How to make Gift Card Envelopes and Holders

Are you like me and gift cards are part of your christmas? Well, why not make your gift cards special and have a hint of homemade gifts- make your own gift card envelopes and holders. One way I do this is take apart a small envelope, carefully - dissect it at the glued seams, and when it is apart you have a template! Just trace this onto some old paper (I use pages from those damn Christmas catalogs that are sent to me. Or you could get fancy and use these templates to make really nice holders

Gift Card envelope template

Tool box gift card holder

Artists Trading card/Credit card size Gift Card Envelope Template

Different Envelope Templates

Cool thing is you can make a gift card very personal- and have some hand made in it as well. Or you can make a cd envelope and give cd's with a personal selection of music on it. Or photgraphs on CD.

How to reuse, recycle Christmas and greeting Cards

Sherri Osborn has a whole plethora of Ideas on this subject in her great family crafts blog. I made a bunch of gift tags out of this years greeting cards. I made enough to cover next years Christmas!

<-A whole lotta gift tags re-used from

Christmas Cards

Gifts for Kids to make and give

How about making a calendar for christmas? About.com's Sherri Osborn has templates on her blog, and easy intructions. You could do a recipe calendar (feature different recipes each month, a birthday calendar if you com from a larger family- list everyone's birthday, anniversaries, special events throughout the year, month by month. Another gift idea for kids to give is have them draw a picture and frame it. Frames can be found at thrift stores, dollar stores etc. This makes a great gift for grandma, and it makes the child's artwork look so professional.

Another gift for kids to give is take some burlap, and a frozen orange juice container or similar size can, role the fabric over the can, glue it and glue some ribbon on the top rim and bottom rim of can. Make s a great pencil holder (I think my mom still has hers, 40 years later! Or if you know how to do t-shirt transfers, have your kid draw a I love grandma or grandpa picture, scan it into your computer, make a transfer, and make a shirt. (If you have some talent sewing, you could hem a piece of fabric so that it forms a rectangle and make a wall hanging this way. All easy inexpensive options!

One more gift for kitty!

All kitty's love an elevated place to stand, nap, glare at chihuahuas. Why not revisit the post How to build a cat tree/cat condo and make your kitty a cat tree for christmas?

Kitty's Turn: Making your own Cat treats and Toys

Yesterday we remembered the pooch for christmas, today lets not forget kitty cat! For treats, we can go to this site to make your own cat treats. My cat Sammy swears by the Tuna treats. And here's how to make your own cat toys.
One of the best cat toys are to take baby socks or small clean cotton socks like ankle high socks, fill with catnip and tie a knot at the end.
Finally, cats love fluffy pom poms on strings (at least my cats always have), here is a video on making pom poms your kitty would love to play with:

Make your own dog gifts

Let's not forget Fido on christmas morning. Here is a list of Dog treat recipes that should more than satisfy canines at Christmas time. If you have a smaller dog, look at How to make a Dog sweater from a sock to help keep your chihuahua from chilly bones. And here are instructions to make homemade Dog Toys, and here is a ball toy to make for your pooch

How to make Your own Hot Chocolate mix-

Getting ready to make Hot Cocoa Cones or Cocoa in a jar? Need a mix recipe? Here is one from that is simple easy and good And arecipe for sugar free Hot chocolate mix. Add 3 tablespoons of cinnamon for a spicy cinnamon cocoa mix.

Ande here are a couple of extra Hot Chocolate recipes:

Hot Cocoa Mix Recipe(allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS

16 ounces dry milk powder
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
DIRECTIONS
Sift together milk powder, white sugar and cocoa powder. Store in an airtight container.
To prepare, stir approximately 1 heaping tablespoons of mix into 1 cup of hot water.

SUGAR FREE HOT CHOCOLATE MIX:

INGREDIENTS

16 ounces dry milk powder
1 cup NutraSweet (Sucralose)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

DIRECTIONS
Sift together milk powder, Nutra Sweet (Sucralose) and cocoa powder. Store in an airtight container.
To prepare, stir approximately 1 heaping tablespoons of mix into 1 cup of hot water.

Making your own Gifts- Give a gift of Beef Jerky

Please go to the post of Make your own Jerky! Jerky makes a great homeade present. You can give it in a mason jar. and even decorate the lid (See Hot Chocolate in a Jar). Just use quart jars for this one.

Updated- How to make Apricot Brandy- Make your own Gifts

I updated the post on how to make apricot "brandy"- I have added a video that might explain better how to make fruit infused vodkas easier. The Video is from the DIY show "Creative Juice" and Creative Juice Co-host Cathie Filian.
EDIT- CHILE MAKES A POINT of wishing they didn't encourage the use of a "cheap plastic ball" to tie around the top. Most people that get that will just toss it in the trash. Why not encourage wrapping in a really nice silk hankerchief (available at your local thrift store) and tying off with a pretty ribbon. Or tie a homemade ornament around the top instead of the cheap plastic ball!

Make your own Gifts- Hot Chocolate in a jar

If the Hot Chocolate Cone is not the message you want to give, or is too childish, or you don't want to give a thing of cocoa in a plastic bag, why not do the same thing in baby food jar? Don't have any baby food jars?
How about a 1/2pint sized jelly jar? The lids on mason jars are even easier to decorate: simply take a piece of cloth, slightly larger that the lid, (no more than 1/8th of an inch) glue it over the the lid and screw the lid on, glue a Hershey's kiss to the top or a small ornament, or follow these instructions for a 3-D effect. Or a neat re-use idea, use the lid of the jar to make a template, and use old Christmas cards. Just trace the outline of the lid on the card, cut the card and glue to the lid, The band should cover any imperfections with the cut. I re-used old Christmas stockings for mine. If the gift is for an aunt or grandparent, you could take a picture of the child and glue that to the lid!

Make Your own gifts-Hot Chocolate Cones

I watch Ms. Oprah every now and then- My mom usually has it on. I saw how to make these hot chocolate cones- a perfect gift for children, co-workers or keep on hand as an emergency gift for unexpected guests who pop in- Easy to make, the hard part is finding the piping bags (I went to Michael's and found them, I would think JoAnn Crafts would have them as well or any gourmet shop)Anyway here are the instructions for making Hot Chocolate Cones And when done you can put them in an inexpensive mug for next to nothing if you want, and fill the mug with hersheys kisses!

How to make Apricot Brandy

Technally, this is fruit infused vodka, but the site calls it Brandy.I am assuming by adding sugar and increasing the sugar content is why they arew calling it "Brandy". You can use any fruit to make it! Even though I am a tea totaller, this looks good. I may make some for gifts this christmas! How to make Apricot Brandy