Flip Book @ Family Fun	Smelly Sachet @ The Crafty Crow	Trivet @ Frugal Family Fun Blog
Flower Pot Pens @ Mommy’s Kitchen	Easy Cream @ 1 Talented Family	Pasta Plate @ Kaboose
Interview Card @ Let’s Explore	Painted Peat Pots @ That Artist Woman	Lamb Pin @ Family Fun
Paper Flowers @ Toddler Craft	Kid’s Art Placemats @ The Joy of My Life	Mother’s Day Coupon Book @ Kaboose

Have you read these articles?:

1. 35 Of The Best Craft Websites Across The Net
2. 50 Free And Almost Free Holiday Activities For Kids
3. Handmade Gift Ideas Part 3 – Accessories

Below is a collection of Easter hampers from actual businesses. I’m not suggesting that you buy any of these hampers – the idea is to use the pictures for inspiration to create your own hampers. Seeing that I nicked the photos, I thought I should at least provide links to the websites from which the photos came (in the very least, they will get some Google link love).

The hampers below include commercial Easter chocolates, but you could couple an attractive hamper with handmade chocolates. My mum reminded me that she used to make most of our Easter chocolates as this was much cheaper than buying them. She would swap moulds with the next door neighbour to ensure a variety. Writing these articles have certainly inspired me to do some of my own chocolate making.

Kiwi Gift Solutions	A Devine Florist	Gallweys
A Devine Florist	Hamper Gifts	Gifts for Expats
Hampers Away	Easter eggs.org	Your Shopping
Beautiful Baskets	Turnham Green	Surprise Me
Basketville Gift Baskets	Ballarat Chocolate Shoppe	The Complete Basketcase

Have you read these articles?:

1. Easter Egg box
2. making personalised gift hampers for all occasions
3. Handmade Gifts Part 5 – Hampers and Gift Wrapping

When I was a kid, my mum had her own home-based business making handmade chocolates. Everything from the tiny hand-painted delicacies filled with sweetness, to a giant Easter bunny which had around a kilogram of chocolate in it. Sometimes I would help her individually wrap each one for sale and occasionally I would make my own chocolates for gifts.

Later, the first department I worked in at Grace Bros, quite a few years ago now, was the confectionary department (when there was one), which became the Easter egg department at this time of the year (and for at least two months before Easter). So I learnt a couple of things about chocolate.

Chocolate is high in antioxidants and therefore is pretty good for you. The problem is, that most of us don’t actually eat real chocolate. Many of the popular brands that we consume are cheaper than real chocolate because they substitute the cocoa butter for vegetable oil and then increase the amount of sugar to make it taste ok. Vegetable oil and sugar cause the very problems that the antioxidants are supposed to prevent.

When it comes to chocolate and any antioxidant claims, the higher amount of cocoa butter the better. And no vegetable oil! Lindt 70% is my favourite, and according to their ingredients list, there are no added extras that shouldn’t be in chocolate.

Once you get used to eating real chocolate, the regular supermarket brand chocolates just don’t taste very good anymore. And while it is more expensive, good quality dark chocolate is like fine after dinner liqueur is to passion pop. It is a very adult taste and a little goes a long way.

And that is the good thing about making your own chocolates – you can use good quality chocolate at a fraction of the cost of buying quality Easter eggs (a 100g block of Lindt chocolate is $3.49 compared to a 100g Lindt bunny at $5.68)! And it’s fun.

