Money is tight this year so I’m doing my best to make anything we give for Christmas. With a small maker space in my house, it wasn’t that hard to get crafting. Here are a few things I made with a humble budget of materials and machines that I already have.
Glowforge Aura
The Glowforge Aura is the newest tool to my crafting arsenal and I was happy to be able to make a few cool things with it for Christmas.
Ornaments – There are a plethora of SVG files online and, with Canva’s professional subscription, I was also able to create a few SVG files of my own. I made custom ornaments for all of my family instead of buying them in bulk from Amazon.
Puzzle – My grandfather has Alzheimer’s and, while he loves Sudoku, I wanted to give him something other than more Sudoku puzzles (he has a ton already). I decided to make him a Miami Dolphins puzzle that was just hard enough that it wouldn’t frustrate him. The hardest part of this project was figuring out how to wrap it.
Keychains – In addition to the ornaments, every member of my family got keychains with an adventure theme on them. This cost me about $10 in keychain supplies on Amazon, but it was well worth it for the final product.
Plant Stakes – One of my friends is into gardening and growing things so this year, I made her some “passive-aggressive” plant stakes. They say things like, “PAY ATTENTION TO ME!” and “I’m rooting for you.” They turned out super cute and I’m excited to give them to her.
Tree Puzzle – My son got a couple of things that won’t be in until later next year, so to help give it to him at Christmas, I printed out photos and put them in Christmas tree puzzles. These are meant to hold money, but they can hold any paper you can wrap around the base. You can “program” 16 different combinations to open the box so it’s great for making multiples and re-use factor for the following year.
Canva
Canva is a free program, with a professional subscription option, that you can create and then print your designs from home or send them to Canva’s printing service. I have also used Staples to print out a few of my designs.
Journal – For a friend of mine, I designed a cool journal cover with a crystal design with their name on it. Since I can print the design on any number of items directly, I went with a lined journal to help them remember everything they ask me twice about.
Holiday Cards – Every year, I do a Christmas card with a family photo, news from the year for each family member, and then an individual photo of each person. Canva lets me design and send it to a printer so I can get it all done in one shot. This year, our family photo was courtesy of UglyChristmasSweaters.com.
Cricut Joy Xtra
Cricut is popular in my house for its vinyl-cutting ability (the Glowforge can cut it as well, but my Cricut so far has given me better results). With my Cricut Joy Xtra (full review coming), I’m able to make a variety of items with a limited footprint at my kitchen table.
Cards – I have the Cricut Joy Xtra and with that comes the card mat that lets you create custom cards with ease. I love that I was able to just pick the design, send it to cut, and moments later I had a handmade card that meant more than just a random one from the grocery store. I also like that I can design a message inside with a custom font and the Cricut will write it for me.
Coasters – I had some leftover coasters from a review a year back and decided, what the heck. Let’s make some coasters for my Dad’s birthday, which just so happens to be in December. Using Infusible Ink, I was able to make a neat monogram design and bring it to life on a couple of coasters for him.
Earring Cards – I don’t make earrings on my Cricut; I leave that one to the Glowforge. I do make the earring card backings though and I love all the free template options in Cricut’s design space. I made these to go with a “funky” earring request on my husband’s Secret Santa at his work.
Jurassic Park Shirt – Okay, so admittedly, I made this for myself, but it’s still a gift. I used a $3 graphic I bought off Etsy, some infusible ink, and a Cricut blank t-shirt I had in my stash.
