Unique handmade gift idea

I love to give people handmade gifts because I prefer to give people something unique and one of a kind, not something they could just go and buy themselves. My theory is that we are adults now, if we want something we will just go and get it! (Mostly.)

So I am often thinking of new ways to gift people handmade things that they will actually like and use. This idea popped into my head a few years ago but I have only just turned it into a proper project. I made a ‘prototype’ of this idea back when it first occurred to me, however it was very rough and not finished off with much finesse. But the idea was solid, my prototype has stood the test of time and it has stuck in my mind ever since.

The prototype

Here is a photo of the ‘prototype’ I made with a simple old journal that I was gifted when I went on maternity leave. I had a mandala that I had made but couldn’t finish to it’s full size as I ran out of yarn, so I turned it into this project.

I love it! It’s so tactile and I love running my fingers along the mandala while I ponder what I am going to write in my journal. I love the idea of this being a special dream journal, or goals journal that you pour your heart into. Of course the danger with a special journal like this is that it is too good to write in and ruin, but I just love the idea of these journals sitting in a bookshelf, with that tempting peak of something unique on the spine.

The real thing

So to bring this project to life, I picked out three mandalas from the new book ‘Making Mandalas’ by Emily of The Loopy Stitch. If you haven’t got your copy yet - go here, get it now!

For this project I made 3 of the Mandalas from this book, Exploration, Originality and Goodness. (How sweet are her mandala names too!)

Not only did I want to create the dream journal I’ve been imagining for years, but I wanted to create a little zipper pouch too. I have one that I got as a gift from a friend a few years ago and it holds all my crochet hooks, but it has seen better days and could do with an update. So I grabbed both a plain journal and a plain canvas bag from Spotlight.

The actual making - super easy!

I grabbed my handy dandy hot glue gun and got sticking. This type of project is so customisable based on who the intended recipient is. It can look however you want it to. This isn’t a ‘follow my directions exactly’ type of tutorial. This is just me sharing an idea and inviting you to get creative. Pick your colours, pic your motif, or if you don’t crochet, pick a fabric you like and cut out an image from that and glue it on. Personalise something plain in a unique to you way.

So what do you think? To be honest, I don’t really care what you think because I love them and I will use them and that’s all that matters to me! But it is always interesting to get feedback on these projects and see what other people like and how you would make this unique to you. How would you customise these blank projects either as a treat for yourself or as a gift for a friend?

I will be sharing more blog posts with ideas like this in the future, because I love this sort of thing. Just playing around with crafts and gluing things together to see what happens.