DIY Gifts I’d Totally Pay Money For

What does swaptazmness mean? I don’t know. But there isn’t a word to describe the awesomeness that resulted from the craft swap, so I’m left with choice but to make one up.

I showed you how I made these knit slippers and DIY headband for my recipient, Marla.

Luckily, she was a fan. AND the slippers fit, which was a success in itself considering I only found out her shoe size after I felted them. I hope this gift keeps her toes cozy and her head fancy all winter long.

Now, since it was a swap, I had to get something in return, right? Sure did. And boy did I luck out. First, let me say that one of the only DIY pursuits I haven’t ever really even dabbled in is jewelry making. I love to wear jewelry, but the whole process of connecting the wire, chains and beads has always seemed like too much to deal with for me. And then there’s always the issue of getting the jewelry on and off. Clasps just seem seriously intimidating. And since I’m not usually looking for an perma-necklace, I just skip making them altogether. Well, Whitney must have known how appreciative I’d be if she handled all the scary jewelryness so that I could enjoy some sparkles, because get a load of this:

I don’t know how she did it because she knows basically nothing about me, but she absolutely nailed the style and colors I’d choose for myself if I ventured into the jewelry making maze. I adore this necklace. It’s pretty great, huh?

The swappiness didn’t stop there though. Marla made this fantastic bag for Emily. I love that she used buttons to add a little bit of extra purple flair.

One of coolest things about Emily is that she still hand writes notes to her friends and sends them in the mail. Like with the actual United States Postal Service. Yeah, I thought they went the way of Friendster too. Nope. Emily is keeping them in business. So it was fitting that her gift to Whitney was a DIY stationary set, complete with a rubber stamp with the logo Whitney uses in her design work.

(And yes, those are paint chips, which is pretty much the coolest idea I’ve ever seen for writing little notes to friends.)

I feel so lucky to have been welcomed into this group of extremely creative ladies. And any of these would make perfect DIY gifts for Christmas, don’t you think? I smell some tutorials blowing in.