3 Quick, Easy and Inexpensive Home-Made Holiday Gifts

Christmas gifts that can be made quickly and cheaply are great gifts for family members and friends. Because the gifts are hand made, each gift is customizable for the recipient. You can't beat that. A gift that is made by hand, customizable, quick and easy, and usually inexpensive. There is three projects to choose from.

The traditional throw pillow is a very nice decorative gift. It requires only a yard of material, some Fiberfill and optional yardage ribbon or lace and some previous sewing experience. Cut two same sized squares of material. Be sure to include the sewing seams in addition to the measurements of the total sized pillow wanted. Pin the lace to the edge of one square, then pin the other square in place. Sew the first three sides and one-third of the fourth, then turn right side out. Fill with stuffing and finish sewing. As a variation, ribbon can be sewed onto a front square before being pinned.

A shopping bag dispenser is a good choice because many households save the plastic shopping bags for one reason or other. All that is needed is half a yard of material, about a foot of ¼ inch elastic. Cut the material into about 16X25 and sew the long sides together. Sew a half an inch seam on the top and bottom edges. Cut and sew the elastic into a loop that is wide enough to create a bottom exit hole, but remember to allow for the added room needed by the material. Slide the tube into the loop of elastic, flip the material edge over the elastic and pin then sew. In other words, encase the elastic within the material, do not sew the material to the elastic. Finish the top with another straight seam, and add some ribbon for flash.