6 Super Novelty Gifts you can make yourself

At Christmas time the shops are full of all kinds of special novelty gifts to give.  They are generally fun things to give and have, but not really useful or needed.  Now I love the excitement of Christmas including the gift giving a lot, but try to be mindful in the gifts I'm giving that I'm not being wasteful either with money - or to the environment.  So I decided to see what 'novelty gifts' I could make myself - at a cost of next to nothing, using scrap fabric and supplies I had at home.  These gifts make great stocking fillers or perhaps Secret Santa gifts, Plus they are all small and light which is great for posting overseas!

I hope you can find some inspiration here to make your own 'novelty' gifts this year and save a little money - and reduce waste for the environment!

1. Make a Button and Card String Trick

2. Monster Toilet Paper Dispenser

3. Juggle Balls and Bag

4. Upcycled Denim Tic Tac Toe

5.  Tea Bag Wallet

6. Magic Flip Wallet

If you like the look of these tutorials, why not take a look at 

My Free Sewing Tutorials Page

Where there are over 150 free sewing tutorials for making all manner of things and for all levels of sewing ability. Maybe you can find other gifts to make!

4 Things to make with Faux Fur

A few years ago I started making these cute little furry creatures, which I called Little Jems.  

They are made from a section of drainpipe covered in faux fur scraps, and can be used for holding all kinds of little trinkets,  or perhaps as a desk tidy, or even a novelty can holder!

This in turn led to more sewing with faux fur, and a house full of fluff flying everywhere as I sewed!!

I then found other things to sew with the faux fur. Pretty much anything I made was a hit with kids, and I have to admit to having lots of fun choosing from the amazing range of colours and patterns of faux fur you can buy!!
Here are some of the things I made - with tutorials in case you want to try making your own!!

Monster Pencil Cases

And Furry Animal Backpacks.

And last but not least I even made a furry fabric drinks holder for myself!!

Have you ever sewn with faux fur??
What have you made?


If you like the look of any of these sewing tutorials, why not check out all my other ones? There are over 150 Free Sewing tutorials available on My Free Sewing Tutorials Page.

Monster Toilet Paper Dispenser - a novelty gift tutorial

This year I'm trying to find ways to make novelty gifts for Christmas that are both eco and budget friendly, as part of my Christmas Shouldn't cost the Earth series.

This week I've made this super simple toilet paper dispenser that I've had 'pinned' for a long time after finding them for sale on ebay.

Here's how to make your own!

You will need

Two pieces of fabric 50 x 13 cm (20 x 5")

A piece of ribbon 18 cm (7") long

Scraps of black and white fabric for the eyes - or craft eyes!

First attach the eyes about 10 cm (4") down from the short end of one of your fabric pieces.

I used iron on fusible webbing and appliqué stitching, but you could just stitch on the scraps by machine or hand - felt would work well as it doesn't fray. Or hand-stitch on some googly craft eyes!

Next take your ribbon, fold it in half and pin then stitch it to the top centre of the same piece of fabric, above the eyes.

Now place your other fabric piece face down on top of this one and pin around all edges. Make sure the fabrics are facing right sides together, and leave a small gap in one side so you can turn it right sides out after stitching.

Clip the corners, 

then turn the whole thing out through the gap you left in the side.

Pin the opening closed, 

then top-stitch around all four sides.

The mouth

Measure down 17 cm (6.5") from the top ribbon and place a pin in to mark this point.

Fold the fabric in half lengthways and snip where the pin is with your scissors.

Open the fabric out and make this cut line longer until it stretches to about 2.5 cm (1") away from either side edge.

Next make the opening wider like a mouth by cutting both upwards and downwards. 

Snip a little into each inside corner of the mouth.

Then fold the fabrics in from the front and back to hide all the raw cut edges. This is fiddly and does take a little bit of time. Pin.

Top-stitch around the mouth opening.

Finally, fold the fabric in half and pin, then stitch, across the top.

And that is your monster toilet paper dispenser finished!

Pop a roll of toilet paper into it, hang it up and you're ready to roll!

With the ribbon it can simply hang on a hook, but it does also fit on a regular paper roll holder.

Such a cute novelty gift - a perfect little stocking filler don't you think?

For the free downloadable PDF version of this tutorial, click here.

To see what other Eco and Budget Friendly Christmas Crafting Ideas I've shared so far - go here. 

And for plenty more Christmas Crafting inspiration, check out our group 

Christmas Shouldn't Cost the Earth Pinterest board.