Scores of crafting books are available, and many Web sites offer detailed steps for creating everything from iPod cozies to bracelets made out of toothbrushes. If you're inexperienced, you can "find your techniques and the things that you like" online, said Kristen Rask, author of "Plush You: Lovable Misfit Toys to Sew and Stuff." Just keep your search relatively brief — newbies can lose hours combing through the mountain of advice and tutorials.

Knitting a set of traditional pot holders if you're new to knitting probably isn't the wisest move. But knitting a replica of Che Guevara or Madonna (the musician, not the religious figure) could work — your skill with the needles probably won't be the recipient's main focus.

Adding irreverence also makes the process more fun, said Carol Meldrum, author of "Knitted Icons: 25 Celebrity Doll Patterns," which includes patterns for a 1960s-era Cher and Jackie O, along with Madonna and Che. Creating the projects for her book "really took me back to being a kid playing around with fabric & yarn making outfits for my dolls," said the U.K.-based Meldrum, via e-mail.

Kramer agrees that kitsch and crafting are a natural fit. Her site's motto: "No tea cozies without irony."

"Keeping it inexpensive keeps the pressure off, so that you don't end up thinking, 'Oh God, I spent $200. ..' " said Amy Karol, author of "Bend-the-Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew." Instead of buying supplies, search your home for useful materials. Old T-shirts make soft squares for quilting and unmatched socks can be reborn as sock puppets or stuffed toys. "Nothing feels better than actually reusing something to make a brand new thing out of it," Karol said.

Handmade doesn't have to mean a trinket that sits on a shelf. Try buying a dozen mason jars, then layering the nonperishable ingredients for cookies inside each one. Personalize the jars with a label or other decoration, then attach a card with the recipe printed on it.

You can also fill glass jars with homemade body scrub: "It's just sugar and honey and essential oils," said Karol. "You can find recipes online."

These projects are simultaneously decadent and inexpensive. An added bonus: "There's no X-factor, nothing you can get wrong," Karol said. "You're not burning the cookies because you're not baking them. All you're doing is assembling."

"People think it takes longer to make something. But if you think about the lines and the parking" at malls during the holidays, it may be quicker to make gifts yourself, said Karol. "Decide on one thing, go to the craft store and get enough supplies to do that. ... There's a lot of gifts you could just tackle in an evening."

Got friends with babies and access to a sewing machine? Karol suggests making baby bibs. "You can do a dozen bibs in an evening," she said. "Put on some music and just get done with them."

Even experienced crafters worry whether recipients will like their gifts. "I see plush toys constantly and I think, 'This has been done before,' or 'I can't do this as well as somebody else,' " said Rask. "But the fact that you made this thing is going to impress people. ... It doesn't have to be perfect."

When in doubt, do your gift-making early to leave time for Plan B if your project is a disaster. "Give yourself a break and remember — handmade is awesome, but you also want to be happy," said Karol. "If you can't make all the gifts you give this season, buy handmade."