Quick, Easy and Inexpensive Christmas gifts.
- I think I paid $2 for a big bundle. I found some scrap timber and had my husband cut the lengths down into squares, around the size of a floppy disk. I drilled a hole in each corner and painted the squares in pretty colours. I then (after drilling holes in the tops of the cutlery also - you need to make sure the type of utensil you use makes this possible)threaded the forks and spoons onto fishing line and added some glass beads in co-ordinating colours - you need to cut a long length of fishing line too. After adding around 10-15 beads, the remaining line was threaded through a hole in the corner of the wood square (so the last bead sits right up against the wood), another two or three beads added on the top and then the four threads gathered up and knotted. I added a big wooden bead and knotted a loop so they can be hung on a hook. These chimes are so well received, and they make a beautiful tinkling noise when hung in a window or from a tree branch in the garden. There are gorgeous glass beads available, and in fact most of mine came from old junk jewellery I had hanging around that had broken at one time or another. If you need to buy beads, try looking for those specifically sold for childrens craft - you get some great coloured glass beads in beautiful purples, blues and pinks quite inexpensively.
There are a myriad of possibilites for making gifts at the last minute, it is merely a matter of taking a deep breath and allowing oneself to see "everyday junk" as a possible thing of beauty. Cheap, plain folders become personalised poetry books, old forks and spoons become garden windchimes, teabags become a sweet reminder of friends and loved ones at Christmas and plastic spoons become a little indulgence at morning tea time. Christmas is not about only gifts, it is about celebration and family. If the karma surrounding your gift giving is positive, so your Christmas will be joyous. Put a little something of yourself into your gift giving and give with the spirit that Christmas was meant to be about.
Links to relevent sites follow. May you and your family, friends and loved ones enjoy a safe, joyful and enchanting Christmas. Wishing the best of love and happiness to you
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