Make my own Christmas gifts

Family
Mom – chore coupons
Dad – TARDIS desk organizer box
Grandma – dinner

Friends
Martina – doctor who (ten) doll
Emily – feather earrings
Jess – Grey puppet
Kristin – stationary & dreamcatcher
Abby – journal? scarf?

Candy: Tom (probably the rest of the department, too); office people; maybe alumni friends (Jeanette, Timber, Chelsey, Molly); Cait/housemates

Family
Mom – chore coupons
Cait – ?
Nat – ?
Grandma – dinner
Eric – ? not sure if i’m going to make him something or not.

Friends
Martina – doctor who doll, or TARDIS jewelry box
Emily – feather earrings
Emma – scarf? or maybe knit animal of some sort
Gwen – bath stuff
Callie – Grey puppet
Jess – Grey puppet
Kristin – stationary & dreamcatcher
Abby – journal? scarf?

Candy: Tom, office people, maybe alumni friends, maybe Cait/housemates

So I was sitting here thinking to myself, maybe I won’t make everyone Christmas presents… Maybe I’ll just buy stuff for my parents and closer people, and then just make candy for everyone. I ended up making so many presents last year I didn’t even have time to do candy.
So then I sat down and was like, let me make a list of people I would make things for if I was making stuff to see how bad it would be. I looked at it and thought, yeah, that’s too much, I’ll just do candy for everyone and maybe buy stuff for a couple people. But then I started having good ideas for most of the people and I got sucked in again.

So anyway, here’s the list… I may still back out of it, or just make stuff for some people – I think a lot of my problem has been that I take the all-or-nothing approach, because I feel like some people could be hurt or something if they get something store-bought while others get handmade things. But some people just are hard to make things for – my dad, for instance, probably doesn’t have much use for a skirt, or a purse, or a journal, which is mainly what I make.

Oh right. Here is the list.
I was thinking of channeling my 4th grade self with my mom’s & grandma’s gifts… did anyone else use to give their parents coupons that were like, “good for one clean bedroom” and that sort of thing?

Family
Mom – chore coupons? more likely for stuff like manicure/pedicure/massage
Dad – i have an idea for something store-bought for him that I know he’d like a lot, so probably not making anything
Cait – ?
Nat – ?
Grandma – certificate for dinner with me (since I’m the bad granddaughter that never spends time with anyone), cooked by me and cleaned up afterwards by me
Eric – ? not sure if i’m going to make him something or not. might depend on if he & Cait end up coming home for christmas or not.

Friends
Martina – doctor who doll
Emily – jewelry? dreamcatcher?
Emma – neon multicolored random-pattern scarf?
Gwen – bath stuff
Callie – bag?
Jess – dinosaur
Kristin – journal and/or stationary
Abby – journal?

Also I want to make candy for my advisor, Tom, and probably my other set of grandparents, at the least, if I don’t end up making a huge batch for everyone. And hopefully have enough to mail some to my closer friends who have graduated. (Jeanette, Timber, Chelsey, & Molly). I guess if Cait & Eric aren’t home for Christmas, I could just mail them & their housemates a bunch of candy. Ohhh and I forgot about my boss and the other office people too.

Anyway, mom’s & grandma’s presents would help lighten the load because they don’t really need to be prepared ahead of time (I mean, I would probably make nice-looking coupons in Photoshop or something, but still). If I go with the scarf for Emma, I can take the yarn to school and work on it during the fall. Bath stuff for Gwen is quick to make, and I already have all the supplies for it. Martina’s present would be the most difficult and time-consuming, but I think it’d be worth it.

I feel like I should make something for my dog too, since she never gets anything. I’d be afraid of accidentally using materials that aren’t pet-safe though.

Oh shoot, I had forgotten about my idea from last year to make puppets of Jess/Callie and some of our other friends. Maybe I will do that for them this year… Haha, I just had an idea for the creepiest (but totally appropriate) present – make both of them puppets of our one friend Grey.

