Advent Conspiracy: For the Ladies in Your Life

By Emily McKenna

So, you are all excited about advent conspiracy. What now? Here are a few ideas of homemade gifts that are doable for almost any level of DIYer. Proof? I have made each of them and I am no expert. You can do it!

HEX NUT BRACELET 

Friendship bracelets made a strong come back this summer.  In case you've missed it, layering numerous friendship-style bracelets is where it's at.  This is a hex nut friendship style bracelet. If you can braid, you can make this.

Check out the original tutorial on this blog for the basics, which I tweaked a bit to make what you see above. Instead of a three-strand braid I used a fishtail braid.  When I got to the hex nut section I switched to a three-strand braid.  Also, taping the ends of the strings/ropes makes threading the hex nuts much less frustrating. 

CANVAS TOTE

This is the best beach bag I have ever used.  It's huge.  There are so many colors of canvas and patterns.  Oh, the options.  The best part, though, is how fast it was to make.  Here is a link to the tutorial I used. 

REVERSIBLE TOTE

I like this bag because it has an interesting shape and you get two bags in one.  Here is a link to the tutorial and free pattern I used. 

A few tips:

1. Make sure the pattern prints to the correct size.  Mine was a little smaller than it should have been, which I realized after I cut the fabric.

2. I added a few inches of length to the straps after reading the comments on the tutorial I used.

3. I added pockets to both sides of the bag.

RUFFLE KNIT SCARF

Love me some ruffles.  I saw this scarf and thought to myself, "Self.  Don't even think about it."  Something about knit scares the heck out of me.  With the scarf calling my mother-in-law's name for Christmas and a craft night to boost my confidence, I tackled the scarf. Everyone in the room was surprised at how easy and quickly the ruffling went. If skills were bucks you would get a lot of bang for your buck with this handmade gift.  The embellishments took a little time but they really add to the ruffles.  I will be making one for myself.

Here is the link to the scarf tutorial.  A little warning: this specific scarf is a combination of three blogposts on the site.  She links to all of them but it's not all in a nice little package like other tutorials.  This scarf is totally worth the extra clicking, though. 

TRAVEL BAG

I made this travel bag for my friend’s birthday.  I was pretty intimidated when I set out to make it. (Zipper! Boxed shape! Lining!) It is surprisingly easy and quick.  It’s for an ambitious beginner sewer and up.  Here is the tutorial. 

Here is a short list of other awesome gifts for ladies that I are still on my to do list:

Braided Scarf 

Wrap Bracelet  
Braided Layered Scarf

Turban Twisted Headband