I am posting this old list along with the pictures of what I made this year.
#1 Origami Crane Mobile. A friend of mine got some awsome origami paper. She bought a pack of 5X5inch for $5 at a local craft store and made a bunch of cranes. She was looking for a mobile for her baby, and she made 12 crains out of papers that went together color wise, and then got two sticks and a bunch of fishing wire. Then she took a needle and put it through the center of the cranes and hung the first 4 cranes on the first stick, and then the second stick hung on to the first with 3 more cranes. It looks SO cool I can't even tell you! (I will get a picture and post it when I finish one). She said getting the balance was a little tricky, but it cost her about $1.50 and what a cool gift!! So I am going to make those for the three teen/young wemon in my life for Christmas.
#2 Magnet boards... getting a cookie sheet is easy. It even usually has a hole in it already. So what I have done is taken a cookie sheet (even one from the dreaded dollar store would work for this... you don't cook with it, in fact you don't touch it at all) covered it with thin fabric (a quilters woven would work the best) glued to the backside with a glue gun and tied a nice ribbon to the top to make it hang. Then I am (have not done it yet) taking a bag of river rocks, and putting magnets on the back of them. This will be a gift for my mom and for my MIL.
#3 Peg Boards... similar thing, only I am going to get a few of those loose squares of peg board stuff, and then I will paint them. Hopefully I will do well enough to give away and be happy about. I am taking small glass stones (like the ones you put in the bottom of vases) and gluing them on to silver tacs. This is going to be for a few friends. I may even find a few really cool beads and make tacs out of them.
#4 Sea shell candles. I am taking a lb of bees wax... mixing it with a lb of paraphin and a bunch of wicks from the craft store and pouring the wax over the wicks in some seashells that I have had forever. It will make the cutest little candles. (Got this idea from Martha Stewart as I did the rock magnets)
#5 Bamboo plants... these can be very pretty and if bought at the right place, can be really inexpensive. I was thinking of looking at Ikea.