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Handmade Christmas Gift Ideas

Date: 05-11-2024
News, Tips & Info

 

 

5 Ideas for Handmade Gifts

Handmade gifts are the best gifts and the Gordon Harris staff have been hard at work coming up with amazing creations to help inspire your gift-making journey this holiday season.

Try out one of these five ideas below for your gifts this Christmas! 

 

1. Hand Illustrated 'Strength' Tarot Card

 

What you'll need: 
 
- 600gsm cold-press watercolour paper
 
- Zig Cartoonist brush pen
 
- Watercolours
 
- Noris Gold Leaf
 
- Pebeo Gilding Paste
 
- Fan Brush
 
 

Directions: 

 
Start with the outline. You may want to begin in pencil first. You can freehand your design or copy off another design by using a grid or Artograph tracer to assist you in transferring the image you want onto the watercolour paper.  
 
After you have your outlines finished, fill in the space with watercolours. 
 
Once the watercolours are dry, apply the Pebeo Gilding Paste with a brush carefully to the areas you would like to apply gold leaf.
 
Apply the gold leaf, brushing over to fix to the paste with a fan brush. 
 
 

 

 

    

 

2. Customised Notebooks

Do you have family members that journals, keeps a diary, has a notebook or sketchbook for ideas and inspiration? Why not make them a custom notebook for 2024? These beautiful books are made using lino cut printmaking techniques on Hahnemühle A6 Sketch & Notebooks, which come in coloured multi-packs. If you want to take your printmaking to the next level, you can get one of our new Kanga presses for making multiple prints, fast! 

 

What you'll need: 

- X-Press It Transfer Paper or Gordon Harris Tracing Paper

- Hahnemühle Sketch & Note Booklets

- Essdee Block Printing Kit

- Optional: Kanga Printmaking Press 

 

Directions: 

1. Draw your design onto the lino using either transfer paper or tracing paper. 

2. Cut out the lino cut design with the lino cutting tools from the Essdee lino cutting kit.

3. Roll with ink and per instructions and press onto the notebooks using either the brayer only or the Kanga Press and brayer. 

 

WATCH THE VIDEO

 

 

3. Jewellery or Trinket Tray

Air Dry Clay Trinket Tray

These trinket trays are so beautiful and super easy to make! Using Gedeo Air Drying clay, you can use almost any acrylic paint to decorate them.

 

What you'll need: 

- Gedeo Air Dry Clay

- Gedeo Selection of 4 Modelling Tools

- Sponge

- Schmincke Akademie Acrylics Set or Golden SoFlat Matte Acrylic 

- Golden GAC-100 Acrylic Primer

- Golden Gesso or Pebeo Studio Green Gesso

- Golden Waterborne Varnish

 

Directions: 

1. Cut off the clay, roll it out to the thickness desired and shape on top of a plate using the modelling tools and a wet sponge to smooth out imperfections. 

2. Let dry for as long as necessary - may take up to 3 days to dry depending on thickness of clay

3. Seal with Golden GAC-100 Acrylic Primer front and back with two to three coats, allow to dry

4. Prime with Gesso like the Golden Gesso or Pebeo Studio Green Gesso for an eco-friendly option and let dry

5. Paint with acrylic paint like the Schmincke Akademie Acrylic or Golden SoFlat matte self-levelling Acrylic Range, let dry. 

6. Seal with Golden Waterborne Varnish

 

WATCH THE VIDEO

 

Plaster Jewellery Tray

What you'll need: 

1. GEDEO Light Plaster

2. Jacquard Pinata Alcohol Ink in festive colours

3. Golden GAC 100

4. Sandpaper

5. Palette knife

In this video, I'll show you how to make an elegant decorative jewellery tray!

Watch as I guide you through the process of mixing plaster, pouring it into a mold, and adding beautiful ink accents for a unique holiday touch. Perfect for organizing your jewellery or as a thoughtful gift!

 

4. Polymer Clay Jewellery

 

These polymer clay earrings are super fun to make, keep it simple with single colours for a bright pop or be more adventurous and try the marble-look effect in the other video! 

 

What You'll Need: 

- An oven

- Earring (or other jewellery) hardware

- Premo Sculpey Polymer Clay 

- Essdee Aluminium Craft Roller

- Sculpey Mini Metal Cutters 

- Optional: Acrylic Paint e.g Pebeo Studio Acrylic Set

- Optional: Pebeo Gold Flakes

- Optional: Sculpey Gloss Glaze & paint brush

 

Directions: 

1. Roll out the polymer clay in to the desired thickness for single coloured jewellery, or for marbled effect chop it up into pieces and coat in paint and/or gold leaf as desired, recombining and rolling out into a thin, flat piece as shown in the video. 

2. Cut out selected shapes with Sculpey Mini Metal Cutters. Don't forget to poke holes for the earring fittings with a tooth pick! 

3. Bake the in the oven according to instructions on the packet - should be 130° for 30mins per 1/4 inch of clay thickness.

4. Optional - add sculpey gloss glaze

5. Use hardware to build your jewellery! 

 

 

WATCH THE VIDEO OF SINGLE-COLOUR EARRINGS

WATCH THE VIDEO OF MARBLE-EFFECT EARRINGS

 

5. Coasters 

Coasters are such a flexible gift! 

 

You Will Need: 

- MDF Rounds 100mm diameter x 3mm

- Golden GAC-100 Acrylic Primer

- Golden Gesso or Pebeo Studio Green Gesso

- Acrylic Paint like Golden SoFlat Matte Acrylic 

- Optional: Molotow One4All Acrylic Markers

- Golden Waterborne Varnish

 

Directions: 

1. Seal the 100mm diameter MDF rounds with Golden GAC-100 and let dry. 

2. Prime with Gesso - Golden or Pebeo Studio Green is a good eco-friendly alternative. 

3. Paint your design onto the coasters - using acrylic paint or paint markers, or whatever your chosen medium! Molotow One4All Markers are a great refillable acrylic marker that will work well for this purpose. 

4. Seal with Golden Waterborne Varnish  

 

WATCH THE VIDEO

 

 
   

 

 

 

 

Craft printmaking clay Christmas DIY