A DIYer's Guide to Holiday Gifts

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You can make these for all the gals and spend less than what you would to fill up your gas tank!

— Marisa Lynch, founder of NewDressADay.com

Why DIY?

Good question.

A DIY gift is first and foremost generally inexpensive. You take inspiration from something that could cost a lot of money and make it for less.

Books like “P.S. - I Made This …” by Erica Domesek are a great place to find designer-inspired DIY projects that will cost you a fraction of the price of the real thing. And the "New Dress a Day" blog created by Marisa Lynch shows you how to easily snip and sew a $1 thrift store item into a fashionable frock.

Often, you have the materials you need right at home. This saves you a trip to the store and money, so you can buy that delish eggnog latte.

If you're looking for truly innovative ideas, acquaint yourself with Generation T’s Megan Nicolay -- the queen of creating chic clothes from T-shirts. Her books, including "Generation T: Beyond Fashion: 120 New Ways to Transform a T-Shirt," will have you looking at your simple tees in new ways. And Justina Blakeney, co-founder of Compai, is all about craft meeting fashion. Her book, "Refashioned Bags: Upcycle Anything Into High Style Handbags" is sure to inspire you.

Aside from the savings, when you give a one-of-a-kind DIY gift, you're also saying that you cared enough to put some time, thought and effort into it. And don’t forget, with the money you do save, you can even afford to buy -- or create -- a little something for yourself, too.

Designer-Inspired Hair Comb

“I see it. I like it. I make it.” That's author Erica Domesek’s motto. She takes inspiration from iconic fashion looks, runways and trendsetters to create her own designer DIY clothes and accessories, which also happen to make great gifts.

For women who find themselves in a last-minute gift pinch, Domesek suggests creating a beautiful set of hair combs inspired by designers Thakoon and Proenza Schouler.

“Thakoon showed intricate hairstyles with woven colored and textured materials up and down his runway,” said Domesek in an interview. "And Proenza Schouler gets the gold medal for taking printed fabrics and infusing them together in unexpected, j’amazing ways. Get inspired by these two trends and create a style of your own -- and the hair comb is making a comeback!”

Designer-Inspired Hair Comb Checklist

Hair combs

Fabric strips

Scissors

Directions:

1. Purchase hair combs from your local drug or beauty store.

2. Rip pieces of any cotton material into strips that are about 1 inch thick and 12 inches long. Leave a little bit of a frayed edge to give you more texture. If you want a cleaner look, cut your fabric strips with scissors.

3. Double knot two strips on one end of a tooth.

4. Weave one strip in and out of the teeth. Repeat with the second piece.

5. Double knot both pieces together on the last tooth. Snip the ends.

6. Wrap and gift!

Techie Sweater Case

Busy, working women are hardly ever without their laptops or iPads. Considering that these techie items are carried around from meetings to lunches to coffee shops, they might as well look good, too. Compai’s sweater laptop case is a perfect gift for the woman on the go with her laptop in hand.

“This is a great gift because everyone’s computer needs protecting. It’s something unique to keep a computer in instead of a cookie-cutter laptop case,” says Justina Blakeney. “I believe that the best gifts are beautiful and useful -- and of course, handmade! The addition of the pom-poms makes it fun and wintery, too!”

Techie Sweater Case Checklist

--1 old wool sweater

--3 yards yarn

--1 zipper, about 20 inches long

--Pins

Directions:

1. Pick a sweater, making sure it's made of at least 80 percent animal fiber like wool, alpaca or cashmere (you know, the good stuff). This is important because you want it to "felt." Wool becomes felt -- which is tough and durable -- when you subject it to heat, moisture or pressure.

2. Wash your wool sweater on hot so that it shrinks and felts. Dry it on hot in the dryer.

3. If your sweater has a zipper or buttons that open the sweater in front, cut them off. If it doesn't, cut the front of the sweater open anyway.

