DIY Bookish Christmas Presents

Let's be honest; there's always a couple of people that we forget about while Christmas shopping.  While I can't go back in time and remind you to pick something up, I can give you some easy DIY ideas that are particularly good for the bookish people in your life.

Idea #1: Bookmarks

Everyone at one point in their childhood cut up a bunch of paper and "made" them into bookmarks.  I know I did; I added scribbles, stickers, and wandered around my neighborhood trying to sell them for a quarter each!

You can do the same for family and friends this Christmas season.  You can decorate a scrap of cardstock festively like I did in (1), or add a drawing, photograph, or quote to make it more personalized.  Or if you want to get a little more fancy, try taking a small piece of ribbon and gluing a button or jewel at the end.  It's a really simple DIY, but it dresses the ribbon up nicely and is really easy to personalize.

For a more fancy bookmark, take an 4" x 3" piece of paper.  Fold it diagonally as though you are making it into a square.  I then drew a fox face because I was using orange paper, but you can customize the animal to go with the color of your paper.  Once you've sketched in the face, color it in with pencils and/or markers and try it out in your book.  It should look something like this:

This is a bit of a different kind of bookmark, with a tab on the side of the book instead of the top. To make this more personal, pick an animal or drawing that is going to mean something to whoever you're gifting this to.

Idea #2: Quote Sheets

These quote sheets are my favorite gift this season, and I gave a bunch of these out for graduation presents.

All you need for these quote sheets is paper or card stock, pencils, and markers.  Oh, and some quotes!  I think it makes an especially cool gift if you pick a quote from your friend's favorite book, author, movie, or a quote that some how applies to them.  The actual process is quite easy: sketch out your quote, outline the letters, and then start decorating!

You can decorate these any way you like, and again it's fun to use colors or designs that are specific to whoever will be receiving this gift.  And that's it!  If you decide to use card stock, you can give the sheets just like this as a little poster, but you can also elevate the gift slightly by putting it in a cool frame.

I've done three sample designs for those of you who aren't so artistically inclined, which you can download and print here.

Idea #3: Book Bag

Again, this gift is super easy to personalize.  All you need is a blank canvas bag, which you can find at any crafts store and either some Sharpies or fabric paint.  You can really put anything on the bag: a random drawing, a quote, etc.  You could even print a photograph onto an iron-on paper and do that instead.  However, since this is a book-themed DIY post, I will be doing a design featuring some of my favorite books.

First I sketched it out and then added a bit of decorative color.  Tadaa, so easy!

So I hope you guys enjoyed these really easy, basic DIY Christmas gifts.  I wanted to make sure to do something that could be done at the last minute, with minimal supplies or skills needed.  If you do make any of these, I would love to see pictures!  Please Tweet them to me @littlespider9, or tag me on Instagram @littlespider.

Happy holidays and happy creating!

Wall Wednesday: Homemade Touches

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  It's been a couple of weeks since I've settled in back at school and my grandparent's house.  I've shared pictures of my room before, such as in this post, though I have to say it's quite transformed.  The furniture is new and now I've started adding my own little touches!

I borrowed this picture hanging idea from my friend Justine.  I just used the nails that were already in the wall, some basic string, and fun little binder clips.  It makes for an easily changeable display for pictures, post cards, and this little watercolor that I bought last year at the Ferry Building farmer's market.  It's one of a kind; the artist had a whole book of these small, Bay Area inspired paintings. 

To cover up those nails I just mentioned, I turned to one of my favorite crafty bloggers, Cornflower Blue Studio and her pattern for crochet stars.  Although I like to say that I can crochet, in reality, I barely can.  That being said, this pattern is super easy and fun to do, and after making quite a few stars withs scrap yarn, I still have plenty left!  Aren't they cute?

I am a big fan of inspirational quotes and collages; my room back home is full of them!  Here, I decided to combine the two, pairing magazine cutouts and quotes from books I've read on fun, patterned scrapbook paper.  I've got about five of these squares up on my closet doors right now, and hope to have them both completely covered by the end of the year!

This is a small oil painting that I rescued from certain doom last year.  There was an assignment to create our own Impressionist painting in one of my art history classes, and at the end of it one of my classmates was just going to throw it out.  It's no Monet, sure, but I actually love the rough feeling of it.

And finally, my most recent addition: a little box for my needles, ruler, and whatever else happens to end up in there!  Remember that day I said I'd been gluing?  Well, here's the finished product!  I used an old box from an Amazon order I'd received, glued some Sunday funnies on it, and knitted it a little band for it.  Although the band it completely my design, I again referred to Cornflower Blue for a bow pattern.  It may not look like much, but I love it.  Nothing like displaying something that you've made yourself!

Just a Peek

It's been a beautifully warm and sunny, crafty evening.  I've done some gluing, and am now knitting while catching the Giants-Dodgers game.  What a life, right?  Neither of these projects are finished, so this is just a sneak peek for now!

Happy weekend, everybody!  Any projects you're working on?