Handmade Giving Gift Guide - Men's Edition

Wow - Christmas is coming fast! We hope your handmade giving plans are going well and you are enjoying the process of making. Today we wanted to share some ideas for the men in your life. Handmade gifts for guys can be a challenge. Our general rule for men is to use really simple, high quality supplies and basic structures.

First up is your basic zipper pouch, kicked up a notch. We used a 12 inch black metal zipper, waxed canvas (wax after the pouch is sewn) and a riveted leather strap. This would be a great gift for a guy that likes to draw, perfect to carry his toiletries or event to organize cords and chargers in a laptop bag. Best thing - this project would take less than an hour from start to finish! If you haven't tackled a zipper pouch yet, our zipper pouch kit will walk you through every step!

Everybody needs a stocking, right? Know a guy still using the stocking his Grandma crocheted him when he was 4? (Which is really awesome, but might not go with the rest of the Christmas look!) Our stocking was made witha great plaid Mammoth Flannel and organic cotton fleece for the trim. Find the free pattern here.

Have you made a bucket tote yet? This awesome NDSU version was made in our class by Lindsey. It was a gift for her hard-core Bison fan husband. The NDSU panels are really great to work with on this type of project. We applied Heat-n-Bond to the panel and attached it to the bucket tote fabric before constructing the tote. The tote is a free pattern you can pick up in the store.

Ties used to be a cliche for guy gifts, but a handmade tie out of amazing fabric can never be cliche. What a great way to show how unique your guy is! There is a great free pattern here that we love to use.

Our Waxed Canvas Tool Apron/Tool Roll is also a great guy gift, customizable to his needs. Stop in the shop for a free pattern. We used riveted leather tie straps, but fabric or wide twill tape would work great too.

Did you know we sell leather? We are still adding to our inventory but we do have one beautiful sturdy hide right now that we are crazy about! It works best to attach this hide with rivets. We have rivets available in the shop for a quarter a piece. And you can use our awesome press for free when you get your supplies here! This leather key chain took literally five minutes! I want to put them on every gift! Our leather is $12 a square foot but we have some easy to use precut pieces all ready for you. The free tutorial for the leather key chain can be found here.

We hope this inspires you to think of handmade gifts for guys too! Merry Christmas!