If you’re looking for a way to add some handmade touches to your holiday gift giving, the library can help! Handcrafted gifts are a great way to create something personalized, to save money, and support your local library! We’ve got books to get you started, plus ideaLAB makerspaces at five locations to create a custom, handmade gift to share with friends and loved ones.
Some of the many possibilities:
- Use the Cricut to create a festive holiday card
- Sew a t-shirt into a bag for treats or gifts
- 3D print an ornament
- Embroider a custom gift tag
Still need inspiration? Browse Instructables, chat with ideaLAB staff to get some ideas, or grab a book.
Cutting Machine Crafts: Cricut, Sizzix, or Silhouette Projects to Make with 60 SVG Files by Lia Griffith.
This book includes beautiful items you can make using just about any electronic die cutting machine, by downloading the SVG templates, running your materials through your machine, and following the instructions to assemble your cut materials. Includes 50 easy projects and 60 templates for making gorgeous home accessories, fun party decor, and memorable gifts.
Homemade Holiday: Craft Your Way through More than 40 Festive Projects by Sophie Pester & Catharina Bruns.
Craft your way through more than 40 eco-friendly festive projects, including charming gifts, stunning decorations, and quirky gift wrap ideas, and bring the magic of the Kris Kringle markets into your home. Spend time with friends and family making homemade bath salts, floating tea lights, and gingerbread hearts. Includes clear, step-by-step instructions to create fresh flower garlands, bake edible gift tags, paint authentic tree ornaments and more.
Yarnitecture: a Knitter's Guide to Spinning: Building Exactly the Yarn You Want by Jillian Moreno.
Discover the pleasures of designing and building custom-made yarn by spinning it yourself, choosing everything from color to feel and gauge. The author leads you through every step of yarn construction, with detailed instructions and step-by-step photos showing you how to select the fiber you want (wool, cotton, silk, synthetic), establish a foundation, and spin a beautiful yarn with the structure, texture, and color pattern that you want.*
The T-shirt Quilt Book: Create One-of-a-kind Keepsakes, Make 8 Exciting Projects or Design Your Own by Lindsay Conner and Carla Hegeman Crim.
Turn treasured tees into something brand new--a T-shirt quilt! Capture the memories of a special time, starting with a quick pillow project or a baby quilt made from onesies, and work your way up to bed quilts in multiple sizes. Learn the secrets to choosing shirts, centering and cutting out around a logo, working with shirts that are too small, and interfacing knit fabrics with finesse.
*the newest of Denver Public Library's ideaLABs at the Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales Branch features a spinning wheel, two sewing machines, a quilting machine, an embroidery machine and digitization software, and two rigid heddle 20" looms!
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