Christmas Gift Ideas - Learn something new, give yourself

Are you planning Christmas on a wing and a prayer?  Just a little money to go around?  It seems that every year it gets harder and harder to have a ‘good’ Christmas with the cost of living rising and the pay either staying the same or getting lower.  (Some folks have had to take pay cuts to keep their jobs)

I’m right there with you!  My family has been growing so rapidly it’s hard to keep up with the gift giving.  I’ve went from 7 to buy for to 21 in a matter of 3 years.  Panic during Christmas has become part of my every day feelings.

I decided about a month ago that I didn’t want to panic anymore. 

I’d been writing about 2 Hubs per day, just putting out my thoughts and I decided I needed to take a bit of a break from that to get creative!

I’m a fairly creative person from time to time.  I do needle work, cook, bake and things such as that.  Over the years I’ve collected yarn, material and different things to get ‘crafty’ with. 

So on the spur of the moment I got out my needles and began.  On the internet there is an abundance of different patterns to do.  I like quick and easy things, that way I can make more.  So that’s exactly what I did!

When my Mother passed away she left me with all of her crochet hooks and knitting needles.  Some of which I had no idea how to use them!  I knew the names of them of course because she had told me.  She just never showed me how to use them, or even what they were used for. 

Off to YouTube I went, just to see what I could see.  WOW, did I learn a lot!  There are so many tutorials on YouTube that even the most un-learned individual can get a grasp of! 

You don’t even have to know how, there are people out there willing to teach you.  I’ve known how to crochet and knit for years, the toughest patterns passing me by.  Not any more, I can do anything!

I learned how to Tat, something that I have wanted to learn for years.  Mom always had a tatting shuttle in her collection of things.  She had never learned how to Tat, though her Mother did (my Grandma).  Now I know how not only to shuttle Tat, but needle Tat as well.  After Christmas I’m planning on some good projects with that!  Tatting is delicate work that can use thread all the way up to yarn, whatever the tatter decides to use.  The beauty of tatting is it uses just 2 basic ‘stitches’ to make everything.  It’s the way you put them together that makes things look different.

In Moms knitting needle box was an ‘Afghan Hook’ of which I never learned how to use.  Or in other words ‘Tunisian stitch’ is what is made with this, and there are several different outcomes to the stitch.  These are beautiful stitches that combines knitting and crocheting and when finished is absolutely beautiful.  So now I have made a few things with these beautiful stitches that some lucky recipient will receive.  I’ve decided I like using the Tunisian Stitch not only for it’s beauty but it goes very fast!  I can have several projects finished in one day using this technique.

I even learned how to make Broomstick Lace! That is also a combination of knitting and crocheting, well in a sense. I should do the history on it, I can almost bet the ‘creator’ of Broomstick lace used a broomstick rather than a very large knitting needle. When finished it is light and airy and very beautiful!

I will be using this stitch very soon!

All yarn or thread work is essentially putting together a series of loops in different ways, using different tools for the trade.  It’s not nearly as frightening as one who has never picked up a needle thinks.  With YouTube those nice people who give detailed instructions make it easy!  Give it a try, make something for someone as a gift! 

I have doilies that were made by my Grandma years ago.  She passed in 1972 so you can only imagine how old they really are.  They are still in great condition and in use in my home.  They’ve become an heirloom.  I have many things that were made by my Mother who passed in 2006 that are still in good use.  So essentially I still have a piece of them that were left to me. 

Now thread work may not be to your liking, I know I have a difficult time seeing the delicate stitches.  This doesn’t mean I can’t leave a piece of myself behind.  Those baby booties or mittens that are so tiny now will fit perfectly in the baby book!  See, you can create memories and leave something behind.

For those of you who refuse to pick up a needle and make something with loops, maybe painting or drawing is something you like to do.  Who wouldn’t love a hand painted or drawn picture?  Even photographic art work is something to behold!  If you by chance have a really nice picture or someone or something that you’d like to share, have it enlarged and put it into a lovely frame.

For those of you on HubPages that have the gift of gab, a story or poem that you have written specifically for someone can mean the world to them.  Put in a nice frame where it can be proudly displayed it will be given a place of honor in someone’s home.

Everyone loves baked gifts.  Making small size sweet breads, cookies, or candy, you can have lots of gifts to give everyone who passes through your door!  Going to the dollar store getting small baskets or large plates you can arrange them prettily on the plate and with clear wrap and a bow it can be secured on the plate for travel.

There are tons of recipes out there for giving at Christmas time, depending on what you like to make from cookies to breads to no-bakes, even microwave candy!  So using the excuse that you can’t bake won’t work!  If you are known to not cook or bake, then this will be a super special gift of yourself.  Why?  Because you took enough time for that special someone(s) to learn how to cook or bake and give them a special gift.

I’m not what you would call a ‘Material Girl’ (sorry Madonna) and don’t get me wrong, I do love really expensive gifts.  BUT when someone gives me something they made by hand, I’m in a special place.  It means they’ve given me something of themselves.  Not only their time and talent but a piece of themselves.  Each piece that is baked, knitted, crocheted, Tatted, Plastic Canvassed,  painted, sketched or written is part of the maker.

Gift giving doesn’t have to be materialistic, yes it’s great to buy something for someone that costs an arm and a leg.  But in the long run will they remember who bought it for them?  Christmas is the time for giving, but no one ever says giving what.  Make this year a gift of yourself!