December 15, 2007

Gifts to make for guys

An anonymous reader recently wrote: "My husband wants to do make-or-bake Christmas and I don't really do manly crafts—do you have any ideas for what I could make for a guy?" Uh, that's a tough one. Here's the best I could come up with:

Print-and-assemble modern calendars (I think I want to make that faux bois model shown above for myself!)
A T-shirt made using one of these screen-printing short cuts: this way or this way
The ever-popular paint chip business card holder
A boot rack
A lamp using manly fabrics: this or this, perhaps? "Manly" is so subjective.
A duct tape wallet
Suede iPod sleeve
Box made from playing cards
A pinhole camera, for the guy who needs a whole new hobby (see impressive gallery)
Clock made from a book cover (We found one made out of a Jimi Hendrix record album once that Alex was drooling over. This has great potential for coolness.) You can get clock movements at Michaels or other craft places.

(Image above from Canon)

14 comments:

  1. Hey, I was reading this looking for last minute ideas for my hubby and lo and behold you linked to my Instructable ;)

    Thanks!

    Hope lots of folks make cool book clocks.

    Melissa H
    http://underconstructionblog.typepad.com

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  2. LOVE the cplaying card box..right up my hubbys alley! I might have to whip one of these up and give it to him!
    THANKS!

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  3. Those calendars - what a great find!

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  4. Another really great idea is a vinyl record bowl. Who doesn't like records and music? It's super easy to make and it's great to hold fruit or chips for a party!

    Here's a tutorial:
    http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf895928.tip.html

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  5. Thanks for the links! I ended up making myself one of the calenders.
    orangeflower

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  6. oh thank you so much! we're doing homemade (vs $$$ store bought) and this is perfect. i've been reading you for a while now and i just can't wait for more updates from you ^^

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  7. This is an awesome post. I was just thinking the other day how welcome some good "handmade for men" ideas would be, but I could only think of a couple. Good work!

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  8. Excellent Ideas! I'll have to add these to my list!

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  9. Hey, thanks for the link!
    Kenneth Finnegan
    ducttape.pbwiki.com

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  10. Where can I find instructions for the black and white calendar pictured int he post?

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  11. It was on the calendars page with the wood one and others, but it looks like it's not there anymore. Bummer!

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  12. Homemade BBQ sauce and BBQ aprons are good guy gifts!!

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