School
Tips – kangaroo (knit) [pictures]
Erika – koala (knit)
Timber – tree doll (sewn)
Jeanette – dinosaur (sewn)
Chelsey – scarf (school colors)
Emily – rainbow sketchbook
Abby – bag
Molly – sock monkey
Adriana – sock monkey

Home
Cait – earrings and necklace
Mom – stereotypical frenchman doll (sewn)
Dad – dragon (sewn)
Nat – harry potter puppets [picture]
Grandma – apron
Andrew – stencil

I think I might end up cutting a few people from my school list. Callie & Kristin I have some things I bought, although they’re just kind of cheap, cutesy, joke-type gifts (of course, I am the only one giving presents so it’s not like I’m giving them a pair of socks while they’re giving me a set of nice china). Adriana I’ve been unsure about this whole time because she’s not a particularly close friend, but she is my roommate, and I thought it might be kind of rude to have all these presents sitting in the room waiting to be given out without having one for her. Plus, another sock monkey won’t take very long.
I haven’t made candy yet and to be honest, I’m not really sure I’m going to have time for it. I’m home for another two weeks but I now have like 4 days full of doctor’s appointments.
I think Jess’s present is going to take a full 3 days to finish, based on how long my sister’s took. The rest probably shouldn’t take as long, but I’m just kind of sick of sewing and I don’t think I want to spend every single day working on presents until I go back to school.
Bah.

School
Tips – kangaroo (knit) [pictures]
Erika – koala (knit)
Timber – tree doll (sewn)
Jeanette – sheep (knit)... or maybe a (sewn) dinosaur
Chelsey – scarf (school colors)
Emily – rainbow sketchbook
Kristin – tiered skirt, using blue floral print.
Abby – bag (using the cow-print fabric, i think)
Callie – felt penguin
Jess – puppets of her & her housemates
Molly – sock monkey
Adriana – sock monkey

Home
Cait – earrings and necklace
Mom – stereotypical frenchman doll (sewn)
Dad – stuffed dragon (sewn)
Nat – harry potter puppets [picture]
Grandma – apron
Andrew – stencil

People getting candy: the rest of the rugby team, 424+friends, Sara F, Tom, office people, friends at home…

I have not been knitting nearly enough at school. I am less than halfway through Chelsey’s scarf, still. I was hoping to be done with it and at least done a decent amount of another animal by the end of the semester. I’m not sure if I’m really going to be able to knit stuff for Erika, Timber, and Jeanette. The stuff for people at school doesn’t need to be done until the end of break (mid-January), but still… knitting takes awhile. Plus I’ll only be working on all the other stuff for people at school after Christmas, which gives me a bit more than 3 weeks.
I have less than 2 weeks at home after finals before Christmas to make everything for everyone at home. I don’t have anything knit on the list because of that time constraint, but… I don’t know, I’m just concerned about finishing everything in time (especially Mom’s & Dad’s gifts, I feel like they’ll be the most difficult. I haven’t figured out what I’m going to make Mom’s doll out of – I didn’t want to go with felt, but maybe I will use it for the body, and then regular cotton for the clothes. I hope I can find appropriate fabric for the dragon).
I’ll be home for a few days over Thanksgiving and I’m hoping to maybe knock out a gift or two (probably the puppets for Nat). I will need to do some crawling around in the attic to see if I still have all my felt from years ago or if I need to buy some. I still need to figure out what to make for Eric (though, perhaps I should confirm first that he & Cait are going to be here for Christmas).