Chocolate Making Resources

Tempering chocolate

To make the best chocolates, you need to take a little time to temper the chocolate before hand. Tempering gives the chocolate a nice glossy look and makes it ‘snap’ when you bite it. Tempering is just a matter of melting the chocolate to a certain temperature, cooling it a little, then raising the temperature again. Here are a couple of videos to show you how, they are pretty much the same, but each one had a different tip that filled in any blanks of the others:

• Tempering chocolate with Epicurious [video]
• Tempering chocolate with Chow How To [video]
• Tempering chocolate with Howdini Guru [video]

Filling chocolate moulds

• Filling chocolate Easter egg moulds [video] 
• Making chocolate lollipops [video] (I could listen to this guy’s accent all day!)
• Making small fancy chocolates (filled) [video]

Making Fondant

Fondant is the sweet filling in chocolates. You can buy fondant, or make it yourself. I don’t think it’s a quick and easy process though. There are many recipes on the net for fondant, but I like this one the best because it doesn’t contain any corn syrup or the like. 

• Making Fondant @ Chocolate Candy Hall
• Making filled chocolates @ Chocolate Candy Hall (with ideas for different flavourings for the filling)
• Making liqueur chocolates @ Chocolate Candy Hall

Supplies in Australia

For basic moulds etc, Spotlight and Lincraft often carry a small range. Otherwise, check online for suppliers. Buying good quality chocolate (seems to me) a little harder. You can just buy a block of Lindt chocolate from the supermarket and melt and temper or you could try cake decorating shops, chef’s supplies stores, gourmet supermarkets and delis or you can just use Cadbury compound chocolate (it seems that is the most common supplied). 

• Inspired by Chocolate
• Choc Art
• Belgian Delights for coverture chocolate (ok $20 a kilo (min 10kg) isn’t cheap and not really for a once off Easter event, but I thought I would put it out there anyway)
• Colefax Chocolates (currently only in Sydney but soon opening an online store)

Have you read these articles?:

1. Easter Egg box
2. making personalised gift hampers for all occasions
3. Handmade Gift Ideas Part 2 – Home and Garden

I’ve had a little experience making up hampers. When I worked in Grace Bros, I started in the Confectionary department. Christmas and Easter were our busiest times and one of the services that we provided was making up personalised gift baskets. Over the years, I probably made over 300.

Actually, making personalised gift baskets can be a lot of fun. The key to a successful hamper is tailoring it to the recipient, so that you ensure that they will really like every item that you include and it is a useful gift rather than being ‘just another hamper’. Of course, this is a lot more work than just buying a pre-wrapped hamper off the shelf.

How to make up a gift hamper

1. Decide on a theme

Often the theme will reflect the occasion for the hamper. A baby shower hamper will be quite different to a wedding hamper.

If the occasion doesn’t present a specific theme (as in the case of a birthday) then consider:

• Who is the basket for?
• What are their interests and hobbies, likes and dislikes?

Some theme ideas include:

• Food theme – not just any food, but it might be a wine hamper or a chocolate hamper or a homemade hamper or a BBQ themed hamper. What does the recipient like to eat?
• Gardening theme
• Crafting theme – I would love nothing more than a hamper full of quilting odds and ends (hint DH )
• Spa / bath products
• Movie theme
• A relaxing or time-out theme – a new mum might love a hamper with her favourite magazine, some nice coffee, relaxing music, chocolates etc
• Tea or coffee theme
• sports theme

2. Decide on a budget

Your budget will dictate what you put in the basket. If you’re budget is minimal, including tickets to the opera in amongst the gourmet wine and chocolates might be out of the question. But if your budget is a little more flexible, don’t just stick to the bickies and jam. A hamper can be an alternative way of presenting a group of individual presents that might otherwise have been individually wrapped.

For a more frugal gift hamper, you could make the contents yourself. The hamper in the photo above includes homemade choc-chip cookies and homemade truffles. And homemade tastes so much better than store bought! If you make great jam or have a secret spice mix, don’t buy, make it yourself. People really appreciate the time and effort you spend on homemade stuff (and they enjoy your wares also).

I’ve also made up “gift packs” for a couple of young girls for making their own cards. As I had plenty of scrapbooking supplies, card stock, embellishments etc, I just created the gift packs from what I had on hand, supplementing them with a couple of glitter pens and some stickers, embellishments etc from the $2 shop. It ended up being quite a well received gift and only cost a few dollars. These were packed in recycled plastic sleaves that you get packs of specialty paper in etc. And I made up a label in Word with card making instructions/hints to go in the pack. While not technically a hamper (nary a basket in sight) it’s the same concept.

