Harriet’s back with another creative gift idea and sketch. This time, she’s making placemats. While a project like this can be the opposite of quick–I know this from experience–she plans to speed things along by using readymade placemats. Smart. She’ll use a shiba dog pattern which she’s created.

If you’re not comfortable with freehand embroidery, you can use a counted thread pattern with waste canvas–either the stuff sold as waste canvas or any piece of linen or congress cloth or canvas from your stash.

Additionally, or alternatively, we can stitch napkins in a similar way.

Zweigart/Needleworker’s Delight has some readymade placemats and napkins with stitchable areas. They tend to be white, but we can fix that.

I see some placemats and napkins in my future, too. My plan was merely to piece them, but I think bit of stitching–just a touch–might be in order.

So how are you all coming with holiday gifts? Are you finished for the year? Any last-minute rushes?

I hate rushing. I’m done for this year but thinking about next year, maybe even starting something for next year.

Growing up, my family crafted handmade gifts for our neighbors and some friends. We often made ornaments, but I remember making candles and cookies, too.

We’d go shopping the day after Christmas and pick up ornament kits for 50% off, then spend the rest of the holiday making them to give away the next year. This way, Christmas festivities didn’t end on Dec. 26; they kept going until we were back in school. Pretty smart of my parents, I think: we got the kits inexpensively, it gave us something Christmas-y to do during the whole holiday break, it kept Little Miss Hyperactive busy, and when the next year rolled around, we were ahead of the gift game.

Sitting around the dining room table with my family making ornaments was one of my favorite holiday traditions. So whether it’s for this year or next, I propose we craft holiday gifts from now through the New Year. Are you game?