Do it yourself gifts

Sarah Barton carries a copy of the digital scrapbook she made for her grandmother everywhere she goes and she shows it off with pride. Alfreda Hare has made knitted, tatted, and crocheted items for all of her seven children. Jena Blair has prepared plates of fudge for her friends and family several times throughout the years.

While they each produce different items using their own unique set of skills, all of these women say they give homemade gifts because it's their way of showing they care.

Along with the digital scrapbook she made for her grandmother, Barton has made several other digital scrapbooks for her friends and family.

"They love it because it's personalized and it's homemade," she said. "It makes them feel special, like I made something just with them in mind."

The heritage book Barton made for her grandmother was her first project.

"It's a 100 page book I made using pre-made layouts," she said. "With Smilebox, it only took two weeks and I realized I don't have to scrapbook for real"

Barton explained that the Smilebox Web site, www.smilebox.com, offers pre-made scrapbooking pages which allows the user to easily drop their own pictures onto the pages.

Digital scrapbooking, Barton said, is the same as regular scrapbooking, except it's done on a computer.

"It's all flattened out like a page, unlike a regular scrapbook that's raised."

Barton, of Parkersburg, works full-time, and has a 1-year-old son and 5-year-old twins. She said she simply doesn't have time to do the cutting and gluing that are required for a real scrapbook.

"It is a really great and really simple way to record your memories," she said. "For people who think they don't have time to scrapbook, this is a great alternative."

Barton noted that a digital scrapbook can either be e-mailed or printed from a computer, and unlike a regular scrapbook, it can be easily duplicated.

"For Christmas (gifts) this year, I'm going to make additional copies (of the heritage book)," she said.

Alfreda Hare, of Belpre, also chose to make a few Christmas gifts this year. She recently sent Christmas cards to her friends and loved ones, and inside each card was a cross she tatted, which she said makes a perfect bookmark. Hare said tatting is a lost art that is rarely practiced anymore.

"It's using a little metal shuttle with a bobbin in it," she said. "It's like making lace by tying knots in a certain order."

Hare said she's been crocheting, knitting, and tatting since she could walk. She grew up in western New York, and during the brutally cold winters, there wasn't much else to do.

"Up there, the winters are longer and colder and people tend to do more hand work," she said. "I grew up with it; my mother, my grandmother-I learned from them."

She said she has tatted lace snowflakes, doily's, decorations, and ornaments, many of which she has given to her seven children throughout the years.

"They all wanted Christmas ornaments for their trees," she said. "The girls know how hard it is. It takes a lot of time and a lot of effort."

Hare noted that the purpose of knitting and crocheting is often different than that of tatting.

"Crocheting and knitting are more functional, like mittens, hats and scarves," she said. "Tatting is decorational."

Although tatting is a time-consuming task, Hare said it's a rewarding one.

"People do appreciate homemade gifts more than they appreciate boughten gifts," she said. "You know somebody went to a lot of trouble just to make you something."

Marietta resident Jena Blair, who has given several different homemade Christmas gifts over the years, also acknowledged that people like receiving them.

"I think it's nice to give something of yourself," she said "Anybody can go out and buy a gift card, but if you can give of your time, it's just a nice way to show people you care."

Blair used to make her mother's fudge recipe, until she discovered a much faster and easier way to make it.

"I always made my mother's homemade recipe, which is out of this world, but you have to use a thermometer and cook it on the stove," she said.

Blair said the fudge she now makes consists of a 12 ounce container of frosting and a jar of peanut butter.

"I do a little card with the recipe typed up on it and attach it to a pretty plate with the candy on it," she said. "You could do something on the computer with holly."

She said another easy gift to make is one that is very popular and has been given to her in the past.

"You get all of the dry ingredients to make something, like a bean soup or cookies, and put them in a jar," she said.

Blair said someone once gave her a jar of dry bean soup ingredients, to which she only had to add the fresh ingredients. Another advantage to this gift, she said, is that the recipient gets to keep the recipe that is attached to the jar.

"That makes them a nice thing to do," she said.

Pam Longwell, a craft coordinator at Crafts 2000 in Parkersburg, said she has been busy preparing samples of easy Christmas gift ideas that almost anyone can make.

"For one thing, it's a personalized gift, and in these economic times, it's a lot less expensive," she said. "A lot of the things I do here in the store just about anybody can do."