Gift Ideas for Men by Sylvia Sur

All the hiking men I know have straw hats and they love hat bands with geometric, Celtic, or Indian type loomed bands. Always a hit.

If the men wear waist bags, you can always bead a rosette, a mandala, or something like that and applique sew it to the waist bag.

Key chain fobs are quick and can be used on a back up set of keys if he's not going to be seen in public with a beaded key fob.

Belts are always a hit, especially with jeans-wearing men, but you need to get them finished with leather and a metal buckle. I saw some great belts in Santa Fe once for more than $300. Just beautifully finished with silver buckles and a simple V shaped geometric design in many colors. Allow 1/4 inch extra of plain beads on each side of the belt for the part that gets sewn into the leather edgings.

People have many wristwatches these days and the watch part is relatively cheap. So how about a special occasion watch with beaded straps. You can buy special closures that look professional. All you need is probably 2-3 inches of beaded strip on each side of the watch. Looming, square stitch and peyote are all good stitches for this.

Happy gift making.
Sylvia