Need ideas for Christmas Presents

[Al Launier]

Last year I started a bit late in making Christmas presents & that resulted in too much stress making the deadline. This year I want to make the Christmas presents early to avoid the stress. Yet, I'm not coming up with any good ideas. I'm currently finishing up a wooden battery dispenser & thought that might make a good present, but my wife doesn't agree as she feels that "functional" gifts aren't as well liked as more personal, "seasonal" gifts. Personally I prefer useful gifts, but ??? So, I'm having trouble coming up with ideas & thought I would go to those on this forum who might have some good ideas for Christmas gifts. I have reasonable skills in woodworking so I would like to make gifts that reflect these skills, yet keep the gifts on the small size as that is my preffered project size, plus I will have to ship these to SC, or carry them onboard the flight taking up luggage space.

Your suggestions are appreciated.
Thank you.

[Greg Cuetara]

Al, Picture frames are always good and can be made with scraps if need be. I made a small picture frame which had two doors in the front and opened to show 4 pictures a few years back. Went over very well and easy to pack and ship if necessary. If you know of someone with a laser engraver or cnc you can always engrave them with the people's names.

Good luck. I know I need to start thinking of ideas soon also.

Greg

[Jamie Buxton]

Salad tongs.
Wooden spatula for stove-top use.
Little puzzles -- brain teasers.

[Jim Barstow]

Pizza peels.

I've made tons. They are easy to make from scrap and I have a planer sled for tapering them. They're really nice looking since I generally use a mix of cherry and birds eye maple. Some people use them a lot and others hang them on the kitchen wall as decoration.

[Michael Stein]

I made up a bunch of the magnetic bottle openers you see all over Etsy last year. They aren't the cheapest thing due to the magnets and bottle opener, but they are great so long as the recipient is a beer drinker. Simple to batch out a bunch of them at once.

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[Glenn de Souza]

Tissue box holders. Everyone can use them, and they use a modest amount of wood, so splurge on exotics, or you can match the recipient's home cabinetry and/or trim. This past Christmas I made about 25 of them in a production run.IMG_0148.jpgIMG_0162.jpgDSC03645.jpgIMG_0159.jpg

[Don Jarvie]

If you have a lathe you can make ornaments. I made a bunch of snowmen and Angels. Everyone liked them.

[Prashun Patel]

Extra thick, extra wide cutting boards or charcuterie boards are a winner for me. Save all the fancy things like geometric patterns or inlays. I appreciate them, but if I have to make a bunch, I don't sacrifice much appreciation by leaving those details out. As long as they have good heft, handles, and feet they're winners.

[Al Launier]

WOW! Great ideas so soon!

I should mention that that I do not have a lathe, so any kind of turning is out. I do have a good scroll saw (DeWalt 788), but I don't have the patience to scroll intricate details. I have made cutting boards & trivets as gifts in the past, and they do make nice gifts, but something different is what I'm hoping for.

Thanks for your suggestions & please keep the ideas coming Guys, they're great! I don't have to limit each person to only one gift if they are small.

[Rick Johnston]

For the cutting boards, a supplemental small jar of bees wax and mineral oil is a nice touch.

[Rick Potter]

Band saw boxes?

[Al Launier]

Band saw boxes are a good idea. I made these before, and they were well accepted. However, my imagination is depriving me of new ideas - tough to get old!

[Jim German]

I like doing things that are pretty and practical. Last couple of years I've done trivets and cutting boards. Easy to do and you can make them as fancy or as plain as your time, skill and budget allow.

[Ole Anderson]

Something a bit bigger that I made four of several years ago: a towel rack/display shelf for above the commode. (also makes a handy leaning post for the guys)
http://www.woodstore.net/plans/furni...owel-Rack.html

[Doug Garson]

Wow, talk about getting an early start. Post a few photos along the way to remind the rest of us to get started. Any small children on the list? If so make a few wooden toys and while your at it make a few extra to donate to a local charity. How about making a few board games, look up Quarto, Shut the Box or Quoridor. Check out Steve Ramsey's site woodworkingformeremortals for some plans for both wooden toys and board games.