10 DIY Christmas Gifts to Make with Love!
I have put a challenge out to my family this year.
We have to make, with our very own hands, one gift for each other for Christmas!
This challenge was met with shock, then laughter and disbelief. When the hoo-ha had died down and they realized I was serious, their brains started ticking over and then ……… they started getting excited!
Trying to avoid the commercialism of Christmas time without being a Grinch is a pretty fine line. But this year, getting back to basics and making something with love for each other might just be the answer.
Now, DIY gifts may seem a bit daggy. But if you have been browsing Pinterest lately, you will soon see that DIY can be very funky, stylish and not all that hard, even for a creatively-challenged person like me!
We have all sorts of ideas lined up and I wanted to share a few with you that I have found with thanks to the wonderful world wide web.
Of course, I am going with natural and new age theme!
Lemon Sugar Hand Scrub
Simply mix 2 1/2 cups of sugar with 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil. Add 4 tablespoons of lemon juice and a few drops of essential oils. Any of the citrus oils would go beautifully with this. For the full tutorial, go here. Put it into a pretty jar with some ribbon, a cute spoon and a home-made tag. Wonderful!
Christmas Tea
Oh how I love my tea and I also love these cute jars from Ikea, which I have a zillion of! I am looking forward to making some of this blend up for family and friends. Choose organic black tea and organic spices for extra goodness. Find some pretty Christmas ribbon and make some tags or find some free printable tags online.
Quote Crockery
This very cool idea has been going viral on Pinterest and Facebook. I can’t wait to try it. I can imagine all my favourite quotes on a whole dinner set! Draw some of the kid’s favourite characters with coloured Sharpies onto plates or a funny moustache for Dad onto a mug. The ideas are endless. Check out your local op shop for some white crockery and get into it! Go here to see how to do it.
Photo candles
How beautiful is this idea I found on Pinterest? I couldn’t find the original website, but the instructions were on the pin. Use glass vases (try the op shop!) Then print out your black and white photos on vellum (from a scrapbooking store or Spotlight) and glue them (or use double sided tape) to the outside of the vase. Add a soy tealight candle and you have a beautiful and heart-warming gift for family and friends!
Oil Diffuser
I love my aromatherapy oils! First, get yourself some good quality oils (check out the ones at Twenty 8). Then all you need is a pretty jar or bottle (try the op shop), some bamboo skewers and a carrier oil like almond or jojoba. I have also seen it done with twigs from the garden for a really rustic look. Go here to see how it’s done.
Aromatherapy Playdough
I used to make this all the time when my cherubs were little, but with a little imagination, it transforms beautifully into a special gift. Make a whole set of play dough, each with their own natural colour and scent! Use Hoppers natural food colouring and good quality oils so you know your littlies will be safe. You can even name them fun things, make labels and package in some upcycled containers. Go here to see how it’s done.
Upcycled Jewellery Rack
How sweet is this!! Find a piece of driftwood or old bit of wood you have lying around. Go to the opshop or hardware store and find some cute door knobs. Attach. I even think I could manage to do this one! You could make it a coat or tie rack for the men in your life using slightly more masculine knobs (ooh that sounded a bit rude). Get creative! Go here for the details.
Upcycled Tyre Swing.
A seriously cute and budget friendly idea for the kids. Get an old tyre, paint, attach hooks and chain and find a tree. Lots of fun! Go here for the info.
Okay, so that is some of the very funky and clever ideas I have found so far! We still have a few weeks to go until the fat man arrives, so we are busy thinking and plotting and planning. I am really pleased at how fun this is turning out to be!
I would love to hear from you. Do you make handmade gifts for Christmas? Do you have any more ideas or links to share with us?
I love heaps of these ideas and gonna to try some out. I’m part of a handmade gift exchange for the first time this year. Everyone brings a sample item worth about $25 that they will make 5 of to order. The meeting takes place at the local restaurant early in Dec to give everyone time to create their gifts to exchange. Its to support cutting down on buying crud from big shops that reap enormous profits from plastic crap and to be giving quality thoughtful gifts that are unique and filled with love. Think global, shop local. So far we have pottery, felting, essential oils, photography, kids clothes, jewellery and I know theres more but I can’t remember. There is a wealth of talent just living locally and this provides a fabulous opportunity for people to showcase their beloved creations.
wow Suzanne – that sounds like a truly amazing idea !! I prefer to shop local too whenever I can – another blog post about that coming up too 🙂
I *love* the wooden jewellery holder with the antique door knobs. amazing. Thank you for the inspiration. x
It’s pretty cool, isn’t it? Some clever people out there! 🙂
I love your ideas and the lovely thoughts behind the gift giving
thanks Glennis – I think it is wonderful to try and recapture the spirit of Christmas, without the hype !
Thanks for sharing the play dough. We make it all the time and we love it!
It’s awesome isn’t it ? Thanks for your great post. 🙂
I love the mugs! I just recently saw another post where a lady had used sharpies to decorate a birthday plate. I have never heard of this until today! I am so going home and drawing all over my dishes!! Ok…maybe just one or two, but I can’t wait to give this a try!!
Here’s the post I was talking about:
http://lifeandcupcakes.wordpress.com/2012/11/07/birthday-project-1-birthday-boy-plate/
thanks for the link Jessie – there are so many clever variations! 🙂
I love this idea! I started making the majority of my Christmas gifts a few years ago. I love the challenge of thinking of new creative gifts and of course, always have a lot of fun making the gifts. Have fun!
That’s fabulous Alia – what sort of things do you make?
