Last minute Christmas hacks

Kex gift tags
Sarah has a super easy and quick hack that is great for this gift-giving season.

She says, "After eating the Kex letter biscuits I decided to use the box for another purpose. The Kex package is great; a bright design and with a background of red cloth. After breaking the box down, simply trace a tag pattern on the package and cut them out. The last step is punching a hole at the top for the string to go through. The inside of the box is a neutral tan so it's ready to write on. Super easy!"



Sleeve Blanket from the Polarvide
Want to give some thing warm and fuzzy this Christmas? Tien's Sleeve Blanket may just make the cut.

Tien says, "Here's my $8 holiday gift that I'm giving a bunch of people this year. It's based off of the Slanket. It's really easy that even I, who cannot sew worth a crap, can make it. It's simple straight cuts and sews with little measuring (more eyeballing, really).

It just requires two $4 Polarvide blankets from Ikea and a sewing machine. You can use a larger $15 blanket like this one, but for double the price and little difference. Plus, the Polarvide has a nice decorative trim on the ends that makes it even more interesting and festive.

If they're good with sewing, there are many ways to personalize it - monograms, patches, case for the blanket, etc. You can also use ribbon trim to hide the middle line or even highlight it with a different color of fleece. If you're really wanting to put forth an effort, you can also sew pockets on the outside middle for stuff like tissues or remote controls. (I suggest pockets like a pullover hoodie so they can stick their hands in it.) Instead of buying extra material, simply cut off a small section from one end since the blankets are rather long, so no one is going to miss 8 inches off the bottom. I was just too lazy to make pockets.

I've made about 10 of them and so far, everyone's loved it. Oh, one last thing - you can actually get two gifts out of it, the blanket and a cool scarf. Just take the decorative edges that are leftover and sew them together (either back to back or connected).

Click here to download the pattern that I made."