Five Great Gifts for the Crafter on Your List

Five Great Gifts For The Crafter On Your List

Every kind of craft you can imagine I've tried at one time or another. Below are five of my favorite versatile products. They run the pricing gamut from a few dollars to around $80.00. On the plus side I have never paid full price for any of them. Check out the online sites run by the manufacturers as they are always having specials or peruse your Sunday paper, many major craft stores include a coupon for a huge percentage off one regular priced item every week. Even the larger department stores will carry some of these items at an every day price that is discounted.

1. Xyron - These are absolutely fantastic! By changing cartridges you can make repositionable stickers, permanent stickers, magnets, double sided laminate, and single side laminate with adhesive backs. I've run paper, cardstock, felt, foam, fabric, ribbon and even buttons through these machines for cards, scrapbooks, decorations, and gift-wrapping. No heat and no electric make them portable and child friendly. No glue mess to clean up or drying time is an added bonus when you're in the creative vein. I have even used the adhesive to do the initial attachment of items to cigar box purses rather than using the decoupage medium. It's a lot less mess. I own one of each listed below. Never one to be wasteful I use the size that best fits what I am working with. Xyron 150 creates permanent or repositionable sticker up to 1 ½" wide. Xyron 510 creates stickers, magnets, labels and laminate items up to 5" wide. Xyron 250 creates permanent or repositionable stickers up to 2 ½" wide. Xyron 900 creates stickers, magnets, labels and laminate items up to 9" wide. Easy load cartridge and removable cutter.

2. Sizzix - This is a personal die cutting machine. Dies are available in all shapes, sizes and themes. You can cut paper, foam, and felt, fabric, cardboard, rubber, even magnet. Dies come in all shapes, sizes, and themes. You can create your own high-end layered cardstock stickers, cut hundreds of pieces for quilting and they all match. There are a million uses for them. Pair this with a Xyron machine and some imagination and oh the places you'll go! There are a number of adapters that can be used in conjunction with this machine that make it compatible with other die brands. It is a little heavy and I wouldn't want to lug it around with me everywhere but they do sell a carrying case for it. There is also a smaller lighter portable version called the Sidekick which is obviously less versatile but great for the on the go cropping addict.

3. Making Memories Hole Punch - This tool has three interchangeable punch heads in 1/16", 1/8", and 3/16" sizes. A hammer and cutting matt are most useful with this tool and as luck would have it Making Memories has those too. The benefit of using this punch instead of the hand held squeeze kind is that you can place it any where on your project. Need a small hole in the middle of a 12" page, put the punch there slide the matt beneath it and hammer away. Because you are hammering it through you can go through multiple layers. I've used mine to put new holes in a leather belt, eyes in foam animal cut outs, and patterns in wood veneer.

4. Fiskars Texturing Tool - A hand held plastic knob with three rolling balls in the end. This little gadget was made to go with the Fiskars Texture Plates. The plates come in themed sets. Put your cardstock or paper over the top of a texture (it could be a ceiling tin, a glass tile, a mosaic table top, anything that is a hard with some shallow relief) and rub the design is transferred into your paper. Add a classy touch to a card, a subtle touch to a scrapbook page or create a vellum lampshade with panache.

5. Watercolor Pencils - On cardstock or watercolor paper these pencils make you look like a pro. They can be used like any colored pencil or you can add water and get a rich watercolor effect. Apply the water to the paper after scribbling a mass of color and you can spread it around at will. Dampen the paper first and run the pencil over it and it will flow with the water. You can even wet the lead and use it to color right on a rubber stamp. Give a little spritz of water when your done coloring to ensure transfer and you've created a watercolor print in no time.

Give the crafter on your gift list something not only useful but that will spark their imagination and do it all on a budget.