november 1st & ideas for a Homemade/ Handmade Christmas

hello november!

i am thinking, a new month,  and a new start... back into blogging.

as well as being very busy with my home and working life i have been spending  my online time more on twitter and pinterest recently and haven't quite been able to have the mental space to write a blog post.

But today inspired by some twitter communication this morning with a new twitter friend Jen it seems that an idea has taken shape (partly) and will hopefully, organically transform into some blog posts.

Let me first tell you about Jen.

Jen has set up a blog to document a year of not buying anything new and will make do and mend, salvage, refashion, upcycle or source second hand all her and her family needs for the following year. She writes about her reasons and self imposed rules here.

Having been brought up in a very make do and mend family;  mum was a primary school teacher, think Blue Peter and dad is very handy with his hands and even made me a netball post  when i was younger, you will realise that i  love reading about these type of challenges. To me it's about resourcefulness, about being creative and valuing what we have. It's also a lot of fun and you can develop new skills which result in a great feeling of accomplishment, not to mention the pleasure sometimes of having saved yourself some money.

This morning Jen tweeted that it's first of November so Christmas is getting close. Obviously she has a challenge to make, find or upcycle stuff to create into gifts. We were chatting about suggestions  and i thought that perhaps my blog was a good place to share some ideas and to show some of the gifts that we as a family have made in the past.

Hopefully it will get me motivated for this years gift making too.

If you would also like to share your gift making ideas , please do email me with  gifts you have created or are creating and i will either add them into a post or link to your blog post.

What do you think? a good idea? would you like to share and join in?

i am not going to give myself any rules (you probably know i am not good with those) so am unsure whether the ideas will be themed or random.  I will however aim to link to some great tutorials and inspiration and also may even do a tutorial myself. Hopefully it will open discussion and also help us all get motivated. are you up for it?

thank you for reading and do let me know if you'd like to contribute and share your ideas.

Gx

Comments

[Mymakedoandmendyear.wordpress.com]

Thankyou so much for the mention! I would love to join in! I will post my bits on the blog (www.mymakedoandmendyear.wordpress.com) and send you the links. Now I have to get my making gear in gear...
Fab post!

[Kate]

sounds a great idea Ginny! I'll be reading eagerly :) Joel isn't going back to school after half-term so I anticipate some good crafty Christmas sessions! Though I'll be using pinterest to file my discoveries, I can send links to you if that's any use? Happy handmaking. (Must get back to blogging myself - thanks for the spur) x

[Mousy Brown]

Can't wait to see what you come up with! Happy November...nice to see you back xx

[http://www.wordpresstemplates.net/]

Fantastic idea!! It saves our money.I like your creativity.

[French Knots]

I have started making some presents because it saves money and I enjoy it. The planning and list making as much as the sewing and creating. I'll send you some links once I get my little makes written up. x
ps thanks for the link to Jen, what a resourceful year she's having

[Candytuft Corner]

It's a great idea Ginny. I will let you know if I have time for a little creativity...

Marie x