So I’m staring down Christmas 2020 with a mixture of feelings (most of us are, I’m sure). Mainly, there’s a lot of frustration because we won’t be seeing any family this year (I live more than 10 hours away from most of my relatives), but there’s also the sneaking suspicion that I just don’t have the creative drive to come up with all the things I want to send to family in the mere five weeks we have before Christmas morning.
Basically, that means I need smaller gifts that are either easy to tool, easy to assemble, or both. Bonus if I can make them with scrap!
So I’m making a list, and checking it twi…never mind.
I ran around the internet checking out quick ideas that are either already patterned or are pretty much in the no pattern necessary category. Hopefully, these ideas will help get you knee deep in leather projects to help fight off the holiday whatever-you-call-it this year (they used to call it blues, but I’m pretty sure 2020 holiday depression deserves stronger language) and spread some leather-bound holiday cheer to your friends and family.
Christmas Tree Ornament
Okay, so my favorite low-investment gift is the leather scrap Christmas tree ornament. I’ve also seen this done with larger pieces of scrap and leftover cutouts from punches (think round bits of leather threaded where I used beads instead). I have a lot of teacher gifts to come up with this year, and this little project is going to take my little Sonic gift cards and elevate them to something worth giving.
Actually, speaking of gift cards:
Minimalist Card Wallet
The Easy Card Wallet from Corter Leather that I talked about in my last post has been running on my brain’s little background hamster wheel for a while. It is the best spiff-up for a gift card that I can think of. Not only are you providing somebody with the gift of money, it’s putting a gift of money inside a gift that you can put money in…made out of leather! Circular gifting in style! Plus, the pattern is dirt cheap. Nothing to lose there.
Cast Iron Pot Holders
I saw Don Gonzales talking about these on YouTube the other day, and I was skeptical. I use cast iron on a regular basis, and I have some little quilted cotton sleeve things that have so far kept me from dropping the skillet in horror. Pretty sure I’d need a skin graft by now if I wasn’t using them. But leather?
Guys, I was only skeptical until I realized that he meant TOOLED leather handle sleeves with premade tooling patterns. They look so darned cool (heat resistant?). Plus, he’s giving the pattern and tooling art away for free. I know at least a few people that also cook with cast iron regularly, and I’m pretty sure they need these, because I need an excuse to make them.
You can find the pattern and instructions here: How to Make an Easy Leather Cast Iron Pot Handle Cover. I made the super basic red one in the photo above just to see if it fit on my skillet, which it does. I’ve already started digging through my scrap for more material to make several of these. Hopefully, I’ve have some tooling time in the next couple of weeks.
Sleigh Bell Door Hanger or Belt
Chuck Dorsett’s video for a Leather Bell Strap shows you how to make a really stylish, heirloom quality piece in some pretty easy to follow steps. You still have time to order those amazing bells from Weaver Leather Supply if you do it soon!
If you don’t like the complication of that project, you can easily make yourself a smaller, simpler version that’s just meant to go over a doorknob or a nail. I’ll be writing about my version of that project in my next blog post, so stay tuned!
Dragon Key Fob
One of my favorite finds this year is this very quick but very cool little key fob dragon head by Tony of Dieselpunk.ro. He has a full build video on YouTube and links to get the pattern either from his website or Etsy. I like to take these up a notch by stringing in some 8mm cat’s eye glass beads.
The dragon can be made with scrap leather AND you could use it as a tree ornament instead of a key fob. If you buy the pattern pack that also includes a tiny plague doctor mask, why not deck out the tree with some of those, too? It’d be very 2020.
Bookmarks
I blame this design on sleep deprivation caused by my daughter, who woke me up at 4am the day I made this…I felt like death.
A thin strip of leather is all you need! Of course, you could always add tooling, a hole punched at the top with lace, or personalization.
Coasters
Round, square, tooled, marbled, plain, whatever! Coasters may seem boring but there are plenty of ways to make them unique and most people do seem to appreciate them.
That’s it for now! It feels like there aren’t enough hours/days/weeks left to get all that much done (or maybe that’s just me knowing that as soon as the kids get out of school for the holiday break, I’m doomed), but getting the ball rolling will increase the odds that you’ll get your leather gift list checked off this year.
I hope you have a great holiday season working on leather even if you are in a position like mine and won’t get to celebrate with friends and family. Who knows, maybe mailing homemade gifts to your your loved ones will help y’all connect in a special way this year.
Now get to work.
Questions? Comments? More gift ideas? Fill out the comment box below and let’s hear ’em!