Well – so far, I’ve made all kinds of fun stuff…candles, body sprays, soap, lotion, under eye serum, foaming liquid soap, lip balms and glosses…
I want to try my hand at bath bombs this year…as soon as I get some free time to play!
that does sound like fun! bath bombs are very cool 🙂
I like that to.Fabulos !!!
Great ideas! I see a few I might try.
Let me know what you come up with !! 🙂
LOVE all of these…I’m going to be making a lot of gifts this year too…probably mostly food related!
Great idea – I thought of your granola after I did the post!
lol…keep posted!
Awesome ideas … thanks for sharing … i think I will do a few of them 🙂
Let me know what you come up with Tracey 🙂
Great ideas! The photo candles are especially good I think.
I make my own variations of gift baskets each year for a bunch of freinds, and I might add a photo candle of them into the ‘basket’
This year, my ‘baskets’ are an assortment of nice decorative platters/plates from the school second hand stall, as a base, then piled on top with a variety consisting of :
– a christmas ornament
– something scented (soaps etc)
– some xmas candy or home made xmas chocolates (either xmas shaped, or some home made liquor chocs)
– a bottle of their fav wine and/or beer
– a mini xmas cake,
Pretty much,. whatever you want!
and sprinkled some of those shiny wrappered toffees around and wrap the whole thing in cellophane and a ribbon!
A couple of other things I have done for presents on a budget that look good (and get complements) are:
**Chocolate flower arrangement**
$$ = For the cost of a box of chocolates, and oasis and a plastic plant pot.
Make your own ‘flower’ arrangement, using wooden kebab sticks dyed green with food colouring, then some roses chocolates. or any other wrapped lollies, cellotaped to the end as the ‘flower’, then stick them in a low bowl with the oasis (dried flower base stuff), and grab some foliage from the garden for the greenery – make it something long-lasting like the pine tree small branches, so it doesnt die off in a day or need watering before xmas.
I put a large square of cardboard under the base (big enough to cover where the greenery comes out to), and cellophane wrap the phone thing, and add a pretty ribbon.
***mini iced xmas cakes******
$$ $5 for 4
Grab an own-brand square fruit cake from coles/woollies etc for about $3.50, and some royal icing, and some xmas ribbon and cellophane.
Cut the cake into quarters (they’re about the size of a rubiks cube), then roll out some white royal icing to ‘wrap’ the squares of cake in, I used some jam as the ‘glue’ to stick the icing to the cake.
then cross some ribbon over the cake, leaving the best bit at the top, and tie in a nice bow.
Wrap the whole thing in cellophane for a gorgeous present..
Note – Option 2 is to either do the same with a solid mud-cake if the recipient doesnt like fruit cake, or do something similar with xmas decorated giant cup cakes, individually cellophaned.
****** Home made xmas chocolates or candy **********
Grab a nice box and some coloured tissue paper, and make whatever chocolates or candied fruit or something that you want, and wrap it in a nice little box.
****** Pinched from Natural New Age Mums blog….***********
Fill one of those lovely mugs above with assorted lollies etc, and cellophane wrap them.
I love making home made xmas presents!!!
thanks Alison – you have awesome ideas 🙂
Love these talk about making homemade cool Again!
Sent from my iPhone
yeah homemade is the best thing ever now, thanks to Pinterest!
i dont think i will have time to complete these this year but my promise for next year is op shops and homemade for crissy x
Way to go Hannah! It does take a little planning. I haven’t started my DIY gifts yet – hoping this weekend is the go!
I have nominated your blog for the Blog of the Year Award! Enjoy! I’ve enjoyed following your blog these past couple of months! http://aunaturelessence.wordpress.com/2012/12/11/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/
Oh thanks so much Alia !! You are so sweet!! 🙂
You deserve it! Enjoy!
Hi, There are some great ideas here. Have you made the photo candle holders? I have tried, but they won’t work. At first the ink would run, so then I bought a photo protector spray, that stops the ink from running but then the whole photo bubbled when wet from the mod podge. do you have any suggestions?
Hi Mel – oh that is a bummer – I could not find the website where these came from, so no instructions. Perhaps just tape the photos on with double sided tape instead of glue?
Have you tried printing the photo in reverse and sealing it with mod podge or spray sealant on the other side of the vellum? that might work better.
Every year my family makes homemade Christmas presents. It’s very rewarding to get a present that you know took lots of hard-work, thought, and love.
I agree!
Oooooh I love this post 🙂
I am making homemade gifts for the teachers at school – a little pamper pack (they’re all females) with a sugar scrub, face mask, body butter + lip balm (all the recipes I’ve either found through facebook or in recipe books that were free on amazon)I will most likely do a blog post about it but not sure. For my brother who loves to cook on his bbq I am making home made infused olive oils (a chilli one and a rosemary one) as well as some home made meat rub. I just adored the candles in this post which I will now make for my mother in law who lives up in bundy n doesn’t see the kids all that often.
Love these ideas – have been wracking my brain for interesting/useful/different ideas for teachers’ pressies. My son’s yr 2 teacher is a man, so I reckon the lemon sugar scrub, maybe some of the christmas tea and of course my fabulous nut-free bliss balls will make a nice selection 😉 The tea will also be great for the multitude of teachers to thank at my daughter’s kindy!
Love the list! I’m actually hoping to make our homemade play dough this year but just for the kids to make green play dough christmas trees to add buttons on as ornaments. Thanks for sharing the list!
that is a brilliant idea Nicole!! 🙂