Pallet for Home

December is an expensive month. It's all about eating that special food, wearing those special clothes, adding that special decoration to your home, let alone buying all those extra special gifts for everyone. It's fun (right?), but it's madness! This blog is all about tastefully saving money by recycling, buying vintage or making stuff yourself, so I thought I do a post about DIY Christmas gifts. I mean, how much better is it to give or receive something that's been lovingly hand-made? Much better than trawling those jam-packed shops looking for....for what actually?

For the drinks & nibbles

I came across this idea on addicted2decorating which I really liked. Stenciling or painting a wooden tray. An ideal blank 'canvas' for any creation.



For the ladies

Jewelery is always a nice idea. A woman can never have too many necklaces, I say. I really like the idea of recycling old buttons (sew them as decoration onto cushions, clothes, etc), and like me, you probably have quite a few of them lying around in boxes and drawers. Hey, why not make a necklace out of them?
 
This example is from www.treehugger.com


 
Here's a helpful How-To on www.craftstylish.com


For the bathroom junkie

Making soap is something I've always wanted to try but somehow it looks like a lot of work...! I love the way hand-made soap looks though, cut into big colourful chunks - and I would be so happy with a gift like this! Have a look on teachsoap.com for all the how-to instructions if you fancy giving it a go. If you think it's all too much hassle - why not buy some off etsy - plenty of people who are happy to do the hard work for you.




For the traveler / explorer

Something very original and highly unusual I came across on a site called Inhabitat Green Gift Guide, is a "personalised walking tour" on Google maps! "Show them your hometown – or even their hometown!" they say. "You can either print it out and make it part of a tour booklet, or, depending on your internet skills, post it on a simple website. Alternately, you could lead them down your streets with a personalized podcast". Sounds very 2011!



For the sweet tooth

And what about making some home-made chocolate truffles and presenting them in cute little boxes? I made truffles for the first time last weekend and they were so easy to make and absolutely delicious. Needless to say they didn't last very long... But as they're so easy to make I think I'll make another batch and bring them home to my family for Christmas (I'd have to put them in my suitcase in hold though, cause I don't think they'd survive the flight otherwise ;-)