‘Tis the season for toy shopping, but shopping for toys isn’t your only option. Have you given any thought to the possibility of making the dolls or toys you’ll give to the children on your gift list? It’s totally do-able considering there are many, many patterns available for sewing, knitting and crocheting adorable toys.

You aren’t limited to these craft techniques, by any means. Lately my niece has been begging me for tiny, cute needle felted toy animals (which I don’t know how to make — so I have no recommendations for needle felting patterns. Yet.) Right now, knitting and crocheting are my top craft techniques, so this post will focus primarily on pattern recommendations for crocheted and knitted toys.

Knitted Dolls and Teddy Bears

If you want to knit a teddy bear for a special child on your gift list, consider using this cute teddy bear knitting pattern from Arne & Carlos Favorite Designs, published by Trafalgar Square Books.

If you want to knit truly wonderful holiday gifts for anyone in your inner circle, my top pattern book recommendation of the moment would be Arne & Carlos Favorite Designs. This book isn’t specifically intended to be a toy pattern book, but it does have some fantastic options for fun toys you can make — including a vibrant and colorful teddy bear, bunches of different dolls and doll clothes, plus assorted other toys. The book also includes patterns for slippers, socks, and all kinds of other gift-worthy items.

Learn More About This Book:

• Click or tap here to shop for this book at Amazon.

Amigurumi: Cute Crocheted Stuffed Animal Toys

Amigurumi Adorable Collection Crochet Pattern Book

Reasons I love this book:

• These patterns are super fun, super cool and super cute. Well, OK, not all of these designs are cute, but most of them are.
• There are designs suitable for both boys and girls, so the boys are not left out of the fun.
• The book format is totally logical and user-friendly, with gorgeous full-color photography and readable fonts.

Learn More About This Book:

• Click here to shop for this book at Amazon.

See Also:

• Best Crochet Toy Pattern Books: Amigurumi, Baby Toys and More
• Best Christmas Craft Books for the 2023 Holiday Season

Happy crafting, and happy holidays to you and yours. I hope your family will have a delightful holiday season this year.

By Amy Solovay

If there’s ever a time that you want to set a pretty table, it’s Christmas dinner. The table sets the mood for the entire meal; you want it to look amazing for your loved ones, not to mention for the family photos (especially if you’ll be posting them online.)

There are many possible ways to pretty up your table, and many different elements that could enhance you table settings and make them spectacular.

A Christmas Place Setting That Includes a Beaded Crochet Napkin Ring, Plus Crocheted Table Linens

Of course, if you have a set of fine china or holiday dishes, it’s the ideal time to get them out and put them to use. Christmas is also the ideal occasion for using a pretty tablecloth or table runner. If you own a beautiful vase, it would be lovely to fill it with flowers and create a unique centerpiece.

And once you’ve done all that, you’d feel pretty silly putting paper towels on the table to use as napkins, wouldn’t you? Of course you would.

This realization could lead you down a whole new rabbit hole: How do you fold the napkins and keep them in place?

The answer, of course, is that you’ll want to use napkin rings to do that.

For you DIY types who like to make creative pretties to dress up your home decor, I invite you to consider the following free patterns for crafting your own napkin rings:

• Free Pattern for Beaded Christmas Napkin Rings
• How to Make Napkin Rings With Wide Ribbon
• Free Pattern for DIY Bead Crochet Napkin Rings
• Free Pattern for Wire Crochet Napkin Rings (not pictured)

If you like the idea of making napkin rings, but the ones pictured above aren’t quite what you have in mind for your table, you’re invited to check out this list of 7 ways to make napkin rings. The list includes bunches more ideas, some of which involve craft techniques other than knitting or crocheting.

More Ideas for Christmas Table Settings

• Get the free pattern for the crochet placemat pictured above
• Get free edging patterns for finishing off cloth napkins (or other projects)

I wish you a joyous holiday season this year, filled with peace, love, light, creativity and blessings.

Christmas Crochet Potholder With Candy Cane Stripes: Free Crochet Pattern

Ready to get your Christmas baking and Christmas crafting on? You have plenty of time to crochet some Christmas-y potholders! They make excellent gifts, but they’re also nice to keep on hand — especially if you do a lot of baking during the holiday season.

These fun potholders are decorated with eye-catching red and white stripes, which remind me of a candy cane. If you change the colors, the design becomes suitable for year-around use.

You can get the freepotholder pattern here, and you can also check out a couple of additional colorways including a blue and green variegated colorway and a red, white and blue design. The red white and blue version has additional surface crocheted details; surface crochet slip stitch is a technique you can use for easily adding a third color to the design without having to completely redesign the crochet color chart.

No matter which version of the potholders you decide to try, you’ll need to have an understanding of the single crochet stitch, plus the tapestry crochet technique to do the color changes. People generally think of tapestry crochet as being an intermediate, or maybe even advanced level technique; I personally don’t think it’s that difficult. It does require a bit of patience to master, but once you’ve practiced a bit it’s a piece o’ cake.

Please note: if this is your first experience with tapestry crochet, I do recommend picking an easier pattern than this one to start with. For example, try this checkerboard chart, which is a better starter pattern with this technique. There’s also a Christmas version of the checkerboard, which you could use for making a Christmas blanket or Christmas pillow if you like.

• This list of candy cane crafts features project instructions with a candy cane theme




• Check out more Christmas patterns HERE.




• Visit our main directory of free crochet potholder patterns

Easy Crochet Snowflake: Free Pattern

You can use this easy crochet snowflake design to dress up your winter craft projects. Attach it to anything that could use a touch of “pretty.” The free crochet pattern is available right here on our website.

• Get the free crochet pattern for this easy snowflake (pictured.)
• See more crochet snowflake patterns or more crochet applique patterns.
• Check out our main directory of free crochet patterns HERE.