Gift ideas for crafty Mums

With Christmas approaching, I thought I'd take a look at some gift ideas for Mums that enjoy crafting. Crafting is something that can easily be put to one side when children come along and reduce the amount of free time available, but I've always found taking time to craft really important for relaxation and a sense of accomplishment. So whether you are buying for a crafty person or looking for ideas for yourself, I hope that there's something here that appeals to you!

Mini Hama beads

If you are a creative Mum then it's pretty much a given that you'll enjoy doing creative things with your children, and perhaps being inspired by the crafting products that they use. That's how I discovered Hama beads, and I particularly really love the tiny mini Hama beads.

Related post - A guide to crafting with mini Hama beads

You can buy some lovely little kits like Hama Mini Bead Owls or Mini Hama bead butterflies which are quite quick to make up. This isn't a craft to do around young children though, I've learned from experience how easily the boards can be knocked over and all your hard work destroyed!

Colouring books and pens

One very popular craft that you can easily do around small children is colouring. I have quite a selection of colouring books now, and I was recently sent some lovely new ones from Phoenix Yard Books to try. The One and Only Mandala Colouring Book and The Second One and Only Mandala Colouring Book contain some lovely, detailed mandalas to colour in a range of styles. Mandalas are a traditional source of meditation and wisdom, and colouring them in is great for some relaxing creative time.

If you enjoy colouring alongside your children I also love the idea of The One and Only Enormous Colouring Book for Adults. It's a large format book filled with gorgeous patterns that can be easily removed from the book and worked on by several people at once. We've been having a lot of fun colouring in together and it's lovely to see how differently everyone interprets the patterns.

Personally I like to colour with felt pens, I have these ones - Stabilo Cappi Fibre Tip Felt Coloured Pens - which are lovely to use and come in a good range of colours. For more detailed work though many people prefer to use coloured pencils, and you can get some lovely sets, like these Faber-Castell colouring pencils in a tin.

A cross stitch kit

Another craft which I've found good to get on with around small children is cross stitch. I like it because you can pick it up and put it down easily so it's good if you are constantly being interrupted, not like knitting or crochet where you have to concentrate on counting stitches! You can make some lovely samplers to display your baby's birth information like this Dimensions Birth Record Cross Stitch Kit. There are also some gorgeous cross stitch designs that you can use to decorate your child's room, like this The Stitching Shed Village Sampler Cross Stitch Kit. I chose to make a sampler for myself based on a historical design, and although it took me years and years I'm so proud of it!

Classes to learn a new craft or skill

A session of evening classes would make a lovely crafty gift, especially for things like stained glass or pottery that are difficult to try out at home, and it saves having to invest in expensive equipment. And for me it's not only the monetary value of the classes that I'd appreciate but a set evening each week where I knew that my 'me time' was booked in!

Crafting with friends

You could also consider money or vouchers towards a crafty evening with friends. One of our local garden centres runs crafting evenings where you can enjoy a glass of wine while you craft, and pottery painting together is always fun. Some companies will loan a basket of materials so you can do pottery painting at home and then pay for what you have used, or you could give enough vouchers for a group of friends to go along together.

Pretty craft storage

Make it clear that these craft materials belong to Mum! For storing sewing supplies you could look for a gorgeous traditional wooden cantilever sewing box or a more modern printed fabric sewing box. If you are buying for someone that loves organising they might light a set of little plastic drawers to keep tiny bits and pieces safely out of the way of little fingers.

A craft kit to try out something new

I love craft kits because they contain everything that you need for a craft, so if you give a craft kit as a gift you can be sure that the recipient won't need to go out and purchase any extra materials. How about a kit for something like Decopatch - I received this décopatch Love Kit a couple of years back and it kept me happily occupied for ages. I've also enjoyed kits for soap making and candle making which were quick and easy to use and gave lovely results.

A kit to make something for the children

I've seen some gorgeous kits which have everything you need to knit or crochet a baby blanket like this rainbow crochet baby blanket kit , or else I've already mentioned cross stitch samplers. I remember my Mum shopping at Clothkits when I was younger, and I still have the doll with clothes that she made me.

I hope that this gives you some gift buying inspiration for the crafty Mum (or indeed Dad!) in your life!

I received the adult colouring books to review but all other products have been purchased or selected by me without any incentive.