Blogmas Day 9 - DIY Christmas Gifts

I always enjoy homemade Christmas gifts. It just adds a personal touch, and sometimes that is worth more than the newest gadget from the shops. 

There are a number of DIY Christmas gifts you make yourself to add that personal touch, or if your budget is tight, this can also be a good way to save some money. I’m not that great at crafts of any sort, so I have divided these ideas into two categories; for the crafty and for the not-so-crafty (the crafty ones are still not too complicated, so have look at those as well, even if you belong in the latter category). Hopefully you will find something that suits your level of craftiness!

For the crafty:

• Homemade knitted washcloths. An easy knit-and-purl or straight up knit project that will look cute in any bathroom. 
• A blanket for the couch. Depending on your level of skill you can knit, crochet or make a quilt. This will probably take some time, though, so get started early. 
• A wipe-off menu board. Find a glass front frame and put some decorative paper behind it. Either leave it like that, for the recipient to choose how to use it, or give it a headline, like “Menu of the week”, “Things To Do”, “Don’t forget!” or something similar. Write this headline on the paper before you put it in the frame. Add a dry erase marker and you have a decorative board that can be used for any sort of list. 
• A camera strap made from a scarf (like the one seen here)
• A water color portrait (as seen here) 
• If you can knit, a hat or a scarf is always appreciated in the cold season, and especially the hat is usually a quick project, compared to a blanket. 
• Homemade bath bombs, soaps, lip balms or lotions. There are a ton of recipes on Pinterest, so just search for your favorite scent and get started. 
• Customized tote bags. You can sew it yourself or buy one and print/draw on it to customize it. 

For the not-so-crafty:

• Picture frames. Buy a cute picture frame and fill it with pictures, quotes and/or cutouts to make a personalized collage, depending on the size of the frame. Or get pictures printed from polargram in one of the fun ways they offer. 
• Make a calendar with family photos. You can easily find somewhere online to print it for you, for example www.photobox.co.uk
• Make a personalized mug using a blank mug and special pens. Make sure to read the instructions on how to use the pens. 
• Homemade chocolates. Again there are a ton of recipes on Pinterest, so just use your imagination
• Print out all the favorite recipes and make a cute little book. Add an apron and voila! 
• A coat hanger jewellery organiser (as seen here) 
• Make bowls out of old vinyl records (as seen here) 
• Scrabble coasters (as seen here)
• Color block vases. Basically you need a vase and some paint. Make sure the paint is suitable for the material of the vase. Then just dip the bottom or the top in and let it dry. You can go for a straight line, or an angle, and you can let the excess paint drip down the sides if you want. You can also use the technique for pretty much everything else. Again, just make sure the paint it suitable for your subject. 

There are a ton of options out there depending on your skills, time and budget. I hope I inspired you with some of these options, otherwise you can do like me and search Pinterest for simple DIY gifts. But there are a LOT of ideas out there, so it is best if you have some sort of idea to guide your search.