Two Twenty One

Sweater Presents {DIY}

Yesterday I showed you guys my card catalog Christmas vignette. And today I’m back to show you how I made the sweater presents. Get. Excited.

It’s kind of crazy the things you can do with old sweaters. I’ve seen people cover different objects with sweaters: vases, wreaths, pillows, candle holders, furniture, lampshades, cuffs, trees. The possibilities are endless. When I was putting together my card catalog Christmas vignette I realized that I needed something tall to put on top of the card catalog in the back for some height. Light bulb. Cover the canvases that have been sitting in my home office for months with sweaters and make them look like presents. I have a genius thought every now and then.

Here’s what you’ll need:
• sweater
• canvas or a rectangular object (piece of wood, picture frame, etc.)
• hot glue
• ribbon

I picked up the cable knit sweaters at Goodwill on half off Saturday so they were $2.25 each. To save money I would have used pieces of wood, but I already had two canvases collecting dust so I just went with them. This could easily be a $5 or less project.

I started by cutting off the arms of the sweater, and then separating the front from the back. I laid the back of the sweater on the canvas and centered it so there was about an inch of overhang on all four sides.

Then, I flipped the canvas over and started hot gluing the sweater to the canvas frame.

Now, on to the ribbon. I cut two pieces of ribbon, centered them, flipped over the canvas, and hot glued the ribbons into place.

I made a bow with the ribbon and hot glued it where the ribbons intersect. It’s as simple as that.

This whole project took about 15-20 minutes. In case you’re wondering, my canvas sizes are 16×20 and 11×14.

Don’t throw away your sweater scraps! I saved the front of the sweater so I can cover something else with it. I saved the arms, cut them down to about 8 inches, and attempted to turn them into faux riding boot socks but I ended up looking like Santa Claus from the knees down. Perhaps you’ll have better luck than me.

I’m sort of in love with my sweater creations but I’m biased. Now I find myself thinking of other things I can cover with sweaters. Nothing is safe.

Christmas decor

 What do you think of the sweater presents?
Have you covered anything with a sweater, other than your body?
Don’t you love cable knit? It’s my favorite.

Want more Christmas goodness in your life? Check out my other holiday projects here.

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Comments

  1. Rachel says

    December 8, 2012 at 9:23 AM

    These are great! I love their simple, cozy look. They add so much to you display. And I don’t see the problem with Santa calves. Ho ho ho. Work it.

    Reply

  2. Anne @ Planting Sequoias says

    December 8, 2012 at 9:39 AM

    I love these! Have you seen Target’s sweater Christmas trees? They’re just cones that are covered with cable knit sweater material! Everytime I’m there I think “I could make those!” and then never do… Perhaps someday.

    Reply

  12. Jessica says

    December 8, 2012 at 10:01 PM

    Love it! I wish I had read this post this morning. I was at Goodwill today and I would have looked for sweaters! On a side note, our Goodwill is way over priced. I can’t find a sweater there that cheap. Thanks for the inspiration.

    Reply

    • chelsea says

      December 10, 2012 at 11:09 PM

      Girl, don’t even get me started about GW prices. Lately I’ve only shopped at the regular GW stores on half off Saturday. GW Outlet is my place. Do you have a GW Outlet in your neck of the woods?

      Reply

      • Jessica @ A Humble Creation says

        December 10, 2012 at 11:29 PM

        Not that I know of, but I may need to go scouting for one! The other trouble at the one near my house is the shelves are super high for dishware and home goods and I’m only 5’2. Do you think taking a step stool GW shopping with me is going too far?!

        Reply

        • chelsea says

          December 10, 2012 at 11:48 PM

          Oh no, taking a step stool is totally not going too far. You should go shopping with another tall person or me. I’m 5’10” so I’m always the girl who’s getting things off tall shelves for petite people like yourself. 🙂

          Reply

  19. Anne @wit wisdom and food says

    December 10, 2012 at 12:46 PM

    These are great I love cable knit and have been envious of pillows and other things made with it. Now I know how easy and inexpensive it cold be. Thanks

    Reply

  21. Ashley says

    December 10, 2012 at 1:24 PM

    I love this project! I’ve seen so many great sweater Christmas decorations lately…gotta get to Goodwill so I can join in on the fun!

    Thanks for hosting this Dare to DIY party…I have a tendency of starting lots of projects but not finishing them, so this helped give me the kick in the rear I needed!

    Reply

    • chelsea says

      December 10, 2012 at 11:13 PM

      Thanks, Ashley! And thanks for linking up! You had such great projects! Glad we could give you the kick in the rear you needed.

      Reply

  23. Kristi says

    December 12, 2012 at 8:30 PM

    Love, love, love how these turned out. And good score on the sweaters. I am always keeping my eye out for wool and shaker sweaters at the thrift stores to do craft projects with. I was thinking you could also wrap a picture you already have laying around and unwrap it after Christmas or even in the spring. Thanks again for hosting!

    Reply

  27. Jera says

    November 27, 2013 at 9:40 PM

    Hey I want to know what you keep in your card catalog? I have a couple small one but I haven’t come up with a brilliant idea of what to keep in them yet! Lol

    Awesome decorations!

    Reply

  28. HomeGoods says

    December 12, 2013 at 9:16 PM

    Hi Chelsea, those are super cute! Have seen sweater pillows but wouldn’t have thought of art. Thanks for linking up with us. Always love seeing what you’re up to. Your friends at HomeGoods

    Reply

  29. Brittaney says

    August 28, 2014 at 10:55 AM

    Oh my gosh, this is AMAZING!!!! I absolutely want to do this for the holidays this year. I never find that great of luck at our thrift stores though. haha! I am so smitten by all of your projects. You are way too creative.

    Reply

  31. Ann Merete says

    December 4, 2014 at 10:02 AM

    Such a sweet idea! Do you mind if I borrow some of the pictures and translate this to Norwegian for our creative site kreativeideer.no? I will credit you with your name and blog name and URL! 🙂

    Reply

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