Megan from The Byron Life recently featured the dress-up wings I made for Little Eco from old t-shirts (using this tutorial).

She's motivated me to share some pictures of the wings I've subsequently made for birthday gifts.....

{image by Madeline}

There were three more sets, all for boys. In black & red, browns and blues. But I made these three the night before they all needed to gifted (on the same day!) so I barely finished them let alone had time to take a photo. I haven't been able to motivate myself to make a pair since that epic night.

I've managed to get my creating time down to an hour and a half by making the feathers wider so that I need less, and by not being too concerned with the 'rustic' look.

In contrast, the pair I made for Little Eco took hours and hours because it had so many feathers.

I think an hour and a half to make a birthday gift isn't too bad. It can sometimes take that long to simply go shopping for a gift.

I mostly buy my second-hand t-shirts for  $1 each or $5 a bag, so each set of wings cost less than $3. I also save time and money by not buying wrapping paper or a card. We simply wrap gifts in one of Little Eco's old artworks and write on the paper itself, or make a quick gift tag from an old card.

These wings are definitely my favourite handmade frugal gift for kids. Do you have a favourite handmade or frugal gift?