3. The contents

Hampers aren’t all about marmalade and shortbread. You can put anything imaginable in your hamper. The only important thing is to make sure the contents are personal and appropriate for the recipient. It’s nice to stick to a theme, but you don’t have to.

If you choose to stick to a theme, the contents of your hamper will reflect that theme. If you’re making a wine hamper for example, you may want to consider wine glasses to complement the wine. However, if you know that the recipient has a cupboard full of glasses, this may not be the best idea.

4. Containers

The most popular hamper container is a basket, but personally I don’t like to use baskets as generally speaking, people don’t really know what to do with baskets and don’t want them hanging around their house. If you are keen on using a basket then the best place to find them is in op shops, because they tend to have a ton of them for very little cost.

I prefer to either use something practical like a nice serving plate or bowl, or something recycled and disposable, like a recycled cardboard box wrapped in a nice bit of paper. Consider the packaging of things that you purchase as potential hamper containers. I bought a set of muslin wraps that came in a clear plastic “box”. The base of this box made the perfect container for a Christmas hamper (pictured above).

Often the theme of the hamper or the personality of the recipient will suggest an appropriate container. Some suggestions include:

• Crockery, bake ware, bowls, mugs glasses etc
• terracotta pots, planters etc
• metal buckets etc
• wooden crates or boxes
• serving trays (like you would use for breakfast in bed)
• cardboard boxes
• bags (not just gift bags but if you were giving some groceries for example, they could be presented in a homemade shopping bag. Or you could use a vintage handbag, a picnic bag etc)
• Or you could make the container, like a quilted basket, or a handmade cardboard box.

5. Filler

Filler lifts the contents of the hampers up making them more presentable. If you have a shredder handy, then you have an endless source of filler material. Otherwise some scrunched up paper works just as well. When I assembled personalised gift baskets at Grace Bros, I would use scrunched up paper and hide it with a nice tea towel (which then became part of the gift). Just scrunch up some newspaper and cover it with either a piece of fabric or some nice tissue paper or wrapping paper.

Another great source of filler is the hampers that other’s give you. Keep baskets, filler and wrapping to re-gift. Even if you present your hamper in a bag, it can look quite nice if you use filler in the bottom of the bag and have the contents protruding over the top so that the recipient can see what’s inside. Or you could have it as a surprise.

6. Arranging your hamper

Have a play around with the arrangement of your hamper to get the best results. To help place items, choose a front for your hamper. Start with the largest or tallest items first and arrange the smaller items around these. For example, with a wine and delicacies hamper, start by placing the wine bottles, then any large packets of food, and arrange the smaller items around these.

To help with arranging items, consider overlapping items, using clear sticky tape to help keep items still and in position (stick items to each other or to the container) and if you have smaller packaged items, like a box of wrapped chocolates, consider taking the chocolates out of the box and scattering them around the hamper. If you are using a basket with a handle, you could tie or tape items to the handle in order to keep them in place.

If the hamper just doesn’t seem right, adding or subtracting filling can make a big difference. Don’t be afraid to add extra filling here and there where needed to prop up an individual item.

Fill empty spaces with either small items like chocolates or items relevant to the theme (cookie cutters for a baking theme, for example) or with a decorative element such as paper or silk flowers.

7. Wrapping

When it comes to wrapping a hamper, the most popular wrapping is cellophane because it is see-through. Again keep clear plastic and cellophane from gifts and packaging to reuse, cutting cost and waste. A flat hamper can be covered taught rather than the traditional wrap and tie method, making it easier to see the contents.

Alternatively, you could wrap your hamper in something appropriate (for example, a tea towel for a food themed hamper, or you could make a crocheted doily to wrap stuff in etc).

