This set of Holiday Pillowcases will include a homemade pillowcase for each of these occasions:  New Years Day, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Back to School, sick day, 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas (and birthday if you're lucky enough to find an appropriate fabric, but it's hard to come by).  Here's the hitch, you have to have the material for an entire set before you can give this gift.  You're looking for small-print cotton fabric.  For a standard pillow you need 1 yard per pillowcase.  To save money, gather the fabric after the holiday once it goes on sale.  Buy it off the clearance table.  (I've found the best deals at Walmart and JoAnn Fabric)  I shoot for $1/yard but have paid up to $4.

The first step is to cut the material so that the edges are completely straight.  Generally, the fabric is wide enough off the bolt, so you only have to cut 3 sides.  A self-healing mat, ruler and a rolling blade work great for this step.  Next, fold the "top" (one of the short sides) down 3 inches and sew it in place to make a hem.  Then fold the material in half lengthwise (the same way it came off the bolt), except this time put the "right" sides together so that it appears inside-out.  Pin the material in place so that it won't move, then sew around the 2 open sides (not the top).  You'll sew in the shape of an L and when it's done, turn it inside-out and wallaa...pillowcase!  Simple.  Even my kids can do it.

For New Years Day you can find material that looks like fireworks.  For Valentine's Day look for hearts.  For St. Patty's Day you can get shamrocks.  For Easter there are fabrics with all kinds of bunnies and eggs.  Back to school material has buses, blackboards and students on it.  It's not hard to find.  Sick day is made from the same material used to make pediatric nurse's scrubs.  It has kids and band-aids and crutches on it.  You get the idea.  The only one that's really difficult to find is birthday.  It's hard because anything with a birthday theme usually has a character on it, like Dora or a Sesame Street muppet.  Those guys may be fun for a while, but the child will outgrow them.  The point is to be able to use these pillowcases for several years.  Here's how to put the gift together:

Fold all of the pillowcases into squares, stack them neatly, and tie them with a bow.  Tell the child (or write a note explaining if you're mailing them) that they can only sleep on the special pillowcase the week of the special occasion or holiday (or whenever they are sick).  Send a list of all of the special occasion pillowcases and see if the child can guess which one is which.  They can also be a fun teaching tool...have the child list the months in a year, then have them see if they can match the pillowcase to the correct month.  Great incentive to learn the months of the year and the holidays.  Or instead of gifts use them as bribes (which I am not above)...make a set for your child and have them do something each month to earn the privilege of sleeping on them.  I've made several sets and the kids always love them.