Over the years I’ve enjoyed making a lot of homemade DIY Christmas gifts easy for anyone to make. I realized these gifts would make a great list of ideas for others looking to make their own Christmas gifts for others. Today I’m sharing the gifts I have personally made over the years along with packaging ideas as well.
Many of these gifts are practical but items that are unique, affordable and enjoyable to receive. This list is updated with every single homemade gift I’ve made over the last 13 years or so, including my most recent gift from last Christmas.
DIY Christmas Gifts Easy
Why Make Christmas Gifts?
DIY for Christmas gifts are a wonderful way to show your loved ones you care. Not only are homemade gifts usually sustainable they can also save you money and bring the joy back into Christmas.
Also, if you are someone who already enjoys crafting – DIY Christmas gifts offer a wonderful excuse to spend even more time on your hobby. Many of these gifts keep well too so they don’t have to be used immediately by the recipient. Also, these gifts can double for New Year’s gifts as well!
Related blog posts:
• Jojoba Oil Face Moisturizer Recipe and Tips
• Home Canning Gifts Affordable and Fun
• How to Make Homemade Night Cream
• How to Make Homemade Face Scrub
Easy Christmas Gifts
Easy Homemade Gift Ideas
I have gifted: local wine with a homemade “wine” tag, DIY soup kits (see the photo above), DIY ranch dressing/dip kits, tins of fruit cake, homemade polish bread and a homemade beach glass ornament which was a great type of DIY Christmas ornaments.
A few years ago I made rosemary salt and rosemary infused olive oil with fresh rosemary from my garden. Homemade gifts are personal, budget-friendly and with the right recipient in mind – very much appreciated – in particular DIY Christmas gifts for mom.
In addition to homemade gifts I have also made handmade Christmas cards. Keep in mind when making homemade gifts that while they will likely save you money, they also require advanced planning and preparation. Because I’ve made so many handmade gifts I am going to break them down in this post by category:
- Cardmaking
- Beauty Gifts
- Edible Gifts
- Household Items
- Gift Wrapping Suggestions
Homemade Christmas Cards
Many of the gift ideas in this post can still be made a few weeks before Christmas. However, usually when I make homemade gifts I try to plan before Halloween what I’m making, how many gifts, how long they will take to make, the supplies needed and the cost of supplies.
This helps give me peace of mind when planning for a homemade Christmas. If you haven’t planned this far ahead it’s okay but I would offer up those suggestions for next year. Again, when planning DIY Christmas gifts ideas also don’t forget to plan how you will package and wrap the gifts as well.
When purchasing supplies you can also try to take advantage of seasonal sales such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you need supplies for any of these gift ideas I highly recommend visiting a local craft store or shopping online. Many stores offer shipping discounts, in-store pickup or curbside pickup options as well.
Homemade Christmas Gifts
Beauty Christmas Gifts
Health and beauty gifts are great for women in particular, but you can also modify most recipes and packaging for a mens version as well. General gifts, such as face scrub, can work for nearly everyone.
If you have a very close family member or friend, then moving onto a more specific beauty gift such as makeup finishing powder can also work.
• Homemade Face Moisturizer: Mix up this easy to make jojoba oil moisturizer, store it in a decorative container and gift it to a friend. A cute label, a ribbon or special packaging can really make this gift pop. Don’t forget to include directions on how to use the homemade face oil. Full tutorial here.
• Homemade Face Scrub: Winter is rough on skin, especially the delicate skin on the face. Make this homemade face scrub and gift it to friends. The small Ball Canning jam jars are a great container for this face scrub. Full tutorial here.
• Homemade Night Cream: Another recipe that’s perfect for winter is this easy homemade face cream. It only requires a few ingredients and a little bit of the cream goes a long way. It’s one of the perfect DIY Christmas gifts for girlfriends or female family members. Full tutorial here.
• Homemade Finishing Powder: Do you have a friend who loves makeup? Make her this homemade mineral veil face powder. It works great to top off a look or can be used alone as a light makeup, or to simply absorb oil on the face. Full tutorial here.
• Homemade Makeup Remover: A nice companion to the homemade makeup powder is to combine the gift with a little homemade makeup remover kit. I have a recipe for an easy two ingredient makeup remover, perfect for gifting to a makeup lover. Full tutorial here.
Edible Christmas Gifts
There is a lot of great food around the holidays which can be tricky of course but it’s often only once a year you can enjoy some of these wonderful foods.
