If you are one of those people who likes to DIY your way through the holidays, good for you. If you are merely an aspirant, there's some really good help coming your way courtesy of Schoolhouse Electric's "A Handmade Holiday" series of instructionals, which kicks off on Monday.

They rounded up some quality folks like the WildCraft Studio School and Egg Press to host classes on things like making your own candles or flower wreaths. There's even an Egg Press-hosted card-writing seminar that includes "cards, postage, coffee, and inspiration." But first, it begins with the part I'm most excited for: The WildCraft-hosted classes. I profiled the school last spring, which is tucked away on the Washington side of the Gorge, about an hour and a half outside of town. It's an amazing pastoral retreat where you can spend whole days taking courses on things like mushroom hunting or making your own sandals and plant dyes. It's pretty much shuttered during the winter months, though, so it's great to have it come to you. Running the evenings of Monday Dec 1-Thursday Dec 4, each night has a different project/theme: (in order) Natural Knitting with Plant Dyed Skeins, Block-Printed Napkins, Indigo/Shibori Table Runner, and Handmade Candles, all of which have potential for gifting and entertaining and frankly just seem like sensible things to know how to do. Am I right?

The classes are also priced between $55 and $85, which is significantly less than the cost of the daylong incentives which are usually $100+, so it's also a nice opportunity to dip your toes in the crafting world as a n00b. Check out more on the full series right over here.