4. Cut off the sleeves.

5. Stitch both armholes closed.

6. Fold the sweater on its side so that one of the stitched armholes lays center-front. Place your laptop computer onto the sweater. Mark the length of the computer with pins on the sweater. Cut the collar and the bottom off of the sweater so that the remaining piece is 1/2 inch longer than the computer on each side.

7. Sew the top edges of the bag together.

8. Pin the zipper onto the open edge of the case, wrapping it around the open corner of the sweater. Stitch the zipper into place -- and then whip stitch any remaining openings closed if the zipper doesn’t reach the bottom corner of the case.

8. Add pom-poms if desired.

9. Put a bow on it.

Peter Pan Collar Top

Did you know you could spend $365 and get 365 new outfits? You can. Marisa Lynch proved that, on a dollar a day budget, she could dress herself for an entire year. After scouring through thrift shops, she pinned, cut, painted, tied and sewed her way to 365 new, stylish outfits for the cost of four shiny quarters a day.

Using that same budget-friendly savvy, she's created the perfect en vogue Peter Pan collar top you can make for all your girlfriends.

“By using something from a thrift store, you can create a piece that nobody else will have,” says Lynch. “The fabric will be one of a kind. Plus, it's something easy anyone can do and it's totally budget friendly. You can make these for all the gals and spend less than what you would to fill up your gas tank!”

Peter Pan-Inspired Top Checklist

--Oversized dress, muumuu or monk’s robe

--Crocheted doily

--Paint (only if you need to match the color of the doily to the top)

--Sewing machine, needle, thread, scissors, paintbrush

Directions:

1. Find an oversized dress, muumuu or monk's robe from your local thrift shop or even your own closet. Using something with a basic scoop or crew neck will work best for this piece.

2. Trim the piece so that it hits just above the waist.

3. Create a new hem at the bottom. Pin it in place and use a sewing machine to complete the new hem (hand sewing, stitch witchery or leaving the edges raw are also options if you don't have a machine).

4. Get a crocheted doily from your local craft store -- a good size is about 10 inches in diameter.

5. Match the color of the doily to the top. You can also use paint (make sure to use several coats), dye or fabric markers.

6. After letting the doily dry, snip a slit and trim around the edges, leaving about 2 inches of trim to use.

7. Pin the doily trim to the collar. Fold under about a 1/4 inch of doily on the inside of the piece and then stitch down in place with matching thread.

8. New top is ready to put into a gift box!

T-Shirt Spaghetti Scarf

From a mild winter to a sunny spring and summer, scarves are popular practically year-round. Give someone a T-shirt scarf and it’s like a gift that keeps giving.

Megan Nicolay has a recipe for a spaghetti scarf that can make a newbie do-it-yourselfer or an old pro look like gift-giving goddess.

“This project is great for making and gifting because it's so unintimidating,” says Nicolay. “The technique is quick and easy and involves no sewing whatsoever. The result is a very sophisticated, bohemian-chic look, especially if you finish the look with a great oversize vintage brooch.”

Start by scrounging your closet for the perfect tees before hitting the shops. Nicolay says that you never know what you may unearth — that Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot T-shirt from five years ago, an old concert tee that never fit quite right, or that summer 2001 camp counselor T-shirt. Don’t be afraid to ask friends for their unwanted tees as well.

T-Shirt Spaghetti Scarf Checklist

--1 T-shirt

--Scissors

--Punk pin or Brooch

Directions:

1. Lay the T-shirt flat and cut through both layers horizontally across the shirt just below the sleeves. Make sure to always use sharp scissors. They don't need to be professional fabric shears, but they should be used exclusively to cut fabric (so leave those paper cutting scissors in the desk drawer!).

2. Rotate the tube so the hem is at the top. Cut vertically through it to create one wide rectangle.

3. Starting at the left, cut long slits up from the bottom, 1/2 inch apart, stopping at the hem. Pull at the fringe so the strips curl and separate.

4. Wrap twice, loosely around the neck and shoulders, securing with a punk pin or brooch.

5. Add wrapping paper and gift.

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