Gifting hand baked goods or homemade foods is another gifting option. Also, consider home canned items which can last up to six months so the recipient can enjoy eating the gift at a later time after the holiday season is over.
• Homemade Date Bars: These date bars keep for several weeks. They are a homemade “LARABAR,” super healthy and can be made in almost any flavor. My tutorial explains how to make date bars. Experiment with lemon, orange, chocolate or peanut butter to create a flavored bar. These can easily be frozen or refrigerated as well to extend shelf life past the holiday season. Full tutorial here.
• Homemade Vanilla Extract: This was my most recent DIY gift and it came together in a pinch. All you need is some vodka, vanilla beans, bottles and labels. I chose to order custom labels on Etsy. If you have a printer you could alternately buy labels and print them yourself. For the vodka really any brand will do.
I purchased the vanilla beans online but next time I make homemade vanilla extract I want to check out IndriVanilla as I’ve heard good reviews and their prices look reasonable. Ideally this gift should be made up to 6 months in advance of giving. I was a little behind schedule so I simply told my recipients the mixture would continue to age in their cupboard. Additionally you can add additional beans and vodka to this mixture year-round to keep the product going.
• Homemade Food and Canned Goods: Home canning is one of my favorite pastimes and a wonderful gift for loved ones. Jams and jellies are easy to make and can be stored for months. Take advantage of fall fruits and vegetables – such as apples and pumpkins – and can homemade applesauce, apple butter or pumpkin butter. A few more recipes are below, these can be made and gifted in tins or sturdy boxes.
If you are looking for Ball canning jars. These are the national approved retailers for Ball Canning:
Household Christmas Gifts
Gifting cleaning gifts might sound strange but I think this is a great idea especially if you put them together in a little cleaning kit. The recipient will have them in plenty of time before spring cleaning season.
Consider homemade cleaning items for college students, young adults living in their first apartment or others. The gifts can be combined with purchased accessories such as a brushes, paper towels and more.
• Homemade Household Cleaner: Making homemade household cleaner is very easy. It’s best with added citrus rind so making this a few weeks before gifting is ideal. This household cleaner recipe only requires a few ingredients and you can put the finished product in a bottle of your choosing and even decorate the bottle if you like. Full tutorial here.
• Homemade Window Cleaner: A great companion to the all purpose cleaner is a window specific cleaner. This homemade glass cleaner is just for windows and like it’s counterpart only requires a few ingredients, mixing and bottling. You might even already have the ingredients in your home. Full tutorial here.
• Homemade Birdseed Treats: This was a gift I made with my daughter. These homemade birdseed ornaments are intended to be hung outside on a tree for birds to enjoy in the winter. The recipe only requires a few ingredients, namely bird seed, flour and gelatin. We used Christmas cookie cutters to shape the ornaments and a straw to create a hole. Once dried, we inserted ribbon into the ornament to easily hang outside.
• Homemade Laundry Detergent: Lastly among the household gifts, consider making homemade laundry detergent. This is a recipe for a powder detergent that I made for a few years. I have step by step directions on exactly how I made it and how to store the homemade laundry detergent. Full tutorial here.
Homemade Gift Wrapping Ideas
Keep in mind that creative packaging and presentation are also an important part of any homemade gift. I often add homemade tags to my finished gifts too. After I’ve finished making my homemade gifts I like to use homemade wrapping or reuse packaging materials when possible.
This can include boxes you already have from items you have purchased, reusing tissue paper or recycling wrapping paper, twine, ribbon and bows. Keep in mind that with any of these gifts, homemade packaging can really make the gift shine.
Consider alternative gift wrapping such as brown bags or newspaper. Decorate packages with bows or ribbons. Or make homemade gift tags for an added special touch. You can also reuse bags, tissue paper, parts of Christmas cards and more for tags and packaging.
Handmade Christmas Gift Ideas
In Summary
Making a homemade gift shows special attention and care for your loved ones. Whether it’s for a family member, friend, coworker or teacher – a homemade gift is a great way to do gift giving this holiday season.
Not only are homemade Christmas gifts easy to make they are also unique and I can guarantee the recipient will not receive two of the same gift when it’s a homemade gift from you as part of a DIY Christmas. Don’t forget these gifts can be used as Happy New Year gifts as well.
Have you made homemade gifts before? What did you make?