There were some small crosses of plastic canvas & ribbon which are nice bookmarks. Then they also had the Hershey kisses roses shown last year also. Look for posts from around Sept on & you should get both if you didn't see them last year! A cute fridge magnet can be made by using the large glass flat pieces( about 1 1/2 in wide) you find at Joanne's ,Michael's,Walmart or Dollar store. Same things as smaller ones that are applied to bowling balls or used in vases to hold flowers in place. They are usually $1 or so a bag. Try to get clear smooth ones without a lot of bubbles. Then take old birthday card, get well card or even some Christmas cards & place the flat glass piece on it until you like what you see through it & cut out that part of the card. Some magazines have thick enough pages you can use also. Once you have cut out your pic put Weldbond glue on "front of pic" & press pic to flat back of glass piece, set aside until well dried, all night is good. Then add a large round magnet to the back! These are lovely with floral designs, little child or child's face, snowflake, etc. But 1st ones I made I used small strip of magnet & it stayed on fridge but then when I actually put a note behind it, it slid to the floor. So use a good sized magnet about 3/4 in. I think. Hope this helps. The little crosses used 1/8 in. satin ribbon, roses take 2 kisses for each one but you need to find supply of rose leaves so they look nice & also floral tape in green& wires.They are always enjoyed as they can be eaten later( not good for some folks that can't have candy)! Jan

I forgot about the napkin holder out of felt, I've made it a couple of times for things like this. Green felt & red felt are needed at Christmas but for another holiday can use pink,yellow, lavender etc for the flower part. Look on Internet for the pattern. Green piece ends up being the leaves & part napkin goes through, colored red or other color is the rose. I supplied pretty napkins as place we were eating didn't decorate for holidays & then I added a candy cane inside the napkin. Ladies really liked them. This pattern has been around for long time but none of ladies that got them were crafty so thought they were great. I made reindeer head another year & used pompoms for nose & cheeks & wiggle eyes & 2 full sized candy canes for his antlers, he had a dab of fake fur on his forehead so was cute, can't remember where I got the pattern.

Thank you so much Sunncya,
Great ideas I'll write them and take the to the meeting on Tuesday. I also want to do the neck wraps for the men just can fine the crystals as of yet. Thanks again.

go up to the top of the main page here and click on gallery and look at the various pictures people have sent in of their projects and it might give you some ideas we had a bookmark exchange years ago an I posted some of them it is a nice thing to make and theycan seell them too

just click on the link

Here is a link that might be useful: Gallery

This is inexpensive and easy. You probably have most of the supplys already.

Snowman pencil holder or gift container

Supplies:
~empty tin cans from soups and veggies
~white paper (copy paper is fine)
~stick glue for paper
~tacky glue or fabric glue for eyes and nose and scarf
~googly eyes 3/8-1 inch sizes
~scraps of orange felt
~1" or bigger pom poms
~black marker or sharpie
~leftover fabric big enough to be cut into strips about 1-2 inches wide and 18" or so long
~curly ribbon that hasn't been curled or strips of leftover fabric ribbon
~glue gun
~scissors for cutting paper and fabric

Wrap the cans with plain white paper like a label and glue down. Wrap a length of fabric around the bottom of can and tie a basic knot for a scarf. For a face, glue on two googly eyes and a triangle of orange felt for a nose. Draw a smile for the mouth and add eyebrows or lashes if you wish. Can also use a pink or red marker to add cheeks.

Hot glue a piece of ribbon over top of can on both sides of face. The ribbon will serve as a handle and also as top earmuffs. Hot glue a pom pom over each end of ribbon to be the actual ear muff.

You can fill this with candy or other small gifts or use it for pencils.

**As a safety precaution, you may want to tape a piece of white duct tape over the top and edges of the open end of the can so no one cuts themself on the sharp edges.

Hi craftinggrannie, I once purchased the neatest soaps from an elderly housing craft sale. They glued a square cut out from the front of a greeting card to the flat side of a bar of soap, put it in a clear cellophane baggie and tied it with a ribbon. I gave some as gifts and saved some for holidays in my home. Some depicted birthday cakes, some had little bouquets of flowers, some were sparkly, some were country, Halloween, Christmas, etc. I think I paid $3 for each but they were so cute - a simple project but so nice to have something to bring to a friend's home when visiting or placing in the soap dish on someone's birthday.

I had some new ladies come to our craft club that meets once a week so I went to Wal Mart & got some Pentel RSVP pens $2.97 I think for 4 pens. Went home & cut a variety of scrapbook papers, I liked the deeper colors best, can't remember exactly size I cut 1 1/2 in. x 3 or 3 1/2 in. These pens are easy to unscrew as they are clear with black on the ends. All they had to do was roll up the paper (pretty side out) they liked, as tight as they could get it & slide it in the pen & screw(back end) back on. If it doesn't screw on easy the paper is a bit to long so just trim it off, no need to take it back out of pen. Very simple & really a nice little gift for man or woman. I found it by accident on this forum, think we were supposed to look at something else & I spotted these. The pen writes nice& has a cap that goes over point so ink doesn't dry out. So for about $1 each you can make a lovely assortment of pens! My favorites were bright pink with gold stars, turquoise with silver, & a multicolored paper. The white with lavender flower didn't show up as pretty as I thought it would. A black paper with silver or gold metallic would be nice & expensive looking, don't buy heavy papers as it is a small space & you have to roll it up tight & let it unroll IN PEN. Jan

I keep all the greeting cards I've received, especially the Christmas cards. Many have such lovely pictures on the front. I cut the fronts off, fold them in half length wise, and you have a book mark. Punch a hole in one end and add a colored ribbon, and then if they aren't shining I cover them with clear contact paper and they will last longer. I also have a rubber stamp that says, "Recyle, recyle,Recycle" and stamp them somewhere on the book mark.I've also taken various cards and laid them out on clear contact and then covered with contact to make placemats. One of my favorites is to buy Christmas cups at a thrift store and add a package of hot chocolate mix or instant coffee to the mug and wrap up with pretty cellophane and a ribbon. May I add, I'm older and wiser, but I don't care for the word "elderly". Mature or maybe just "older ladies". 60 is not older or elderly! Have fun!

This is one thing we did in a senior citizens craft group a few years ago.
We made mostly roses for pendants, pencil tops,
I found some images to give you some ideas.

Bread Dough Clay (Flowers)

2 slices white bread
1 Taglespoons white glue (add a little more if needed)

food coloring
spray glaze or clear fingernail polish

Optional: pin back, magnets or string

Remove the crusts from the bread and discard.
Working on a surface that can be cleaned easily, or use plastic trays-one for each person (foam plates are handy too).
Add the glue to the bread and "knead" it until it isn't sticky any longer.
Divide the dough into sections and add drops of food coloring to each, so you have a nice variety.
Place each section in a plastic bag or container.
Allow them to dry overnight.
When dry, they can brush them with clear nail polish, or you can spray them with a sealant.
An option is to hot glue pin backs or magnets onto the art, or before drying, poke a hole with a toothpick that you can later thread string through.

Here is a link that might be useful: images of things to make

Thank you,
These are some neat ideas. I took them to the meeting today and the ladies wants to do them all.. I had to tell them we didn't have the time.lol The ones' we don't use this year will go in a file for next year. Thanks again.