2019 Maker Finish Along ~ Gift Making

It’s time for the next challenge in the 2019 Maker Finish-Along! In June we worked on finely tuning our maker stashes. It was the halfway point of the year & time to reassess & reorganize! As usual, we picked another UFO to focus on to help move them on out of our space. For July, we’re going to focus on gift making. I don’t know about y’all, but I make many of the gifts I give. This seems like a good month to start making a list & try to be better prepared for those special occasions. I started to call this Christmas in July, but really these can be for any sort of gift giving occasion!

By the way, a UFO is an “UnFinished Object”, in case y’all didn’t know. It’s usually used by quilters or crocheters or knitters, but it applies to projects of all kinds. Since this is a Maker Finish-Along, it’s open to makers of all kinds. No matter what fuels your maker mojo, you can join in the fun!

Here are links to the previous challenges >

• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June

You’ll also find a printable schedule & UFO list in the Facebook group.

Gift Making

As a maker, I enjoy making! I especially enjoy making something special to give as gifts for my friends & family. While I usually have the best of intentions, many times I find myself trying to complete things at the 11th hour. Do y’all do that too??

Most of the time this happens because I just start too late. In my mind things don’t seem to take as long as they do in real life! Plus there’s always something that happens to make things even more stressful. Like I ran out of something, forgot someone, or get a last minute invite. Then there’s the wrapping of the gifts which I tend to get carried away with. People always know when a gift is from me! : )

I’m hoping that this challenge will help me, & y’all, get better prepared for a year of gift giving. I know that it’s July, but the biggest gift giving season is just around the corner. Maybe if we get a handle on things now we’ll be able to breeze through all the holidays, birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, etc. until next July. That’s what I’m hoping anyway! : D

July’s Maker Challenge

Okay, if you haven’t guessed it, this month is all about gift making. I’m not necessarily talking about making the gifts this month, I’m talking more about preparing for gift making. You know, getting lists made & checking them twice!

One thing I’m doing first & foremost is making a master list of sorts. I’m writing down everyone I could possibly want to give a gift to, what the occasion is, dates, & what they like. This will let me know who I’m missing information on, so I can try to fill in the blanks. It will also let me know who I would actually make a gift for.

That might sound harsh, but I’m sure we all know that some people just don’t appreciate handmade gifts. No matter how much time you put into it. Honestly I’d rather make things for people I know will appreciate them! That’s why I made these fun gift tags back in December. Feel free to print them for later! ; )

Breaking it Down

So, once I have my master list ready, I plan to use that to divide & conquer. Y’all, my list is way longer than I expected! Although I do have a fairly large {ever growing} family, so I guess I really should have expected that! Anyway, here’s my plan to try to get a handle on all the gift making I’d like to do:

• Pick out the big makes first – I like to make a few bigger items each year for gifts such as quilts, afghans, & such. I’d like to make all my family members a quilt eventually & this is how I plan to do that!
• Decide on group gifts – Sometimes I give a gift basket for a family instead of making individual gifts. This let’s me still give without over-doing it. These are best for Christmas & such.
• Decide on bulk gifts – Last year I made a bunch of hats for the tween to teen folks on my list. I also gave out washcloths & scented bath salts to lots of the ladies on my list. This is what I mean by “bulk gifts”!
• Check my stash for possible gifts that are already made – I always have crocheted items that get tucked away in a bag because I just wanted to make it. Sometimes I have sewn items as well & it’s the perfect place to start shopping for handmade items!
• Decide on charities to make for – I’d really like to do more of this type of gift making as well!

I’m hoping all this prepping will help me stay ahead of the gift making for the coming holidays. Plus I’ve always had a dream to send out handmade birthday cards to all of my family & friends. Maybe I can start in July! I’m also hoping to do away with the last minute making so I can really enjoy all the festivities. : )

I hope everyone is as excited about this challenge as I am! Even if your list is smaller or bigger than mine, I think this will be useful for all us makers. I’m sure there are some UFOs on ours lists that would be great for gifts as well! I would like to do a Facebook live this month to talk about the challenge & share ideas. Let me know if y’all are interested in doing that!

You can also use #tmfal2019 on Instagram if you prefer sharing there. Hope y’all have a great week filled with making!