Crafty People!

Hey all you Crafty People out there! Its getting close to the holidays, and every year I end up making up sets of crafty gifts for friends, co-workers, etc.

This year I've decided on ...

1. Katamari Puzzle Balls: with catnip stuffing for friends with cats, or stuffed with good smelling stuff for drawers or as room fresheners. They look like this, and are about the size of a tennis ball. I plan to use nicer looking fabric than these (prolly tapestry fabric), but these were the prototypes and i made them with felt ....

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...katamari-3.jpg

And some more ...
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...katamari-4.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...katamari-2.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...katamari-1.jpg


2. Sun Catchers: Dangling things with beads and glass for windows or doors (dont have a picture of the prototype yet....) - its made up of invisible line, with beads and bits of shaped glass, and hangs about a foot and a half in length. I know, not the best description ever -- will try to get a pic!


3. I don't know? I'm undecided on what else to make (candles, bath bombs, soap, etc.)


So... the question: Any recommendations / thoughts / ideas from you crafty folks out there on what else I can make?

Thanks!

:eek: WoW I wish I was a friend.. I think the Ball is just adorable.. Would you be willing to sell them??

Those balls are a WONDERFUL idea and you could sell the daylights out of them.... I bet you could sell them faster than you could make them! cough!cough!... would they be cheaper if you bought a dozen? or would you share the pattern?

A friend of mine makes wonderful suncatchers. She finds interesting-shaped twigs or small pieces of driftwood and drills several holes through the wood (all going in the same direction). Then she strings strands of beads, runs the top of each strand through one of the holes in the wood, and anchors each strand by crimping the end around a bead that's large enough not to slip through the hole.

One year I made treasure candles by hiding charms and polished stones inside--you pour a layer of wax, let it set, place your "treasure" on top of that layer, pour the next layer, and repeat until your candle mold is full. As the candle burns down, the treasures appear.

If you have friends who like tea, you can combine different kinds of loose tea to come up with your own special blend, then find pretty canisters to put it in.

lvpets2002 & Laura's Babies:
Thanks! If you guys are really interested, I could make up a couple for sale -- PM me if you like :) Also, theres a walkthrough at http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=102581.0 ... they're not too complicated to make, but tend to take time since each is made up of 32 separate fabric pieces sewn into 12 segments and all attached together.

CatsinDenver:
I love your ideas! I still have about 5 lbs of paraffin wax, and treasure candles using some fancy cool rocks i tumbled (went on mineral hunting expiditions this summer) would be really cool! And the tea thing is a cool idea too -- theres a place in the mall near here that sells about 100 different kinds of loose teas, and you can buy metal cannisters to put them in -- i could cover them with millefiori (spelling?) patterned fimo and make really cool containers!

Those seem easy enough to make... I will try that myself just for something to do! Thanks!