No Sew Crafts for Holiday Gift Giving: Personalized Towels

An Easy Project for Anyone Can Do

The Holidays are coming! The Holidays are coming! Each year, birthday and holiday gift giving becomes a burden for many families on a budget. At first you think, okay, I’ll budget and shop smart, no problem! Then you start to think about exactly how many gifts you need to buy. Panic!

Crafting items yourself (or with your kids) can solve both the budget issue and the problem of what to buy for the people you know just a little about or those who “have everything”. Personalized towels can be a nice gift made with no sewing to fit the interests of any recipient.

Personalizing a towel does not have to mean putting the initials of the recipient on a towel, embroidering or sewing. By making simple heat and bonding fabric patches, you can personalize a towel in a number of ways. Give some thought to what you know about this person; what are their interests and hobbies? What is the person’s job? Are there sports and activities the person enjoys?

Once you have settled on a theme for your towels, it is time to shop. A few simple supplies are needed, and these can all be found at a local craft supply or department store. Think about the size of the towels you want to make. Hand towels are a nice, inexpensive option (and are often available at dollar stores). Depending on your budget, you may also want to think about making a set of mixed sizes: hand towel, bath towel and washcloth, so your recipient can display a set of matching towels in their bath. A set of kitchen towels would work equally well.

What to buy first might be a toss up between the towels and the fabric you will need. Choosing a fabric first is probably the best idea, since you may be limited in colors depending on the theme you are going with. Towels are available in all colors, so matching the fabric to the towel is probably easier than the other way around. You will want to buy one half to one yard of fabric, keeping in mind you need a print that can be independently cut out and considering how often the print you need repeats.