Christmas Stuff for Next Year

Am I the only one who feels a little bit frustrated each year when all the really great crafting ideas for Christmas come out too late for me to make them?

So one of my goals this year was to sit down in early January and select the crafting ideas I would like to make for next year. And because none of my family (except my husband) know that I blog I can share them with you! (Plus it will make it easier to get all my stuff together if I compile it here!)

The Common Room posted a selection of frugal gifts, and included a picture of a sweet Christmas tree decoration that is a mitt made from craft paper. The simple blanket stitch makes it appear very beautiful. We will be making these next year! I would like to make one for each family we exchange gifts for, and if things are nice and quiet, and the girls schedule allows the time, I would like to make one for each of the kids in those families too for their decoration collections.

I love Shannon's idea for hankies, and would like to make some in flannel. (Although I had to laugh as I was writing this because she blogs at Rocks in my Dryer, and I will have you know that I had rocks in both my washer AND my dryer this weekend....)

Plus then an incredibly creative reader of hers posted an idea (and there were lots of great ideas) about making tea towels out of pictures your kids have made! Basically your kids write out the recipe and draw a picture to go with it, you copy that to transfer paper and iron it on the tea towel. Of course, you can jazz it up if you want too! Yup, we are going to have to make those too....

These are just the three I saw that really stood out for me!

Of course, be sure to print these or save them as pdf files because in the course of a year links often disappear.

Another great idea that we received as a gift is the gift of family recipes from this year written out to share. Our friend wrote them out and clipped them in a clothes pin that had the front and back covered in a pretty paper with magnets on the back - our friend is SO creative!

Were there any crafting ideas around the web that stood out to you? Leave a link or description in the comments if you would not mind sharing as I am always on the hunt for a good craft!