Tash’s Top Tips for a Handmade Christmas

Would you LOVE a handmade Christmas?

Tash’s Top Tips to the rescue!

1. START EARLY

And I’m talking as early as January if possible. You craft for the love of crafting. And give for the love of giving. Don’t make it more stressful than it needs to be by leaving it until the last minute. Handmade Christmas crafts take time of course.  And you’ll need plenty of time to plan, source materials and MAKE around your possibly already busy schedule.

Having said all of that, I have very often been known to decide to make something right at the last minute.  And still be crocheting late on Christmas Eve.  So never say never.  It’s not too late! But next year use these top tips for less stress.

Here's a pompom garland I made for the living room a few years back (awesome for stash busting!).  Some snowflakes which are so cheap to make yet so affective - just hang them with fishing wire so they appear to float!  Me and little Es often talk about filling the house with white snowflakes and paper chains like buddy the elf does to the toy shop. This pic also features an elf that I made.

2. MAKE A PLAN

Start out by deciding who/what you want to make for. Is it Christmas presents for your loved ones? Or Christmas decorations? Or both? You’ll want to make a list of who you want to make for and then decide what, exactly, you’d like to make for them. (Pssssst…You can use the Ideas section of the Ray’s Room Craft Planner for this bit) 

I would recommend being realistic at this point about how much time you have to dedicate to your projects. If you don’t generally have loads of time on your hands choosing items that take less time to make may be a good idea.  Hats, mittens, scarves and snoods are some of my favourites.  Another great handmade gift idea is a stack of coasters, with a scented candle on top.  Bundled up with tissue/cellophane and a nice ribbon.  This makes a great house warming gift too.

Choosing to make the same thing for many people can also be a great time saver.  Only having to learn the pattern the once but making it multiple times means you’ll get quicker and making it and become an expert at that particular pattern.

I became an expert in these baubles one year making sets for family and friends.

3. GIVE CLOSE ATTENTION TO EACH PROJECT

By taking note of what you’re making, when you’ll start and when you want it finished by in order to fit them all in. Note what materials, tools and patterns you’ll use and start to source them.  This will help to keep you organised and ensure you know what to do when you come to make the item again. (pssssst the Ray’s Room Craft Planner ‘Projects’ section is perfect for this bit!)

Make yourself a recurring appointment in your diary for crafting your handmade Christmas makes. This comes back to what I mentioned in my previous top tip about making time for your crafts as an appointment not to miss. With the craziness of day to day life, we won’t find time for things that don’t feel like a priority right now unless we consciously make it happen. Starting your plan early in the year can often make you feel like ‘ahh I’ve got plenty of time’.

I had this approach to a project I wanted to complete by the beginning of December and didn’t end up getting it done in time because all year I’d thought ‘I’ve got all year’. I’ve now given this a new deadline and next year I will be booking it into my diary.

Stick to your booked time wherever possible and enjoy crafting your way through the year one gift at a time.

Handmade advent calendars make great gifts to enjoy all through December!

4. GIFT WRAP

It's such an important part of gift giving if you ask me. ESPECIALLY handmade items. They have been lovingly crafted for hours and are even more deserving than a shop bought gift of special attention to gift wrap. Use tissue paper, gift boxes, stickers, pretty strings and ribbons to really show off the beautiful items you’ve made. You could maybe even make items to decorate and gift wrap your shop bought gifts with.  A couple of years ago I bought each household in my family a large panetone in a really pretty tin.  I tied them up with ribbon and added a beautiful handmade bauble to the top of each one.  Each bauble colour coordinated to that family’s Christmas decorations.  Those panetone tins made me so happy!

Plus, I recently shared a yarn bow tutorial which is the perfect way to use up left over yarn from your project/stash and match the gift wrap to the gift! Check it out here.

OK 

I know I said start early, but if you have a tendency, like me, to leave things to the last minute. Then with the right projects (smaller, quicker ones) tips from 2 to 5 all totally still apply this year! If you’d like to have a handmade Christmas and start now - do it!! I have Craft Planners in stock now if you think it will help you. And you can use the Ray’s Room Crafters Facebook group to ask for quick handmade gift ideas.

Here's a bowl of snowballs I made a few years ago!  This is a great way to use up white and a few other christmassy colours of yarn (just not yellow..tehe).  They're super quick. You can get the kids involved in making them too.  They look super cute in a basket as a Christmas decoration. PLUS you get to have snowballs fights with them! Yay!

Are you making gifts and decorations this year?

Or will you be planning a handmade Christmas for next year?

Tell us in the comments or head to the Ray's Room Crafters Facebook group to tell us all about it there.

With love

Tash x

ps. Here's a few more Handmade Christmas idea's that I've LOVED working on in previous years.

A family Christmas embroidery makes a gorgeous heirloom gift that will be enjoyed for so many years to come.  I made this one as a gift to us the year Dan and I got married and we all became Tobins.

Crochet stars can make such simple yet beautiful garlands.  My pattern for stars is available to buy in the Christmas Crochet Decorations Bumper Pattern Bundle.  You can crochet them together or attach them to strings of beads.

Crochet wreaths make for stunning decorations and gifts!

And I made this collection of garlands to decorate our stair rail a few years back and its been bringing me joy ever since.  One garland is just twisty tinsel with colourful baubles attached.  One is a string of crochet beads, plastic beads, and pompoms (another great stash buster).  And the top row is a gold rope which I attached LOADS of colourful bells to and now every time someone brushes past it when walking up the stairs it sounds like sleigh bells! Finished it all off with bows, pompoms and tassels - JOY!