Link it through thr top jump ring and squeeze the loop shut with your pliers.

Slightly creepy but still pretty fancy!

These one of a kind earrings will be a hit!  Try using different colors of glitter if black isn't your recepients style!

Homemade Holiday Gifts: Egg Carton Jewelry Holder

I went to visit my fabulous cousin, Sharon, this weekend.  She is similar to me in her DIY efforts and we always have such a good time together.  She showed me one of her quick and easy projects...something we all might have made in elementary school but kicked up a notch!

Egg Carton Jewelry Holder
Supplies:

Empty cardboard egg carton
Spray paint

Cardboard egg cartons work best for this project.  Take your empty egg carton and cut the top off.  You'll just use the bottom of the carton for this.



My cousin could have a career in hand modeling

Take your egg carton to a well ventilated area and spray it with your favorite color of spray paint.  Let it dry for at least an hour.  If you're so inclined, fancify it with some glitter or rhinestones (this addition would be perfect for a tween or teen girl gift!)

My cousin painted this one silver

The cups are perfect for earrings, brooches, charms or necklaces.  The tall dividers work perfectly to hold your rings.  Need more jewelry to fill this?  Try my Button Earrings


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Homemade Holiday Gifts: Cat Toys

Don't forget to make some gifts for your feline friends!I love to give catnip filled toys to my friends who have cats, it's a fun way to include their whole family.

Crocheted Catnip Octopus

supplies:

- Any color of yarn you want
-Small length of contrasting thread for the eyes
-Small crochet hook, I used size "F"
-Catnip
-Something to put the cat nip in, I used the toe of an old pair of pantyhose (clean!!)
-A darning needle

Using your hook and your main yarn color chain 4 and slip stitch the chain into a loop.  Single crochet (sc) 8 into the loop and slip stitch the first sc into the last. Chain 1 and sc one into each single crochet around, slip stitch together.  For the next 2 rows, sc 2 into each single crochet, slip stitching at the end of each round.

Next, sc into every other stitch, slip stitching at the end of each round.  Continue this pattern until you only have about an inch wide opening at the bottom.  At this time, take a scoop of catnip (about the size of a ping pong ball) and put it into your pantyhose (or whatever you are using) and tie up the end.  Stuff the catnip filled sack into the body of the crochet.  Continue crocheting around single crocheting in every other stitch until the hole is completely closed up.

Once it's closed, it's time to make the legs.  Chain 10.  Skip the first chain from the hook and single crochet into the next 3 chains.  Double crochet into the next 3 chains and triple crochet into the 3 after that.  Slip stitch the leg to the body of the octopus.  Repeat this 8 times.  It will get a little crowded, but they will all fit!

Next, take your length of yarn in the the contrasting color. Using your needle sew two eyes in the top of the octopus.  These don't need to be perfect, it's cuter if they're a little quirky!




Such a cute little guy!

 Don't worry if you make mistakes with this project, chances are, the kitty won't notice!





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Homemade Holiday Gifts: Button Earrings

Happy Holidays!  Christmas is my favorite time of the year.  I get so excited to see all the lights, decorations and eat all the delicious food!  I especially love making gifts for the people I love.  Handmade gifts are always better, and your friends and family will appreciate the time and effort you put into the gift.

I thought I'd share some of my favorite gifts to make over the next few weeks.  Hopefully you will be inspired to make your own gifts as well!

Button Earrings

I happen to have an extremely crafty mother who collects the most random things.  Due to this, I have an extensively large collection of buttons that serve no purpose except to add a bit of vintage awesomeness to my craft projects.

Flat backed buttons make adorable and kitschy earrings.  To make earrings you will need the following:

several pairs of flat backed buttons
        -Try raiding your mother or grandmother's sewing stash.  Vintage buttons are much more intricate and artsy looking than modern ones
        -Go to your local thrift shop and buy shirts and sweaters for their buttons.  They'll only cost a few dollars and you can repurpose the clothes after you cut off the buttons.

Flat backed earring posts
Jewelry Glue
       -I like E-6000 or Amazing Goop

Go through your buttons and sort them, matching up the ones that are the same.




My mom has way too many of these!

Get creative with the design of the earrings.  Stack a smaller button on top of a larger one.  Try different colors, designs, and placements for the buttons.  Try using small, flat backed rhinestones on top.  Once you have the designs put together, use your glue to attach the buttons together.  With the adhesives I've mentioned, it's best to put a little glue on both sides and then let it set for 1-2 min. before attaching them together.  Here are the designs I created.

Don't forget to make a pair of each design!

Once you've glued your buttons together, let them dry for about an hour.  After that, you can attach the earring post to the back.  Let these dry face down so the post doesn't shift.  The earrings should be completely bonded after 24 hours.


If you're giving these as a gift, cut a blank index card in half and draw a pretty design on it with different colored markers or pencils.  Using a pin, poke two holes about an inch apart in the center of the card.  Attach the earrings to the card and wrap them up!

Give these to any of your friends who appreciate sewing or vintage clothing and they'll be a surefire hit!

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