Ribbon finishes off the hamper nicely, and again collect what you can in order to reduce costs and waste. I have quite a stash of ribbon all from gifts and purchases. I bought a pair of cheap pjs the other day that came wrapped in over a metre of white ribbon rather than being packed in plastic. That ribbon will come in handy later on.

Don’t forget to include a gift card and you’re done.

Have you read these articles?:

1. Handmade Gifts Part 5 – Hampers and Gift Wrapping
2. easter basket inspiration
3. frugal valentine gift ideas

Need inspiration for a handmade Valentine gift idea? I’ve put together a little collection of Valentine’s Day inspired handmade tutorials from around the net.

Be Mine Notes @ Little Brown Pen	Chocolate Bouquet @ Wikihow	Valentine Kit @ Design Sponge
Chocolate Rose Bouquet @ Family Fun	Handmade Choc Box @ Schlosser Designs	Handmade card ideas @ Better Homes and Gardens
Cake ‘Box’ of Truffles @ Bakerella	Kiss Rose Bud @ Roots and Wings	Felt Heart Wreath @ The Idea Room
Valentine Penny Pockets @ Moda Bake Shop	52 Reasons Why I like you @ Craftster	Fabric Love Note @ Paper n Stitch Blog
Valentine Heart Sachets @ Sew4Home	Valentine Pillow Box @ Schlosser Designs	Antique Style Valentine @ Martha Stewart
Interactive Valentine @ Sew Mama Sew	Heart Shaped Soap @ Martha Stewart	Heart Garland @ All Things Heart and Home

Have you read these articles?:

1. frugal valentine gift ideas
2. Handmade Gift Ideas Part 2 – Home and Garden
3. Handmade Gift Ideas Part 4 – Food Gifts

I made up some hampers for Christmas this year. The hampers had an ‘afternoon tea’ theme and included a plate, a hand designed and embroidered tea cloth, some fresh QLD coffee beans, Northern NSW English Breakfast tea, homemade choc-chip cookies and homemade caramel filled truffles. To give the hamper a sense of unity I used the same paper to make all the packets. The labels were created using GIMP.

Homemade hampers are an inexpensive, personalised gift for any occasion. While they may not cost a lot, a lot of time, thought and effort goes into making these. The key to making them great is having quality ingredients inside all the fancy packaging.

So I thought that I would share how to make up these pretty packets and boxes.

To make these boxes you will need:

• Scrapbooking paper or other patterned cardstock
• Gift bags to put the coffee beans, tea or whatever you like in
• Sticky tape to seal up the bags (if you’ve got one of those vacuum heat seal thingies even better)
• Plain cardboard for the bottom of the truffle box
• Clear acetate for the truffle box lid cut out (I recycled some acetate from packaging. Any clear sturdy plastic packaging can be cut up and reused for the box window).
• Good glue or double sided tape to construct boxes
• Ribbon to finish
• Hole punch
• Something to score and press creases (I used a sharp plastic chopstick to score creases and the end of the scalpel to press the creases firm)
• Scalpel or small sharp scissors to cut out windows
• Patterns (below)

Apart from the patterned paper I had everything at home, so the total cost for packaging came to $2 with some paper left over for another project.

The pattern for the tent boxes can be found here at Split Coast Stampers.

Never happy with the way things are, I altered the pattern by cutting a window in the front. The window is 1.5 inch square, centred horizontally, and a little below centre vertically so that I could put on the label.

After following the directions from the Split Coast Stampers, you also need to cut away at the inside folded part at the front of the tent box and fold back (see pics below) so you can see through the window, and rule and cut out the window.

The smaller tea boxes are made exactly the same way, using the pattern from Split Coast Stampers, except that I changed the dimensions to 5.5 x 9.5 inches with folds at 1.5 and 4 inches along the short side and at 4 and 5.5 inches along the long side.

