1. Homemade Felt Board. I was walking through a trendy toy store once (just once, don’t judge me too harshly) and saw for sale a felt board, with all kinds of television character related accessories. My middle son was enamored with it. Rather than suck up the $32 price tag ($32?!) plus $15 for the different accessory packs, I went to the craft store, bought a pack of felt of different colors and proceeded to wrap a piece of cardboard with felt; then cut out all sorts of different shapes – trees, birds, whatever. I also found felt on a large bolt and was able to pin a large piece up on a wall – creating all sorts of interesting landscapes for the felt shapes. My kids have played with their felt boards for years! And I’ve even made small, portable ones for basketball games and car trips.

2. Crayons. Make new crayons out of old ones! Get old crayons and melt them down (use complimentary colors so they aren’t all brown) and put them in muffin tins or use metal cookie cutters on a cookie sheet to make interesting shapes. Put a bunch together with some neat (possible homemade) paper in a nice basket or box – a great present for a little one!

3. Make bath time fun! Buy a pound of glycerin soap from your local craft store or online and melt it down into funky shapes…for a little extra bonus, put a fun little trinket inside (small rubber animals are great for this). Sew up a couple of funny washcloth puppets and you have a great bath time present.

4. Pocket quilt. A pocket quilt is a wonderful present if you have a little time. You can either use jeans (which already have pockets) or any leftover cloth or clothing you have around. Just make a simple squares patchwork quilt and add pockets to some of the patches. You can hide little treats in the pockets! You can also make this project wall hanging or doll quilt size. If you use “Christmasy” fabric, you can turn the quilt into an Advent calendar. Martha Stewart’s website has detailed instructions on making a “shirt pocket” quilt. I just kind of “free form” it!

5. When I was a kid, I always wanted one of those large, rug-style checkerboards. I never got one and I never knew where to get one. One morning (after I had long since grown up) I found one of those checkerboard rugs at a yard sale – but there were no pieces with it. I bought the rug anyway (for 10 cents) and proceeded to make a bunch of “checkers” out of craft foam. I could easily have made the rug out of a heavy piece of canvas cloth, with a checkerboard out of fabric paint – or I could have quilted a version. Either way, it’s a fun project to make – and fun to play!

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