Homemade: Miscellany

This post may have been prompted more by Olive's wish to use the word "miscellany" than anything else! A "mixture" does this word mean and today Olive offers you a delightful medley of homemade gift ideas.

Yet, there is a little thread tying them all together into a neat package. This time of year often feels so laden - deep tones, ample refreshment and bits and bobs decking the home from the tip of the rooftop to the bottom of the tree. My, don't you yearn from something a bit lighter and airier, if only for a moment? If so, these gifts have a delicacy and lightness to help you float through the season.

Teacup Lights

If you have a miscellany (two uses in one day!) of mismatched teacups and heaps of half-burned candles, simply buy wicking and new light will emerge.

Egg Cup Candles

Have little bits of wicking left over? Follow the same directions for egg cup candles. You can delve even deeper into your inherited china collection and turn sugar bowls, creamers and the like into a luminescent candle collection. Wax adheres well to porcelain, ceramic and glass.

Cookie Cutter Soap

Made with any shape of cookie cutter and some glycerin, these sweetly translucent soaps are easier to make than a batch of gingerbread. Olive thinks she will try a series of pastel Christmas ones, perhaps adding a drop of lavender for extra bathing pleasure.

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Olive hopes she has spurred you onto great (and easy) heights of handmade Christmas joy. If you are feeling a tingling in your fingers to continue, these sites will offer even more outlets to let your inner elf out:

* Festive Holiday Craft Projects - includes snow globes!

* Bath and Spa Gifts - Olive tested, these are always easy and inexpensive.

* Handmade Gifts for Him - for those tricky fellows who don't like to light a homemade candle and sit in gardenia salts.

* Gifts to Really Make - Olive has warned you: these gifts may involve a needle or some knitting skills! Just look at that charming bear, though. How could you not attempt him?