Package your coffee beans or tea and seal, then place the packet in the cardboard tent outer. If you like, you can use a little glue on the tent to keep secure. Punch some holes and tie with ribbon to secure.

For the truffle box, I designed the box pattern to fit 6 truffles and you can download the pattern here. It is in PDF format, so you will need a PDF reader like Acrobat to read it. The pattern isn’t perfect. Off the top of my head, you may need to clip a bit off the box ends to make it all fit exactly. Fold along all lines and snip the small line between the end box piece and the tab so that you can fold the tab in.

Either print the pattern straight onto the back of your cardboard or cut and trace around it. To secure the tabs use a good glue or some double sided tape. For the window, cut the acetate to size and secure with glue or tape.

If you would like to use the same tea labels, you can download them here. I’ve also done up some coffee labels similar to the tea ones, which you can download here. Use the outer edge as a cutting guide. Print them on cardstock or plain paper to glue down or print on a label sheet.

If you have any problems with the patterns, let me know. As I’ve put a lot of work into creating and formatting these patterns for download, I ask that you don’t use them commercially. If you’re wanting to create your own labels, Microsoft Word does a pretty good job or you could try GIMP(free Photoshop alternative – I also used this to design the embroidery pattern) or Inscape(free Adobe Illustrator alternative).

Have you read these articles?:

1. Handmade Gifts Part 5 – Hampers and Gift Wrapping
2. Handmade Gift Ideas Part 3 – Accessories
3. making personalised gift hampers for all occasions

An easy ornament that my grandmother used to make was wrapping pine cones with tinsel and putting these on the windowsill.

A great source of inspiration is the shops. There displays can be amazing and the ornaments lovely, but usually I think, “I can make that.”

Ornaments
Felt Ornaments @ My fantastic toys	Fabric Ornaments @ Martha Stewart	Paper Ornaments @ Carlos N Molina
Quilted ornament @ Craft without a cat	Appliqué Hearts @ Better Homes and Gardens	Box Ornament @ Celebrating Christmas
Paper clay ornaments @ Just 4 Fun with Sandy	Beaded Ornament @ Scribbit	Sequin Ornament @ Better Homes and Gardens
Decoupage Ornament @ Jeanne Winters	Easy Fabric Ornaments @ Inspired Ideas	Beaded Snowflakes @ Martha Stewart
Paper Flower Ornaments @ How about Orange	Winter Wool Snowflake @ Better Homes and Gardens	Glitter Toilet roll star @ Her Cup Overfloweth
Glitter ornament @ I love to create	Paper star @ Hemi Demi Semi Quaver	Retro Mice Ornament @ Roots and Wings Co
Garlands
Tree Bunting @ Sadieandlance	Felt Garland @ The Purl Bee	Paper Chain Garland @ Craft Stylish
Paper Garland @ A Field Journal	Paper and Bead Garland @ Cee Lew	Garland Roundup @ Nesting Place
Wreaths
Christmas Wreath @ Blissfully Domestic	Paper Wreath @ The Red Thread	Christmas Wreath @ Made with Love and Glue
Stockings
Felt Stocking @ Martha Stewart	Scrap Stocking @ Maggie Makes	Christmas Stockings @ Palatial Living
Advent Calendars
Quilted Advent Calendar @ Sew Mama Sew	Paper Advent Calendar @ Family Fun	Pocket Advent Calendar @ Jolly Allsorts
Advent Calendar with Drawers @ Our Big Earth	Advent Calendar with Tins @ Split Coast Stampers	Mini Stocking Advent @ Stardust Shoes
Tree Skirts
Quilted Tree Skirt @ Crazy Mom Quilts	Simple Tree Skirt @ Sew 4 Home	Stripy Tree Skirt @ Moda Bakehouse
Table
Christmas Table Runner @ Sew 4 Home	Embroidered Table Runner @ Better Homes and Gardens	Stencilled placemats and napkins @ Wall to Wall Stencils
Seam Turned Napkins @ Skip to My Lou	Bias Seam Napkins @ The Purl Bee	Reversible Napkins @ Film in the Fridge
Painted Napkins @ I Love to Create	Holy Napkin Rings @ Better Homes and Gardens	Christmas Crackers @ Little Dishy
Glitter Hurricane Lamp @ Martha Stewart	Tree Ornament @ Better Homes and Gardens	Paper Tree @ I Love to Create
Stacked Paper Tree @ Martha Stewart	Twine Snowman @ Design Sponge	Christmas Floating Candles @ Southern Hospitality

