I'm getting crafty

Since my time is not worth much to the world or employment, I've decided to make my Christmas gifts this year. I have nothing but time, baby, so don't judge that these crafts I'm making seem to take a hellva effort and time for what they are. All I care is that I can make 10 gifts for a total under $8. I also secretly enjoy being crafty.

First some background.... I am one of the oldest cousins in a family of over a dozen aunts and uncles. Since I'm in my 20's I suppose I'm too old to just sign my name on the card on the gifts my mum buys for people, so I'm slightly proving my new found independence to my extended family by giving gifts from just me. Of course, there is no way I could afford to give each of my aunts and uncles and each of their slew of children individual gifts, so the name of the game is to give "family gifts" i.e. one gift per family that makes them think, "Liz is so sweet."

I brainstormed what they all have in common, and realized that they each adore their family dog. And thus the decision to give a dog gift to each family was made. Brilliant!

So, I'll make each a chew toy, a bandanna or two, and wrap it all up with a few dog treats. Done.

From past experience with the fabric store, I've learned that fabric isn't as cheap as you think.
I decided to rummage my closets before heading to a store where things cost actually money.
I found three fleece sweaters/jackets that were too small. I also found a stripped bed sheet with no matching set, so I was free to destroy it with scissors.

First, I cut the fleece sweaters into long, 1" strips and pulled them length-wise to stretch them out. After the stretch, they each ended up being a few feet long.
then I took 3 strips (each a different color for the three different sweaters) and tied one end of each to the leg of my desk chair. I then proceeded to braid them into one long braid and tie the end with a knot. I then untied the other ends from the chair and tied that off too.
With this super-long, colorful braided rope, I then tied it into a big knot so that it resembled the knot chew-toys I commonly see sold at the pet store.
I repeated this 10 times, and ta-da: 10 chew toys.

For the bandannas, I just cut up the bed sheet into large triangles that would fit to tie around a dog's neck. Now, most people can just call it a day, but I have the time and a sewing machine, so I hemmed all the edges (which is just folding over the edge and sewing it so it won't fray). Yes, this took some time, but I was watching tv while doing it, and I find sewing simple things soothing.

Since I'm not Martha Stewart, I'm not going to give you a recipe for making your own dog-treats. I just going to buy a big bag of them at Walmart.

My degree in Advertising has taught me that presentation is everything, so I spent $1 on a pack of paper lunch bags and $1 for a spool of ribbon. Using markers I then decorated each bag with the dog's name and some paw prints. After putting in the chew toy, bandanna and treats inside, I'll fold over the top of the bag, hole-punch it, and tie off with a ribbon.

What really make these gifts work was that they looked like I bought the fabric to match. The sweaters I cut up were all solids: white, black and navy. The bedsheet was white and navy. All the dogs are boys: This worked out beautifully.