Make my own Christmas gifts

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?
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 before 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.

I started knitting a couple of scarves for my best friends. Am thinking about crocheting snowflakes to put in w/ Xmas cards, too.

gramma-crochet a blanket (but not the one that I am counting on as a goal on here, that’s for my roomie) and ginger snaps.

mom-slippers (if I can figure out how to make em) and anything with coconut, gonna look for something totally decedent.

pa-wallet/something wine related… and i could totally make him some wasabi covered peas…

Mom
Dane
Bron
Brooke
Dad
Gramma

I like the idea of baking something, maybe a something different for everyone, dad likes pies, and bron, brooke and prolly Dane all would like something chocolate. Gramma would prolly like a snap of a sort, like a ginger, maybe Dane too… as for ma, Im not sure… prolly something with coconut. Maybe I will give everyone a bit of each…

But I also I want to think of something for each of them… thinking… thinking… cohesive thoughts will come later apparently.

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

That’s what my gifts were… I baked and made all kinds of christmas goodies to fill handmade (by me) christmas boxes… I still bought some more elaborate gifts for those closest to me. Making christmas gifts however takes a lot of effort and a reasonable chunk of your budget. I really enjoyed being creative and making things and have decided that I will add some handmade christmas decorations to next year’s festivities. I’ve also realised that the stress caused by trying to make everything last minute is really not worth it so I will be working on it much sooner (in fact I’ve already started on next year). Starting early also gives you the opportunity to take advantage of the post-christmas sales on all things christmas.

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.

.... finished and ready to be sent off!

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…