A couple of years ago I made aprons for everyone (7 of them) out of men's shirts. They turned out well, and I had fun choosing the shirts at the Salvation Army.

Over the years I've made a lot of Christmas ornaments, mostly using rug hooking with very narrow strips of wool fabric, and also quilling when I used to do that.

I do a lot with photography, and consider related gifts to be handmade too. :-)

I knitted so many scarves, hats, cabled ear warmers, and boot cuffs for the family - it just seemed like one project beget another as I kept finding Q & E patterns (LOL). All good projects to use up leftover yarn. It's like the year I made our teenage granddaughter (at the time - she'll be 20 on the 31st) 10 pair of fingerless mitts - it was a really fun project. That was the first year after going gluten-free and my arthritic fingers, tennis elbow, and carpal tunnel all went away and knitting was a breeze again.

I just found some reflector orange yarn on sale at Wal-Mart this morning, so I'll make one more scarf and cabled ear warmer for my daughter who is an exercise/bike fanatic, and the orange will be easy to be seen. I think she'll get a hoot out of them.

For the four neighbor's we exchange gifts with, there were knitted dishcloths and scrubbies.

For the 6 fine people hubby directs at work, (aka his "peeps"), I included knitted dishcloths and scrubbies, homemade Clumpy Granola (a recipe shared at the Cooking group that we make this time of the year), and a restaurant gift card.

-Grainlady

I've made the microwavable heating pads in the past and also the no sew fleece blankets, both of which are useful gifts.

Yep, I made several old fashioned orange pomander balls a couple of months ago and they've been sitting in a spice and orris root mixture ever since. Yummy, they've smelled good!

I also did several kumquats with the oranges and have made several bags of potpourri using fresh cedar shavings that Robert planed from a very fragrant plank, stick cinnamon, cloves, the kumquats, star anise, Arizona cypress twigs, tiny Carolina hemlock cones, dried orange peel, and sprinkled with a little orange essential oil.

All are packaged in little organza drawstring bags, and presented in a clear plastic gift box.

Best used in an enclosed space, I think; I like mine in my closet.

Wow, I've never heard of reflective yarn....what a great idea!

Does food count as 'useful'? I make maple fudge, persimmon bread and jam, marmalade and lemon curd from my citrus trees, and pear chutney that I give to family. I don't know what everyone is interested in so make up food boxes. They say they enjoy them.

My exDIL made me an afghan several years ago that I used for dialysis. Now I am doing my dialysis at home and it is proudly on my bed and when I feel I need a hug I wrap it around me. I love it so much. Nothing has ever affected me like this before. I love it and her.

I made a new garden totem for my sister since hers got broken by a fiesty squirrel. It is part of her gift. I have made lots of stuff over the years. Jewelry, sewed and embroidered things, depending on what I was into at the time.

I have made five pillow covers for grandchildren and for a friend of a grandchild. They fit the travel sized pillows and I have been making embroidered kitchen towels. I am about to finish up the final one, ten in all.

Sue

I just finished up 3 aprons made from pairs of bib overalls. A friend from church lost her husband about a year ago. He always wore bibs. I' m making them for her 2 daughters and granddaughter for Christmas. They sure are turning out cute. I'm delivering them to her tomorrow..

What wonderful stories you all have!! Thanks for sharing them. When I was young, I didn't care much for homemade gifts, but after having lived awhile :) I have discovered a real respect and admiration for those handmade items. I love getting anything someone has made. I have received a few nice things from people during swaps. I don't have any kind of talent that would lend itself to gift giving, but I love to hear about others' projects.

Thank you grainlady for your kind words. I love everything anyone has made for me. When my sister was putting up her tree she said all the ornaments were made by you so I now am calling this the Mary tree. lol I started with ceramics years ago and made each one of my family members 4 angels and all my 4 sisters still have them and my niece has the ones I made for my mom. One year my young nieces and grand children made plaster ornaments that we painted and some are not the best painted but the kids did them and to me they are a treasure too.

My DIL lost her dad about a year ago (actually she was the one who found him), and she grieved so badly. I noticed in her and DS's wedding pictures, he wore a certain shirt. I asked her sister to get that shirt for me and I made her a "memory pillow" out of it and it pleased her greatly.

Then DIL's sister, Lori, got gravely ill so to lift her spirits, I asked for a shirt that would mean something to her, and DIL found the shirt that dad wore in the last picture he and Lori were together, so made one for her and DIL took it to the hospital and tucked in beside her while Lori was sleeping with a terribly high fever...Lori called me after she came around, and she said that she woke up and saw that pillow, she hugged it and cried all night.

I just could not let the brother go without one, so DIL brought me a shirt that dad wore the last Christmas with son before he died...so I made another memory pillow....and they all have them in their living rooms and they are treasured. Sure did make me feel good to know that I had a very small part in helping in their grief. If you are curious about a memory pillow is like, check on Pinterest.

Years ago all my grand children were visiting they were young and they found a stash of fabric I had. They came to me and said grandma we want to make a pillow for each of us. So we did. They were small pillows. My grandson now 25 still to ths day has his and one of my oldest grand daughters still has hers in college. I saw it on her bed in her dorm. Sweet memories for them and me.

Every year, I origami money ornaments for the adult kids, their spouses, and the older grandkids.

Thanks to a KT member, few years back, I surprised son and grandson with a money box. I have two for son and his wife, this Christmas, which they will be pleasantly surprised with. This one is from years back.

I have crocheted hot pads/trivets with matching dish cloths for some friends & neighbors.

grainlady, I had something similar happen to me. We were emptying our grandmother's house when my mom sold it. In the basement, on the very back of the ledge was a bag that contained my great-grandmother's last quilt she was working on. I cleaned it up and my mom sent it to her friend in Florida (she wanted to finish it). She had to add fabrics, because some of the squares had disintegrated from the poor storage, but she ended up making three quilts from it. Mom has the huge one big enough for the bed, and my sister and I each have smaller lap quilts. I cannot tell you wonderful it is that she did that for us. So I know, on the receiving end, there is no greater blessing than being able to have the completed work, and the extra time someone dear to us spent doing that. Jennie (the friend) is as much a part of that quilt as mamaw (ALSO Jennie). Thank you for what you did!