Bell KS Have you ever received a handmade gift? If yes, was it one of your favourite gifts of the year? For me, DIY gifts are always my favourite because I know how much time and care went into making them. Someone lovingly created something just for you – if that doesn’t make you feel special, I’m not sure what will. I personally love gifting my family, especially grandparents, DIY Christmas gifts. It’s a tradition we started as kids and never really stopped as they are always so happy and display it around the house immediately.
Luckily, making DIY Christmas gifts is actually relatively easy and super budget-friendly. Here are some of my favourite handmade gift ideas that only require easy-to-learn skills or patience:
Crochet A Beanie, Scarf or Simple Coasters
Or just anything you’d like to really. Crocheting does take a little time to master, but it’s so worth it in my opinion. You can crochet in front of your TV, on your commute or just when you need a break from your phone. There are hundreds of free tutorials on YouTube for anything from a beanie to coasters to cute heart designs. If you’re already more advanced, you can try jumpers or small bags. It’s such a cute gift and super personalisable to the person you’re giving it to.
Cost: £10-20 for a crochet starter kit and some yarn
Create an Origami Masterpiece
Remember those times you tried your hand at Origami in high school? Maybe you had a friend who was amazing at it and would always gift you their projects. Origami isn’t the easiest gift but it is extremely low cost (only requires paper) and with a bit of practice, you can make some stunning pieces. Try this tulip bouquet tutorial or these jumping Octopus fidget toys.
Cost: £5 or less for paper (use free online tutorials)
Give Watercolour Painting a Go
I love using watercolour for painting – it is incredibly forgiving. Small mistakes can easily be fixed or just included as part of the painting. During the pandemic, I became obsessed with watercolour painting and just looked on Pinterest for simple ones to recreate. It was fun, relatively easy and made for beautiful gifts. Give it a go!
Cost: £15-20 for a palette and paper (once you have it, makes as many gifts as you have paper)
Make Some Beautiful Hand-made soaps
I ‘stole’ this idea from my sister who does it every year for my family and her soaps are always beautiful and smell delightful. Soaps are fairly easy to make and you can get starter kits from just £25 on Etsy. I fell like as you get older, you start to appreciate gifts like soap more as well as who doesn’t need soap 😀
Cost: £25-35 for the starter kit (can make gifts for several people)
Try Your Hand at DIY Candles
Homemade candle-making is probably the biggest thing to come out of the pandemic. I know quite a few people who started learning out of boredom and now run a small candle-making business. Making candles can be a little tricky but there are hundreds of tutorials online and you could just do the hand-dipping technique. I remember even doing that technique in primary school.
Cost: £10-15 for the jar, wax, essential oils, wicks and any extras
Put together personalised Photo Calendars
My family LOVES their personalised photo calendars and it’s a yearly tradition to make and decorate them. It’s a perfect gift for family but also your partner – it’s budget-friendly but so memorable. The calendar is like a mini photo book and you can even annotate it with some quotes or anecdotes from the photos.
Cost: £10-15 for the calendar, photos and decorations
What are your favourite handmade gifts to make or receive?
Looking for more gift ideas? Check out my must-buy items for the travel lover in your life!
I’ve gotten away from crafts in the past several years but your post reminds me of how much I enjoy them. These are great ideas for gifts too!
Thank you! You should give it another go if you enjoyed it 🙂
I have quite a few friends who love candles. What a great idea to make them, and so pretty.
I love giving and receiving candles as gifts!