Have you read these articles?:

1. handmade valentine gift ideas
2. Handmade Gift Ideas Part 2 – Home and Garden
3. Handmade Gift Ideas Part 1 – Bath And Body

If you haven’t already check out Part 1 – Bath and Body , Part 2 – Home and Garden, Part 3 – Accessories and Part4 – Food gifts.

A great way to gift your handmade goodies is to package them all together in a gift basket or hamper, or just a beautifully made gift box. One one hand I’m not keen on commercial gift hampers, but personalised handmade hampers are a totally different thing. I prefer not to use baskets but something that is going to be used.

One of the things that I like to do is to collect a few ideas such as hand embroidered napkins with homemade biscuits and personalised gift packed coffee on a inexpensive serving plate with matching mugs.

Themed hampers work well too, like spa hampers or baby hampers or garden hampers.

Hampers

Handmade Gift Basket @ Inspired Apertrey Ink

Hamper Ideas @ Associated Content

Garden Hamper @ Project Wedding

How to Make Gift Hampers @ Hubpages

Theme Ideas for Hampers @ Creative Suite 101

Don’t buy these hampers, use them for inspiration @ Basket Basket

Labels

Canning Labels to Download @ Merriment Designs

How to Make Labels with Rub ons @ Ali Edwards

How to Make Labels with Microsoft Word @ Collecting the Moments

Vintage Tea Labels to Download @ Eat Drink Chic

Wrapping

Printable Cookie Box @ Don’t Eat the Paste

How to Make a Gift Bow @ Babalisme

Covered Box @ Merriment Design

Favours Box @ Craft JR

Favours Box @ Split Coast Stampers

Trapezoid Box @ Hemidemisemiquaver

Gift Box @ Craft Stylish

Gift Box @ Hemidemisemiquaver

DIY CD Sleave @ The Dear Diary Stories Good for those custom recorded CDs and DVDs

Have you read these articles?:

1. making personalised gift hampers for all occasions
2. Handmade Gift Ideas Part 4 – Food Gifts
3. Handmade Treat Bags and Gift Boxes

If you haven’t already check out Part 1 – Bath and Body, Part 2 – Home and Garden and Part 3 – Accessories.

For some of these recipes you will need to sterilise jars and bottles and possibly preserve using a water bath.

Food in a Jar

Cookie Mix in a Jar @ Living Large on a Dime

A huge selection of recipes for gifts in a jar @ Craft Bits

And more great recipes @ Recipe Goldmine

Granola Topping @ Martha Stewart

Drinks

Homemade Cocktail Mixers @ Martha Stewart

Mocha Cocoa in a Jar @ My Recipes

Hot Cocoa Vials @ The Inspired Bride

Tea Tins @ Style Me Pretty

Hot Cocoa in a Bag @ Cathie Filian

Hot Cocoa Packs @ Lolly Chops you could substitute with tea or coffee and change the package

