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The Crafty Geeks Timeline For Festivus Gift-Making

• Sep 10, 2010 from geeksdreamgirl(E. Foley)
  Ahhhh, early September. Summers trying to hang on by its fingernails, but autumn is showing itself more and more every day. The leaves are starting to turn, theres a chill in the morning air, the days are getting shorter. Its the perfect time to start thinking about making gifts for your friends and families for the winter holidays!
  Before you accuse me of joining the commercialism bandwagon, remember that Im talking about making gifts. Im as annoyed as anyone when WalMart starts putting out Christmas trees before they stock the Halloween candy. But for the crafty geek, this is the time to start making plans for making gifts.
  Making things with your own two hands takes time much more time than a trip to the mall to buy gift cards for everyone and if you dont start now, you may find yourself taking a week off from work in early December, crocheting and sewing for 16 hours a day, not enjoying a bit of it and refusing to touch your crafts again for months afterwards. (Yes, I speak from experience.)
  People who know me in real life know Im as big a procrastinator as they come, but even I have been known to make a plan from time to time. And I have one for making gifts for the important people in my life for whatever holiday they celebrate at the end of the year. Even if youve never made anything before in your life, theres still time to do it, if you follow this timeline.
  September: Make A Game Plan
  Make a list, check it twice. Think about who you want to make gifts for this year. Write down their names, then come back to it in a day and see if you forgot anyone. Then, add a couple of empty slots to the list to account for the unexpected that can happen between now and the holidays: the old friend you reconnect with, the new friend you make, the person you somehow completely forgot about. Now you know how many gifts you need to make.
  Pick a project. In my experience, its easiest to make everyone the same thing, or at least similar things. Doing so means less stress, because you only have one supply stash to worry about, and you can get a rhythm going and maybe even make an assembly line, depending on what youre making.
  When picking a project, be realistic with yourself about the cost of the supplies and the time involved. Dont bite off more than you can chew.
  Here are some examples of things you can easily make for everyone between now and the holidays: a hand-painted mini representing their character, a dice bag, a simple hat or scarf, a piece of jewelry, homemade goodies. Things you might be able to make, if you really work at it: a full jewelry set, a cosplay-appropriate Hogwarts or Dr. Who scarf, a drawing or painting of their character. Things you should probably go ahead and make your plan for next year: a full cosplay outfit, a full-sized afghan/blanket, an embroidered family crest for their character.
  Money, money, money. If you already have a lot of craft supplies on hand, making gifts can be very cost-effective! If you have to buy everything new, it can add up quickly. And dont forget about shipping costs! Thats what often bites people in the ass they have the money to make the gifts, but not enough to send them (this has happened to me a couple times). Start budgeting now.
  Have a back-up plan. Life has a funny way of happening while were busy making other plans. Something as simple as coming down with a bad case of con crud can leave you scrambling for time to make all the gifts you had planned. Decide now what youre going to do if you get in a bind, whether its making cool I.O.U. cards to give your friends (with promises of the finished gift to come!) or putting the minis away for another time and making cookies instead.
  October: Get Things Rolling
  Learn your craft. If youve never knitted or baked before, learn as early as possible (you may even want to do this in September, if time allows). Buy an instructional book, look up videos on YouTube, or find someone to teach you. Sometimes crafts come easily to a person, and youll pick it up right away. Sometimes you struggle. If youre having a hard time learning how to crochet, this may not be the year to make everyone a hat. Dont feel bad remember, you have a back-up plan to fall back on!
  Do a practice run. So you think youve found the perfect jewelry project/knitting pattern/fudge recipe for making the most awesome gifts EVAR. Great! Now, make one of those necklaces or pairs of socks, or a batch of fudge, for yourself. Is it as great as it looked on paper? If youre not happy with it for yourself, you wont feel good about giving it as a gift. This is also a great way to judge the time involved. If making that necklace turns out to have a lot more time-consuming fiddly bits than you expected, you need to either reschedule your time or pick a simpler project.
  Gather supplies. This time of year, craft stores have sales and coupons galore. Check the Sunday paper, or better yet, sign up for their e-mail newsletters to get coupons delivered right to your...