As I’ve mentioned, pre-washed 100% cotton or linen dish towels make a great gift. 22 by 36 inches is a good size.  Use left-over fabric.  Hem all the way around the towel with your sewing machine or by hand as you watch TV.  Use your imagination and smaller scraps of fabric to trim the towels, or paint or stencil.  Of course it depends on how detailed you get with the trim, but cutting and hemming the edges of the towel takes about 15 minutes per towel. This includes folding and pressing the edges with a hot iron before sewing (recommended).

The following bag from deliacreates looks interesting and a good way to recycle old T Shirts.

Homemade sachet pillows make a nice gift.  Fill them with lavender and remember your Grannie.  For a complete tutorial on this one, visit Craftaholics.

Make cases for sunglasses and reading glasses.  Akailochiclife provides easy to follow instructions.

Below are mini felted mittens from House Revivals to hang on your tree:

These little whimsical birds from quilts by elena would be easy to make.

Here is a collection from diyncrafts. (The pieces for the chess set are bottle caps.)