Homemade Christmas gifts help you to take some of the busy bustle out of your holiday.
A homemade gift can be the best kind of gift. There are those that scoff, remembering the misshapen clay ash tray given to the non-smoker or the odd lumps of twine and duct tape whose purpose remains a mystery. The fact still remains that a lot of love goes into the creation of a homemade gift, and with a little planning these gifts don't have to find their whole value in the just thought.
Forge onward and discover the simple homemade gifts you don't have to be Martha Stewart to create. We even make it simple by providing a unique and easy homemade gift idea for every person on your list! You can consider that our holiday gift to you.
Key Points
- Try to think about what works best for you based on the time you have available, your budget, and your crafting skills.
- If you can't think of anything to make yourself, consider a gift basket! While not fully homemade, it offers a nice, personalized touch.
- Remember that your gift doesn't have to be extravagant to be special and meaningful.
Homemade Christmas Gift for Baby
Babies are easy to gift for, since they aren't really old enough to have their own Christmas list! A couple ideas we have are a homemade bow or a homemade fleece blanket. There are blanket kits that you can buy online to help you get started with the latter. These kits usually involve twisting or tying separate pieces of fleece together to make a blanket. They might be multicolored or a single color, so you'll have your pick depending on the preference.
Just be sure to give yourself enough time for the blanket- it can be very time consuming!
Homemade Christmas Gifts for Three to Five Year Olds
Kids love stickers! Take a stroll through your local craft or office supply store and you should find several programs or papers created for the sole purpose of teaching you how to make your own stickers! This is great fun. You can use photos of your child, favorite cartoon or movie characters, or scan some of your child's art work into the computer and use it! This gift is easy in all the most important areas: cost, creation and enjoyment.
Other homemade Christmas gifts ideas for children include sock puppets and puzzles. Sock puppets are a timeless classic that are easy to make and safe for young children. Your child may even create an imaginary friend based on the puppet!
You can find puzzle creation tools online or in a craft store. This is a fairly involved craft, but your young child will surely appreciate it! This gift will not only help them with their cognitive development- it will also be of great sentimental value to them!
Homemade Christmas Gifts for Tweens
Moving on to tweens we meet our first difficulty in the homemade gift department. Tweens and teen are notoriously difficult to please. But it can be done.
One simple way is the creation of a coupon book just for them. Include coupons for items like a get out of chores for one day card, or chauffeur service on a weekend of their choice, or an all the goodies included movie night party at home. This is sure to please. Just sit for a minute or two and think about what they might like and then make the coupon to go with it.
Another idea is to make a gift basket for them. You can throw in a bunch of items centered around a certain theme, like movie night, self-care, fitness, or snacks. While not every aspect of this gift is homemade, the arrangement of them are! You can also make them jewelry from clay beads, or make your own bath bombs. Think about the sort of things your tween will find useful or fun, and see if there's any way you can make it yourself. If not, see if there's a way to personalize it!
Homemade Christmas Gifts for Teens
Teenagers love to sleep, why not capitalize on this tendency and make them a quilt or afghan for Christmas? It is not as difficult as it may seem. A simple chain stitch for crocheting can be learned by even the most challenged among us.
A simple tied quilt, though, might be even easier. Simply choose two sheets of the same size, they don't have to match. Just choose colors, patterns and textures your teen will like. Batting can be found at any craft or fabric store.
Attach all three layers together with yarn by tying the quilt in a random pattern that matches the design on the fabric or placing the ties in a geometric, evenly-spaced pattern. To finch the edges use thick ribbon and either sew or hand stitch it all the way around the outside.
You can also make your own homemade mud masks, or take the gift basket idea from the tween section and customize it for a teenager! Sometimes, the same gifts that tweens appreciate translate well to teens. If your teen has their own car, consider crafting a homemade seat cover for them! If you go this route, consider a neutral design or plain colors. Alternatively, you can let your teen pick the design out.
Homemade Christmas Gifts for Mom
What better gift is there for Mom than a weekend or evening off? This gift is easy! All that needs to be done is set a date, call a few of Mom's friends to go with her, and make the necessary care arrangements at home. She will love it!
Another idea is to make some meals ahead of time and freeze them. She'll appreciate not having to cook for a few nights! If you don't want to do all that work, then just make her dinner for one night! You can go as extravagant with this as you want. You can also make some cookies for her and put them in a jar that you decorated! If you want to go the extra step, craft the jar yourself. You can also make her other pottery, such as a mug or plant pot.
Homemade Christmas Gifts for Dad
Make dad his very own custom tie or T-shirt with his kids' faces on them. Use an iron on transfer paper to create custom clothing. This is loads of fun.
Gather the kids and the digital camera. Take photos, or choose from snapshots you have taken throughout the year and simply print them on the transfer paper. Once the paper is printed use your iron to attach the image to the clothing article of your choice.
Taking the gift basket idea from the tween and teen section, you can make a gift basket for Dad too! Consider making a camping, fitness, car, or tool-themed basket. You can also decorate an apron for him! He'll surely appreciate having an apron with the custom touches of his family on them. Dads are also suckers for cookies and milk.
Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas for Anyone
Need ideas for someone else? Homemade magnets can be a simple, but meaningful, gift. You can customize these as much as you want, meaning that you can make different ones for each person on your list. These can also make great stocking stuffers!
There's ornaments you can make out of beads and pipe cleaners, or potholders you can make from scrap fabrics. Consider sewing a quilt or blanket, or make a tie-together fleece one! Design a custom t-shirt or hoodie themed after something that person loves. Pottery, a drawing, or a painting can also be a nice gift, especially if it's of something that's meaningful to them like a pet.
When trying to choose what homemade gift to make someone, there are truly many possibilities! Take the time to carefully think about your options based on the time you have available, your crafting skill, and your budget. And remember- a gift doesn't have to be extravagant to be meaningful!
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Juraj Kovac/Shutterstock.com.