Make Your Own Christmas Gifts
Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas
There's something special about receiving a home-made Christmas gift and it takes only a little creative thinking to come up with ideas that are personal to the recipient. You might start planning some gifts well before Christmas for instance collecting old family favourite recipes to put them together in a hand made recipe book, or taking photographs of the children, to frame for gifts for grand-parents or relatives living some distance away.
Creating a gift for someone adds to the creative fun of Christmas and shows people that you have put a lot of care and thought into the gift. You don't have to be particularly artistic to make your own Christmas gifts. Some can be made out of simple materials and without too much effort.
Ideas for Making your own Christmas Gifts
Free Printable Calendars
Create personalized calendars for your family and friends using these free, online calendars and add your own personal touches.
Homemade Stationary
Buy some plain envelopes and paper. Leaf through old magazines and cut out attractive pictures and illustrations. Stick these to the fronts of the envelope down the left hand side or across the bottom. Stick matching borders on to the paper.
Personalised Towels
Buy some plain hand towels or bath towels and embroider the initials of your friends or loved-ones into the corner of the towels.
Bath Salts
Find some unusual jars in which to store the bath salts.
To make the bath salts, you will need:
2 cups Epsom's salts
1 cup Sea Salt or Coarse Salt
Food Colouring
¼ teaspoon Glycerin
Essential oil for fragrance
To make:
Combine salts in a bowl and mix well. Add a few drops of food colouring and mix well. Add the glycerine and a few drops of essential oil. Mix these all together before spooning the salts into the glass jars. Add a ribbon or gift tag to the jar.
Festive Bookmarks
You will need some festive wrapping paper, scissors and cardboard. Cut the cardboard into rectangle pieces, the size you want your bookmark. Lay this on the wrapping paper and cut around bookmark enough to cover both sides. Glue it over the cardboard.
Christmas Gift Baskets
Choose a theme for your basket according to who you are buying for then fill the basket with things you know they will like. Theme ideas include: Scented Gift Basket filled with bath salts, perfume, soaps etc. Chocolate Gift Basket, Tea-Lovers gift basket, fruit baskets .... then wrap cellophane around the basket and decorate with a ribbon.
Gift Certificates
Make your own Gift Certificates or Coupons which promise a gift of your time (or attention) for instance:
This certificate is good for a massage
This certificate is good for a day of unlimited hugs
This certificate is good for a romantic candlelight meal
This certificate is good for one batch of cookies
Or ...
Message in a Bottle
Find an attractive bottle, roll up a special photograph and place this inside along with delicate materials such as a small silk rose or a message written especially for the recipient. Tie a ribbon around the neck of the bottle and add a cork.
Framed Poems
Write a poem dedicated to your friend or loved-one, or find a poem you know they will like. Decorate the poem or add photographs around it and then place it in a frame.
Pot Pourri Bundles
You will need: Lace Doilies or net-curtain material, ribbon, needle and thread, silk roses to decorate and potpourri
Cut a circle about 12cm diameter of lace. Sew a row of running stitches 1.5 cm away from edge of fabric. Draw the stitches in slightly so material starts to gather and makes a little pocket. Fill this pocket with potpourri, then pull the thread to draw up the material and tie it by wrapping thread tightly round the neck of the bundle to close in the potpourri. Tie ribbon around the neck or add a small silk ribbon rose to decorate.
Decorative Candles
You will need an attractive dish, pot pourri and some coloured scented candles. Stand the candles in the dish then surround with pot pourri.
(first published by Carole Anne on Yahoo Voices, 2008)
