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The Crafter Holiday Gift Guide 🎅🏻
If anyone knows how to ‘make their lists, and check them twice,’ it’s hobbyists, and side hustling crafters like you! This year to offer a helping hand in your gift-giving and craft business for the 2023 season, we’ve put together this handy-dandy guide covering holiday essentials, and our favorite craft ideas for everyone on your list and your clients lists’! So if you’re looking for holiday inspiration for new gifts you can make or gift ideas for your clients, you’ve come to the right place.
This gift guide covers it all, saving the very best the for last, that's right, gifts for you! If you're still looking for ideas to put on your list for Santa this year, scroll all the way down to #10 to see our favorite gifts for crafters!
Crafted Gifts Start with a Vision!
Getting excited about crafting (or buying) a custom holiday gift starts with an idea or vision. Afterall, gifts like these are to be cherished and remembered. So before we get into our favorite craftable blanks for the holidays, we wanted to offer a few ideas for all you epoxy, sublimation and engraving crafters that you can share with your clients to get them excited about the perfect gift(s) you can make for them this year. 🎄❄️🎁
Epoxy Holiday Ideas
Epoxy Holiday Ideas
Anything 'glitter-epoxied' (especially tumblers) with all their festive-ness, sparkle and shine have a statement-making effect, like, “Hey, I’m here to party!!” Making them perfect for the holiday season or anyone who loves a little glam.
This year mix & match seasonal glitter colors or alcohol inks to create a holiday inspired tumbler! Consider wintery ❄️ designs like a playful shimmering snowscape tumbler with First Snow Fine Metallic Glitter decorated with miniature skier, snowboarder or ice-skating decals. Or go for a simple (yet stunning!) one-color glitter tumbler.
Remember, if you're going for a super “sparkly” look, chunky glitters will give you the most bling, and if one color isn’t enough for you, checkout color shifting chunky mixes, like the "show- stopping" Ice Queen which shifts to purple, blue & pink.
Sublimation Holiday Ideas
Sublimation Holiday Ideas
With sublimation the sky’s the limit! Sublimation crafters can create really special memory tumblers by making photo collage designs. Or looking forward... they can create a “mood board” of inspirational images to symbolize good (or fun) things in the year ahead!
Photo gifts are always well received because they're sentimental, so don't forget remembering (or celebrating) loved ones (and pets 🐶) that may have past. Who wouldn't love a sublimated tumbler covered in photos of their favorite pet?
You can also use MAPS (yes maps!) make great sublimated designs as well! Celebrate the places (or restaurants) you've been and love or the places on your bucket list. Think ski resort trail maps, nautical maps, whatever resonates with your clients... remember, if they can dream it, you can make it!
Of course, there are holiday sublimation designs galore available on Etsy and Creative Fabrica and these are always fan favorites, so always suggest holiday design ideas as an option too!
Engraving Holiday Ideas
Engraving Holiday Ideas
What we love about engraving is there is such a wide variety of items you can personalize. With engraved gifts, often the message inscribed holds more meaning than the blank we engrave. So being able to offer your customers unique ideas is key! When your client isn't sure about what to engrave, explore ideas with your client. Ask them questions like.... What does she/he like to do? Does he fish? Boat, or golf? Does he like to cook? What's his favorite sports team? Is he patriotic?
Suggest something funny or conversational like a made up title. Something that will make the recipient smile, like..... "Mama Bear," “The Boss” “Hole in One Golfer” (even if he’s not :), Captain “Fill-in-the-Blank....” You get the idea, inspire your clients to come up with fun ideas, they are excited about. You can also suggest something meaningful like a favorite quote, or a family recipe.
For holiday inspired ideas, we love that this crafter, turned a Walnut Cutting Board into a treat plate for Santa!
Engravable Blanks for the Holidays!
10 Holiday Gift Ideas & Essentials For Crafters
10 Holiday Gift Ideas & Essentials For Crafters
Let's Start With Holiday Essentials
Does your craft room turn into Santa’s gift wrapping station come holiday season? Whether we’re wrapping gifts for family, friends, coworkers or our clients, we want our gifts to look both festive and like they were packaged with care (the same way they were crafted with care!). So here are a few tips for adding an extra special touch to your crafted holiday gifts & cards this year!!
1. Add Some Sparkle to Holiday Cards
Sprinkle some holographic glitter shapes into your Holiday Cards. The great thing about glitter shapes is that they don’t need to be messy. Sprinkle just 2-6 shapes into each card to add a little extra sparkle to your greeting. Select one shape or get creative and create your own mix!
Our holiday faves are Tree (pictured), Ho Ho Ho, Cross, Snowflake, Heart and Star.
2. Acrylic Paint Markers
Add an extra special touch to almost anything with acrylic paint markers. Coming in packs of standard colors, vibrant metallics, neon and pastels, you can add a handwritten note or artwork onto about any surface from metal, glass, ceramic, wood, fabrics, plastic, canvas and you can even make painted rocks! Their inks dry quickly and once dry, they’re waterproof! The best thing about these paint markers is that you’ll come to love them all year long!
Ideas for use:
Add a special note or inscription on the back of an engraved cutting or serving board. Mark a special date (or your logo) on the bottom of a glass decanter or tumbler. Decorate stockings, tee shirts or canvas shoes. You can also decorate wooden boxes, and ceramic planter pots.
3. Gift Tags & Bags
Avoid running into a Christmas Eve emergency (running out of wrapping paper) by stocking up on gift bags! MakerFlo Gift Bags were made for crafters, and perfect for Christmas Eve gift-wrapping binds. Available in three sizes in packs of 10 they’re just $1.50 each for the smallest size. They can also be reused next year!