Ooh, I just had the though to make a person-pen for Callie (I used to make them when I was younger… I’ll have to see if I still have the supplies and how well I remember the method). Which also brings up the idea of a flower pen for Grandma. Callie might also enjoy hairclips…
Also I decided I am going to make something for Molly.
And maybe I should make something for my other grandparents…

School
Tips – kangaroo (knit)
Erika – koala (knit)... if i get sick of knitting, maybe something oscar the grouch-related.
Timber – wombat (knit)... if i get sick of knitting, maybe a (sewn) tree doll
Jeanette – sheep (knit)
Chelsey – scarf (school colors)
Emily – rainbow sketchbook. i may also make her a makeup bag if i find fabric i think she’d like.
Kristin – tiered skirt, using blue floral print. possibly earrings, hair clips, or stationary.
Abby – bag? (using the cow-print fabric, maybe). or pillows? (her bedding is greyish-brown and white). i’ll have to check if she has her ears pierced.
Callie – skirt? bag?
Jess – puppets of her & her housemates
Adriana – turtle (sewn) or sock monkey

Home
Cait – jewelry of some sort? hairclips?
Eric – ?
Mom – maybe a stereotypical frenchman doll (sewn)? dragonfly earrings?
Dad – stuffed dragon? or wizard doll? (sewn)
Nat – harry potter puppets
Grandma – probably an apron, and maybe a little knitted rooster
Andrew – stencil, if i can find suitable plastic or whatever to make it out of

People getting candy: Gwen, Martina, Marina, the rest of the rugby team, 424, Sierra, Sara F…

Can’t decide if I want to make something (probably more sock monkeys, or earrings) for Marina & Molly.

School
Tips – kangaroo (knit)
Erika – koala (knit)... if i get sick of knitting, maybe something oscar the grouch-related.
Timber – wombat (knit)... if i get sick of knitting, maybe a (sewn) tree doll
Jeanette – sheep (knit)
Chelsey – scarf (school colors)?
Emily – a sketchbook maybe? (the rainbow one?) or, i’ve been wanting to make some sort of collage box…
Kristin – skirt? – maybe a tiered one using the the blue flower print. or earrings? ooh, or maybe stationary. or hairclips.
Abby – bag? (using the cow-print fabric, maybe). or pillows? (note to self: kristin says her bedding is “greyish brown and white”)
Callie – skirt? bag?
Jess – puppet(s)? possibly of her & her housemates
Adriana – stuffed giraffe (sewn)?

Home
Cait – jewelry of some sort? i’m getting a batch of charms from a trade with someone so i’ll have to see if i can do anything with them
Eric –
Mom – maybe a stereotypical frenchman doll (sewn)... or dragonfly earrings
Dad – stuffed dragon? or wizard doll? (sewn)
Nat – harry potter puppets?
Grandma – something rooster-related probably. maybe an apron.
Andrew – stencil, if i can find suitable plastic or whatever to make it out of
^{I’ve been wanting to make a bead portrait of him for a while – I read the idea in some magazine years ago, I think – but that seems like a huge project, and I think it’s a little weird to give someone a picture of himself, so maybe I will have to get a good picture of the two of us, and do this over the summer for next year.}

Everyone will get candy/baked goods in addition to what’s above, plus the following people will probably only get candy and/or baked goods: Gwen, Martina, Marina, the rest of the rugby team, 424, Sierra, Sara…

I’m trying to get a lot of stuff knitted while I’m at school before winter break, and then do more sewing/other stuff when I’m at home.

All subject to change of course.

Well I don’t have a lot of specific gifts in mind yet, but I am planning on taking some knitting stuff with me to school – I have yarn for several scarves in my school’s colors, and I’m also going to try the kangaroo pattern from my World of Knitted Toys book, since I have appropriately-colored yarn for that. I imagine people at school will be getting their gifts after break rather than before, again, and that I’ll be making candy.
I feel like I give out the same stuff every year – candy, scarves, purses, journals… I’m hoping to maybe find some new things to make. I have found some interesting knitting patterns – like one for an eggplant – so maybe I’ll try out one of those. I think really it’s that my heart is in making clothing and as I’ve probably written about before, that’s tricky to do as a gift without ruining the surprise. I think I might make one of my friends (Callie) a skirt, enlisting the help of her roommate to steal one of her current ones to measure… I feel like I want to make some jewelry this year too, but it’s been so long since I’ve done that. Maybe I’ll go back to making ornaments, too.