Monday, November 24, 2008

10 presents down

So I have finished my first 10 presents. I really have 6 more of these to do, but they dont need to be done by Thanksgiving, so I am not worried about them, plus the extra 5 are almost done, I just need to sew the covers together for them and they will be complete.

*Any white spots are just because I was impatient and took the pictures as the sun was setting and shining into my window, and didnt feel like taking them again. There arent any marks on these*


The whole set. Hot pack (big one), Cold pack and Eye pillow.




Different eye pillow patterns.



Different Hot pack patterns.



These can be done super cheap and super fast, which are 2 of the goals of this challenge.
Breakdown of Materials--
1. I am really bad at buying tons more fabric than I actually need for a project because I hate running out in the middle of a project (everytime I walk into a fabric store- even if it just for a spool of thread I walk out spending at least $100 so a trip in the middle of the project can be very bad for me- plus it increases the chances that that project will never get completed) or the store running out of what I need. I buy WAY more than I need when the fabric is super cute too. So I had tons of cute scraps laying around, and thats really all you need for the decorative part of the fabric.
2. I also used a bunch of muslin I had gotten when it went on sale for 30% off, and it is just the super cheap kind that is only .99 to begin with.
3. Then I used some cheap canvas type material that I had gotten with a 40% off coupon.
4. Thread- I always buy the really big spools of thread when it goes 50% off and I always stock up on black and white. Even though the fabric I used was cream, I used white thread because thats what I had, and it still looks great. I think it even probably looks better than cream would.
5. Velcro- I bought a really big roll of this at Walmart about 2 years ago, and it has mostly just been sitting in a cart. It isnt necessarily the kind you sew with (it has a very sticky back, and kept jamming up my sewing machine with gunk) but hey- it was stuff I had and money I didnt have to spend so I made do.
6. Essential oils- In the cold packs I used a 1/3 a bottle of Peppermint oil that I didnt have on hand, so I did have to go buy this. It was 5.99 a bottle so I ended up using about $2.00 worth, and yes I will use it for other things in the future so I am not including the entire cost in my final costs. I also had a room diffuser of Lavender Vanilla from Bath and Body Works that I plied the top off and used for the heat packs and the eye pillows. This was awesome since the lavender scents run about $50.00 a bottle at the store- that would have been my whole budget.
7. rice- about 40 lbs for all 16 or so I ended up making. This came from food storage. (You can get a 20 lb bag at Maceys for 9.99 I think.)
8. Buckwheat- I think I used about 10 or so lbs- also from food storage. But this is very cheap I think it is 1.50/lb at my local health food store.
9. Flax- I have about 50 lbs of this that I grind up 2 T from everyday and add it to my food, so I had tons of this, and it was nice to see it being put to use faster. If you buy this I would recomend the brown flax as it is cheaper than the golden- also found in a health food store.

I think thats about it, so 16 presents for $2.00 equals about .125 each- NICE! Of course there are a lot of people who read this that are getting these as a present this year- in which case I spent a lot more *wink wink*. And I dont think it is necessarily what a present costs, but the thought and effort, and biggest of all is if you like it, and I would LOVE to get one of these.

**If anyone wants to know how to make these I can post it later- just let me know.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

you are so creative!! i love these. yes, please post the instructions [as simple as possible]!!

ps- where do you get all your cute fabric? i think fabric is so expensive!! but maybe i am looking in the wrong places.

Teresa Pomerantz said...

those are great! thanks for showing them

Teresa Pomerantz said...

those are great. Thanks for showing them.

corine said...

hey i would love to kow how you made these. i am on such a tight budget this year. PLEASE let me know. thank s

Becky Cox said...

wow, great job!!PS, I work for an essential oil company now, so for next time, I can hook you up with the good stuff!

amber belmonte said...

love those amber! so simple, but that's totally something that would cost a ton in the stores!

Kris said...

Those all turned out SO CUTE! I love the fabric you chose, too! What a great gift idea...and for so much less. Good job!

Kristina said...

These are beautiful! Thanks for sharing! I can't wait to see your tutorial, this will really help with some of the ladies on my list. Thanks!
~k

Courtney said...

Those are great! I may have to do something like that! :)