A friend and I were talking about Christmas gifts the other day and she mentioned how easy it is to spend $50 filling a stocking. This made me reflect on my favorite things that I’ve received in my stocking over the years, and what their grown-up, handmade equivalents are. This post has a strong bias towards my (Shannon’s) preferences, and no one else here chez FasterCraft was allowed to distract me with their preferences. So… sorry about that.
Lip Balm! When I was a kid every year I could count on getting a tube of tubes of Bonne Bell Lip Smackers. You know the ones?
I miss those. I might buy myself one this year. But, to tell the truth, I feel a little odd wearing heavily scented shiny, shiny lip gloss in my 30s. Well, during the work day anyway. A great alternative, however, could be a handmade lip balm/gloss in a scent tailored to my needs. Not Martha has a comprehensive tutorial on making lip balm.
Gloves and mittens. Assuming that the snow and cold started at the beginning of November, I’ve probably lost a pair or two of those stretch gloves already by this point in the season. I love these mittens from the Purl Bee, made from wool felt with a knitted cuff.
A small flashlight. Whether for finding my way down the stairs outside my apartment, or getting a key in the lock, or finding the groceries that fell out of the car in the night, I absolutely depend on having a pocket sized flashlight with me. Instructables has a great list of flashlights you can make. One of my favorites is this one, made from a used Altoids tin.
Small notebooks. I am not one of those people who has… well, organizational skills, or a good memory, so a notebook in my purse or pocket is pretty essential for me. Sister Diane at Craftypod has a tutorial for these great notebooks, made from, well, whatever kind of cardboard boxes you have around. (Hers shown above are made from a Kleenex box.)
The One evening stocking stuffers that I favor by FasterCraft, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
