If there’s one thing I love more than getting a homemade gift, it’s making one for someone else. As a consummate crafter, I’ve made my fair share of mistakes, and I’m here to help you conquer your holiday crafts without getting a hitch in your giddy-up.
I Pick the Crafts a Few Months in Advance
A seminal part of making holiday gifts and decorations is giving yourself enough time to do them. The best-laid plans can always go awry, and I’ve found that picking your ideas months in advance is the best way to avoid a last-minute scramble.
Only have a few things to make? A few weeks in advance will suffice. The more crafts you need to schedule, the further out you should decide on them.
Use holiday gifting and decorating as a way to stash bust on a large scale.
I Mix New & Familiar Projects Each Season
A major mistake I made early in my holiday crafting was only planning to make brand-new things. Not only was it slow going, but I also burned out way too quickly. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, I resented all the projects I’d committed to and definitely didn’t do my best work.
Save yourself some frustration by working up a few favorite patterns or projects you have in your arsenal. Use these to pad out your more complicated makes and ensure you have something to gift on the special day.
Related: 15 Popular Christmas Decorations & How to Make Them Merry
I Never Tell Anyone What I'm Making Them
Once you tell someone what you’re making them, you’re locked in. You’ve made an emotional commitment that you can’t easily break. Sometimes people will be disappointed or barter with you over what they’d really like instead. This often leads to you feeling like you don’t want to make them anything anymore.
Or, they can get overly excited and leave you feeling like whatever you make isn’t going to deliver.
Basically, I keep contracts out of my crafting — emotional or otherwise!
I Start Crafting Stuff That I Need to Ship First
I have a whole host of siblings/siblings-in-law and nieces and nephews that live states away, and I’ve found that working on their gifts first sets me up for the greatest success. Not only does it take the guesswork out of planning, but it also ensures that I don’t fall prey to the procrastination plague.
I’ve definitely pushed family and friends’ gifts well past the holiday deadline because the pressure of handing them their gifts in person wasn’t weighing on me. Nowadays, I get ahead of the curve by making theirs first.
I Work on Multiple Projects at the Same Time
Everyone’s process is different, but the only way I’ve ever made my deadlines is by working on multiple projects at the same time. Not only does it keep things from getting stale, but it also keeps you from doing poor work on something you’ve left until the last minute.
If I Need to Pivot, I PIVOT
Some crafters treat their patterns or plans like a bible, and they won’t deviate from them. For me, the only way to make progress is by pivoting.
If I didn’t realize a crochet pattern was horrendously written before buying the supplies, I'd switch to something that uses a similar color scheme and fiber. If I'd planned three crafts for one person and one was taking too long, I'd cut an item off of their list.
Your holiday crafts aren’t written in stone, no matter how it may feel like they are. Go with the winter flow and make changes when necessary.
I Treat My Work Like a Marathon, Not Like a Sprint
As a chronic procrastinator my entire life, I’m well acquainted with starting and finishing things a few days before the deadline. With parties, gift wrapping, shopping, and family time on the calendar, you need to be kinder to yourself in your crafting efforts.
The best way for me to keep my momentum up is by treating my work like a marathon and not a sprint. This means touching whatever I’m working on every single day — even when I don’t feel like it.
You’d be shocked at the progress you can make!
I Take a Day Off From Crafting Every Week
It doesn’t matter how many breaks I take or coffees I chug; when my hands and eyes are done, they’re done. I make the most mistakes when I’ve been crafting for days on end. So, taking a day off every week is essential to keeping my momentum up.
A little rest can reinvigorate your crafty spirit and keep you in the perfect making mood!
I Avoid the Temptation to Add More Crafts Down the Line
The devil isn’t in the details, he’s in the tempting crafts you’ll stumble across after you’ve started your holiday projects and gifts. Straying from your designated path never leads to a good outcome. It’ll just lead you to staying up until 3 am on Christmas Eve trying to put the final touches on a few Christmas gifts for the next morning.
Whatever you've already planned is going to look fabulous — don't let your insatiable crafter's brain tell you otherwise.
Feel That? It’s Your Crafter Confidence Coming On
The holidays are daunting at the best of times, and it’s easy to bite off more than you can chew. If you’re committing to a few holiday crafts — whether as gifts or decorations — give yourself the gift of success by avoiding my pitfalls. Make things easy on yourself this winter with my hard-won advice.