You can also make your own custom gift tags, from Santa, (or to promote your business) with Acrylic Blanks, using acrylic paint markers, decals, shapes or glitter with UV resin!
4. Serving Boards, Decanters & Whiskey Gift Sets
Serving boards & decanters are perfect as a holiday gift for family, friends & coworkers and also make great hostess gifts!
Starting at $8.95 for a Bamboo Cutting Board, they can be engraved, epoxied and/or inscribed (with our acrylic paint markers) offering many ways to personalize them.
You can also create whiskey gift sets with this 750mL Square decanter and 2-4 whiskey rocks glasses by packaging them in our L Wooden Box or XL Wooden Box with 2-4 glasses using our large or XL foam insert. The glassware and boxes can all be uniquely engraved for the recipient.
Top Holiday Craft Blanks
5. Memory Boxes
From glue and beads, epoxy, and engravings - there’s so much you can do with wooden boxes, from crafting them into a memorable keepsake or jewelry box, to filling it with an assortment of goodies, to surprise your recipient with even more gifts to unwrap & enjoy.
These boxes can be crafted in so many ways from engraving, epoxy, uv resin, beads & glue, acrylic paint markers and so much more!
Need a fun gift idea for younger crafters in the family, fill one of the boxes with acrylic paint markers, glitter shapes and let them decorate it themselves!
Shop Boxes
6. Jewelry, Pendants & Keychains
If you’re already crafting with UV resin, you know the options here are endless, from jewelry pendants, earrings, dog tags, keychains and even personalized holiday gift tags!
Start with an acrylic blank, add pressed flowers, glitter, or decals then pour on the resin and dry under UV light. Just starting out? Check out the UV Resin Starter Kit - and dive into all the fun things you can craft with UV resin!
7. Coasters & Ornaments
Have you crafted these Wood Bark Slices yet? Available in two sizes, both sizes are great for making Christmas Tree ornaments and come with a mini twist drill bit and jute twine so you can get them up on the tree! These wood bark slices can be engraved, decorated with acrylic paint markers or crafted with glitter and uv resin.
Both sizes can be used to make fun and creative ornaments, gifts tags (for stockings or presents) or keychains. The medium size is the perfect size for making “farmhouse-glam” style coasters with a box of 25 allowing you to craft 6 gift-sets of 4 coasters.
8. Pens & Pencils
At only $2-$3 each, handcrafted pens and mechanical pencils make great holiday gifts. Whether your design inspiration is holiday or personal to the recipient, these pens and pencils have endless crafting possibilities from epoxy & glitter, sublimation, hydro dipping or decorating with rhinestones or beads. Pens & pencils make a great stand-alone gift, stocking stuffer or white elephant gift for an office party. Extra ink & lead refills, chambers and erasers can be added, to ensure each gifted pen or pencil can be used for years to come!
Craftable Pens N' Pencils
9. Gifts for Men
Let’s talk about gifts for guys, because let’s face it, they can be hard to find original gifts for, which is why we've dedicated this section to gift and craft ideas for men! Whether you craft these items with engraving, epoxy or acrylic paint markers here are our favorite blanks for this holiday season which Husbands, Dads, Grandpas, Boyfriends, Brothers, Uncles and Friends will love!
Gifts for Men
10. Gifts for You!
We always save the best for last... and that would be You! We know how hard you work during the holiday season, so here are some ideas you can put on your list!
So here are our gift list suggestions for you! Now these aren't just gifts they are game changing investments, the kinds of gifts that can take your crafting business to the next level come Holiday Season next year. Yep, we're gonna talk about some awesome equipment and what you can craft with it.
Sublimation is easy to learn especially for crafters who are a little tech-savvy! What's great about sublimation is you can design literally anything you can upload to your computer and design software (including photography) allowing you to produce colorful and vibrant tumblers and more! Once your design is printed and taped onto a tumbler, they can be beautifully baked or pressed and unpeeled within 10 minutes, so once the design is completed, the process is fairly quick! This let's you produce a lot of items in a short amount of time making it a perfect craft, for anyone looking to expand their product offering. MakerFlo offers the Epson F170 SureColor Sublimation Printer which is perfect for anyone starting out. You can also get the F170 printer in the F170 Sublimation Starter Kit or the F170 Ultimate Sublimation Starter Kit which include the printer & ink plus a starter supply of sublimation blanks, paper, heat tape, offering a greater savings!
For the sublimation crafters already rocking and rolling, you may be ready to upgrade to the Epson F570 Pro Sublimation Printer. What's the difference between the F170 and the F570 Pro? Simply put: price, speed and format size. While a much bigger investment, the Epson F570 allows you to print (and sublimate) much bigger objects! It also has a high-performance print speed, meaning you can sublimate more items, in less time. All that said, you can save more when you buy the F570 Pro Sublimation Kit or the F570 Pro Ultimate Sublimation Kit.
Another way to improve your crafting workflow and output is to expand your range of heat sources with ovens or heat presses since sometimes one oven or one press simply isn't enough to keep up with all those large orders!
What else might you want on your list this year? The xTool Laser Engraver! Are you aware of all the surfaces and things you can cut and customize with this laser engraver? The list is too long to list here, but if you have clients with a lot of requests for different items, this machine may be able to fill the gap - learn more here.
And if all else fails.... There's the always welcome MakerFlo Gift Card!
