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For many of us, the winter holidays are a time for gift-giving — especially in the US. Even people who aren’t Christian may celebrate Christmas as a secular holiday, focused around getting together with close friends and family, eating delicious food, and exchanging gifts. For some Pagans, Yule is an opportunity to exchange gifts as a small-scale representation of the communal spirit necessary to make it through the dark, cold winter months.
If you’re like me, you’re probably into reskilling. This past year, I’ve taken up small sewing projects, Nuno felting, making herbal tinctures and smoking blends, and growing fruit. My Handsome Assistant makes his own mead and melomel. These things have given us tangible things and skills to share within our community, and they’re fun.
For real. There’s an enormous sense of accomplishment that comes with being able to go outside, pick breakfast from vines you’ve grown, then turn the leaves into useful medicine.
This year, Etsy put out their Holiday Hub with a great selection of gifts for everyone, at all price points. I thought I’d make my own list of suggestions focused around cute kits and fun gifts for reskilling.
1. Wooden Spoon Carving Kit – $68
This year, my Handsome Assistant has gotten into whittling (with a gorgeous handmade knife he purchased during Pagan Pride Day). Right now, he mostly strips the bark from branches so I can use them for making other things. When he wants to move on to making his own projects, I plan on getting him this kit from ButternutSpoonCarver — it comes with everything you need to carve a wooden spoon, which is a great project for beginners.
Not into spoons? They also offer kits for a pot stirrer and spurtle!
2. Damascus Knife Making Kit – $100
This knife kit from RazorbackBladeworks contains everything you need to make an 8″ Damascus steel knife, including rosewood scales, brass pins, and a leather sheath. It’s a really nice kit for the person in your life who a) has everything, or b) is very into knives. (It’s me, I’m b.)
This makes a full-tang knife, so it’ll be as durable as it is beautiful and useful.
3. These Nuno Felting Kits – $40-120
Nuno felting is a ton of fun. Using this kit, I started with a length of silk and some wisps of wool, and, after rolling a soapy pool noodle around my kitchen for a bit, have a gorgeous scarf in my favorite colors. It’s a project I definitely want to tackle again — I’d love to use this technique for arm warmers, vests, shawls, you name it. Next, I’d like to give this Nuno felt vest kit a try.
If you’re not familiar with Nuno felting, it’s a technique that involves felting wool roving onto a fabric backing. It’s easy, beautiful, and very satisfying. If knitting or crocheting aren’t quite your bag, but you’d still like to get into fiber arts, give it a try! These kits from EsthersPlaceonEtsy and SurigirlFibers make it easy.
4. Solar Printing Kit – $17
Solar printing uses light from the sun to trigger a reaction, creating a vivid blue and white silhouette of whatever objects you’d like to use. It’s commonly used for creating interesting botanical art by laying leaves and flowers down on the paper before exposing it to sunlight.
This usually involves working with potentially dangerous chemicals, but this kit by ElementalLeaf makes it easy and less messy. It comes with pre-treated paper that you expose to sunlight and process in plain water, but gives you the same stunning results as traditional cyanotype methods.
5. Flower Bundle Dye Kit – $35
Have you seen flower dyeing? This is a process that uses the natural pigments in flowers to create a unique, beautiful, almost tie-dye-like pattern on fabric. The flowers are simply placed on the fabric, then wrapped up and steamed.
While fresh flowers for dyeing are in short supply in temperate areas during winter, this kit comes with everything that you need to create a one-of-a-kind scarf from these completely natural materials. The scarf itself has also been pre-treated with a mordant, so the colors in your finished project will last.
6. Moss Wall Art Kit – $35
Biophilic design isn’t just a fad. As it turns out, living in spaces with natural materials and live plants is better for our physical and mental health. This kit allows you to bring more nature into your home, without the struggle of keeping live moss.
It comes with a frame and a variety of preserved moss, so your finished project will last and stay looking good. It’s a great project to introduce the concepts behind creating living moss art and terraria, and also allows you to liven up spaces that may not be conducive to keeping living plants. Since this project is pretty simple, it’s also good for teens and supervised children.
6. Candle Making Kit – $50
Candle making is a pretty classic winter activity. With relatively little labor, you can create your own candles to bring light, warmth, and cheer into your home. It doesn’t take a lot of specialized knowledge or supplies, either, so it’s a great activity to do as a family.
This kit uses non-toxic soy wax and natural fragrances and contains enough for two candles. Everything is pre-measured and ready to go.
7. Linocut Printmaking Kit – $57
I have really fond memories of making linocut prints in art class as a kid. This kit contains everything you need to do the same — soft linoleum blocks, knives, ink, and even blank greeting cards. Purchase it early, and you can make your own holiday cards!
Once your linocut blocks are made, you can use them over and over again on paper, fabric, you name it. Use a variety of colored inks, or even multiple blocks layered on the same piece to create stunning artwork. This kit is a great introduction to printmaking.
8. Crochet Beanie Kit – $27
When I was little, my grandma taught me a very basic crochet stitch. I’ve been wanting to pick up more, and this kit is going to be my gateway into actually crocheting things.
It comes with everything you need to make a cute beanie — yarn, a hook, instructions, and even access to a YouTube tutorial. It’s a very easy project, suitable for ages 10 and up, but the results are pretty impressive. Best of all, once you have this simple technique down, you can make all the beanies you want to wear, give away, or even donate.
9. Watercolor Beetles Kit – $35
Watercolor is one of those skills that anyone can pick up but takes some bravery to get into. It doesn’t erase like pencil, so it teaches us to embrace whatever “mistakes” we make and weave them into the final vision. Like Bob Ross said, “we don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”
This kit contains everything needed to make beautiful beetle art. It has sheets of watercolor paints in brilliant colors, a reusable water pen, inspiration images, and pre-printed beetles to paint.
Winter is a great time to hang out and focus on building new skills. If you’re looking for a new hobby to take up or just need a gift for someone who’s difficult to buy for, these DIY kits may be just the answer you need. You or your giftee can learn things, sharpen your skills, and maybe discover a brand-new passion.
Marble Crow 