Baking

Cookie Recipes @ Cookie Recipes

Traditional Christmas Cake @ Delia Online

Traditional Christmas Pudding @ Delia Online

Mince Pies @ iVillage

Panforte @ Joy of Baking

Traditional German Recipes @ Christmas Baking

Gingerbread House 101 @ Celebrating Christmas

Sweets

Lolly Jar @ Make It and Love It

Chocolate Truffles @ Good Housekeeping

Chocolate Truffles @ Joy of Baking

Flavoured Nuts @ Good Housekeeping

Rum Balls @ Exclusively Food and Canadian Living

Spices

Flavoured Salt @ Style Me Pretty

Spice Rub Recipes @ About BBQ

Spice Mixes @ Budget 101

Sweet Sauces

Caramel Sauce @ Chicks and Dip and Simple Recipes

Lavender Caramel Sauce @ Global Gourmet

Hot Fudge Sauce @ Home Based Mom

Raspberry Sauce @ Real Simple

Brandy Sauce @ Martha Stewart

Savoury Sauces

BBQ Sauce @ Ugly Brothers

Easy Homemade BBQ Sauce @ MegaBBQ

Homemade Tomato Sauce / Ketchup @ About and Epicurius

Flavoured Oils @ CDKitchen see safer prep here and here

Flavoured Vinegars @ Datsplat

Jams, Chutneys, Pickles and Salsas

Jam Recipes @ Happy Jam

101 Jam Recipes @ Tipnut

Chutney and Pickle Recipes @ All Recipes

Chutney Recipes @ Cooks Recipes

Relish Recipes @ Hungry Monster

Salsa Recipes @ Salsa Recipes

For ideas on labelling and packaging your edible gifts, see Part 5 – Wrapping.

Have you read these articles?:

1. Handmade Gift Ideas Part 1 – Bath And Body
2. Handmade Gifts Part 5 – Hampers and Gift Wrapping
3. Handmade Gift Ideas Part 2 – Home and Garden

Stuck for a Chrissy gift idea? On a budget? Why not make your own Christmas gifts. I’ve put together a series of articles with ideas to help you get inspired. There are thousands of patterns and tutorials on the net, these are just a taster for inspiration.

If you haven’t already check out Part 1 – Bath and Body and Part 2 – Home and Garden.

Jewellery

Jewellery Projects @ Beads Unlimited

Beaded jewellery projects @ Beading Daily

Spiral Bracelet @ Cut Out and Keep

Leather Fringe Necklace @ Dana’s Jewellery

Hats, Scarves and Gloves

Knitted Scarf and Hat @ Craft Leftovers

Cowl @ Confessions of a Compulsive Crafter

Leaf Pattern Scarf @ Knitting Daily

Crochet Scarf with pockets @ Crochet Spot

Seeded Neck Warmer @ Two and Six

Crocheted Shawl @ April Draven

Wrist Warmers @ Craftzine

Bucket Hat @ Simplicity

Tool Apron @ Etsy Storque

For More Patterns see Knitting Daily

Media Pouches

IPod Case @ Hip Girlie

IPhone Case @ Vlijtig

Arm Band Pouch @ Make it and Love It

IPod Case @ Bits and Pieces

Lanyard from Scraps @ Mairuru

Bags

Purse Tutorial @ Artsy Crafty Babe

Bag Tuts @ Frugal and Thriving

Crocheted Grocery Bag @ Purl Bee

Water Bottle Sling @ Make It and Love It

Travel Tissue Holder @ Fireflies and Jelly Beans

Stubby Holder @ Flower Girl Designs

Albums

Starbucks Album @ Ali Edwards

Quick Album @ Creativity Prompt

Album Ideas @ Scrap Jazz

Mini Album @ Creative Prompt

Leather Spined Hard book @ Instructables

Customising Frames @ Family Craft About

Stationery

Fabric Covered Journal @ Pattern of Life

Sprayed Stationery @ Martha Stewart

Fabric Covered Notepad @ Scissor Variations

Magnetic Notepad @ Skip to My Lou

Small Notepad @ Artmind

Personalised Printed Stationary @ Ehow. Alternatively, use clip art from the web or stamp your stationery with scrapbooking stamps.

Have you read these articles?:

1. Handmade Gift Ideas Part 2 – Home and Garden
2. handmade valentine gift ideas
3. Handmade Gift Ideas Part 4 – Food Gifts