Several years ago after my grandfather died, my brother delivered me a bin full of odds and ends from my grandfather’s garage, which consisted of a few tools and thousands of screws, hooks, buttons, buckles, nails, small saw blades, snaps, doo-dads, thinga-majigs, and other small, weird things from another era (my brother thought his was funny since it was pretty much useless stuff).

So, in my sincerity and creativity, my 3 year old son and I created paperweights out of this stuff for Christmas gifts that year.  It was a good way to remember our late Grandpa Frank too, since it was his junk. :)  And my son had a blast creating it as well.

Stuff needed:
1) Small block of wood for base of paper weight
2) “Junk”
3) Glue - we used some really cool glitter glue I found in our kid’s craft stuff
4) A permanent marker to sign the bottom of the master piece

After giving this gift my dad said, “thanks for the junk!”  The next morning he said that he layed awake that Christmas eve and contemplated the true meaning of Christmas and decided that we as a family should change the way we give gifts.  Oh and they all still display those “junk” paper weights proudly on their desks.

If this does not grab you, another winner has been to frame original poetry written to an individual.

Cheers and thanks for the inspiration.

- Submitted by Keith A. Klassen of Sacramento, CA.

Materials: scraps of fabric - two coordinating pieces 5″ x 9″ (I suggest using a non-directional piece of fabric or part of your purse will be upside down), a button or snap, sewing machine, scissors

Cost: under $1.00

Time: less than 30 minutes.

Cut two pieces of fabric 5″ x 9″, and round the tops if you’d like. I used one our kids plates to get a good rounded angle.

Next, put your two pieces of fabric together with the WRONG sides facing out, and the right sides facing one another. Sew from the bottom left hand corner to the bottom right hand corner leaving the flat side open using a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Turn your fabric back to the right sides, and iron. Next, fold your open end under approx. 1/2″, iron and pin.

Now, sew across your open side using a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Next, you will will fold up your flat side to create your purse, iron and pin in place. Once again starting from the bottom left corner, sew around your purse to the bottom right corner.

Finish by adding a button or snap closure. These are the perfect size to hold credit cards, business cards, lip balm, money and more.

I was in the elevator of my building last holiday season with a neighbor who had an armful of blank discs. “Doing some homework?” I asked. “Nah, making some mixed discs for my family for Christmas presents.” he replied with a smile.

At first I was taken back by the task this man was going to attempt. I thought, how awkward would it be to give this kind of present to EVERYONE on my list, after all, there are three topics that are very intimate to each of us, Religion, Politics and Music. Especially my parents, who called my music noise for all those years. But then I though about how thoughtful and uplifting a mixed disc could be. I thought of the lost art of making the most excellent mixed tape (I mean disc). Like a well crafted set list, the mixed disc has an opening track (something familiar and catchy) then a transition track or two, then the middle, where you put in all the really meaningful stuff, then the last track, which leaves a taste for more, not feeling like the disc has to be ejected when that first song comes on again. Don’t be discouraged, chances are, you can peg what music your family members might like with a small deviation from what they actually like, which as far as Christmas gifts go, is right on the money, without spending a lot of it.

So what are you waiting for? Go in with some of your friends for a pack of blank discs, grab your laptops and play DJ for an afternoon, your gifts will be an instant hit as you rock around the Christmas tree.

Items needed:

• 1 Blank disc
• 1 Computer (with music on it)
• Optional, wrapping paper (you don’t really need to wrap these, they are stealthy and  mysterious, like UFOs)

Cost: $0.21 per disc (assuming you have access to some music to share and a computer already.)

Materials: felt (I used the cheap felt, but you could use nicer wool felt), embroidery floss, yarn (optional), beads or buttons, pin back, scissors, a needle

Cost: about $1/brooch (or less)

Time: 20-30 minutes

Cut out petals and leaves for your flower. I cut these out freehand, but you could make a pattern first. I used 6 larger petals (pink), 6 smaller petals (red), and two leaves (brown).

Next, use your embroidery floss (or thread) to sew your petals together (see below). You can stitch a simple detail around the edge of your petals (see the red part and the brown leaves), or just use a simple chain stitch to connect your petals together. When you have these stitched together, pull each end tight (see the picture below).

Layer your pieces and loosely thread yarn throughout your flower. Stitch all pieces together adding your beads or buttons in the center and your brooch pin to the back. Use this to accessorize a hat, a coat or a purse.

My boys love to build, stack, create and destroy. At the ripe ages of 2 and 5, this year they will receive wooden building blocks as part of their Christmas present. This won’t be the end-all block set to hand down to their children, but rather a simple and low-grade starter set– but special nonetheless and absolutely useful for building. They will love these blocks and have many adventures with them.

This project will be simple in that all that is needed is two 6ft planks of ¾ inch thick whiteboard wood (a soft and smooth wood). I am using whiteboard because it is very inexpensive and when cutting each piece with my chop saw, the wood practically sands itself because the cut is so smooth (a huge time saver). My plan is to cut ¾ inch thick pieces ranging from 2-8 inches in length and then quickly sand each piece as needed to make sure to avoid splinters. My chop saw can only cut about 5 inches in length, so longer cuts will need to be accomplished with a band saw. I have already started this project and I have found that cutting all four sides of each block is a big advantage toward achieving flat ends and also saving time on sanding. When I am finished I expect to have 150-250 building blocks. This block set will then be housed in a “building block bag” (old pillow case with a tie).

Materials:
* two 6 ft planks of ¾ inch whiteboard wood.
* sandpaper

Tools:
* chop saw or band saw (make sure to be careful and use goggles)
* jigsaw if you want to get creative with curved designs

Cost:
* $4.00 for each piece of 6ft long wood.
* $1.50 for sand paper
* Free if you have used wood. Be cautious of used painted wood though due to the potential for lead-base paint.