If you have waited until the last minute to get your Christmas presents together AND you are crazy enough to want to make gifts, you have stumbled upon the right place. I have a round up of 20 DIYs that make great gifts. They are all pretty easy and not too time consuming. Some of these posts go from many years back because we've been running this blog for THIRTEEN YEARS!! I honestly can't believe it.
What's great about these is there are endless ways to customize them. You could add charms and do any color combo that your heart desires. The metal clasps at the end make them more "grown up" and would be a great gift for any lady in your life.
You can use this tutorial to make a regular scrunchie or you can make it with the scarf/bow ends hanging down. I think that detail makes this look at little more sophisticated than a traditional scrunchie. This is the perfect project for using up fabric scraps you may have. It also makes the perfect stocking stuffer!
3. Bath Bomb
The only thing holding you back from making bath bombs before Christmas is the bath bomb mold. BUT you could use a muffin tin or any of the cute small molds that they sell everywhere this time of year. This makes another great stocking stuffer.
You could make these napkins with thrifted flannel shirts, sheets, or you could buy new fabric. We love having cloth napkins around as they are much more eco friendly than disposable napkins/paper towels. Also with little effort they can make any dinner table look classier.
This DIY is so fun and would be a great activity to do after all the excitement of Christmas has worn off or you could make it as a gift. Crayons are naturally non-toxic and you can make any lipstick color your heart desires.
7. Candles
Everyone loves candles and what is fun about making your own is picking out a fun vessel. Last year we gave homemade candles as Christmas gifts to our friends & family. I loved looking through thrift & antique stores looking for fun vessels. We also had fun coming up with a custom scent.
8. Tiered Tray
When I was going through our blog and came across this DIY from 11 years ago, I said to myself, "oh this is good." Sometimes when I look back at our old blog posts & DIYs I cringe. But this one has stood the test of time. I always see pretty dishes at thrift stores where there is only one and this DIY makes the perfect use of those. You could easily do this whole DIY with thrifted items and I love that! It could be used to hold jewelry like how we have it pictured here but you cold also do large plates and it could be used as serving ware.
Of everything on this list, this hand scrub is probably the one best suited for a very last minute gift situation. You likely have everything you need to make this in your home. It is also is genuinely magical and leaves your hands feeling so soft.
10. Lip Balm
Everyone loves lip balm especially this time of year. Since you've waited until the last minute, you may not be able to find these tubes for your lip balm. But you can pour the mixture into any small container you may find.
Maybe you are giving gift cards this year but want to personalize the presentation. Well I have the tutorial for you. You can make your own envelopes with magazine pages, book pages, newspaper, scrap book paper, etc.
12. No Sew Tote
This wouldn't be my choice of design today, but I love the idea! One thing I was shocked to find out was that the reusable totes they sell at grocery stores actually don't have a much better ecological footprint than plastic grocery sacks b/c of their manufacturing process. But everyone has old t-shirts laying around and there are a million at thrift stores.
This blog post comes from when we were in our neon phase. This is another option for using materials you already have at home. I also love this for wearing to keep your hair out of your face when doing your skin care or makeup.
14. Pillowcase Bag
Here is another way to make a tote but this one requires some sewing. It is a beginner friendly sewing project and requires only a pillowcase.
15. Macrame Bracelet
Are we still doing bracelet stacks? I still like to wear a few at the same time but not the 10 I used to wear all at once. This bracelet is a nice on it's own or would go well with with a bangle or a variety of other bracelets. We have 1000 bracelet tutorials (linked below) so make a bunch and give them as gifts :)
16. Beaded Bracelets
We have a multitude of bracelet tutorials on our blog, because over the years they have been uber popular. If you are looking for other bracelet tutorials try this Crazy Complicated Friendship Bracelet, Heart Friendship Bracelet, The Ultimate Friendship Bracelet, or The Removable Friendship Bracelet.
17. Table Runner
You know what would make a great gift? This table runner paired with the cloth napkins from #4. This is an easy sewing project and another one where you could source your fabric from a variety of places. Fabric can be expensive and you may be like us without many options to source fabric locally. Now anytime we're somewhere that sells sheets, we look for 100% cotton sheets in printed fabrics. We've also bought plain white cotton sheets that we've dyed, and I can always find these at thrift stores.
We thought we were geniuses when we came up with this idea for making a pillow. You might wonder how on earth you could make a pillow in 5 minutes, and you'll have to read the post to find out!
19. Zippy Pouch
Savannah made 13 of these this year for her family (hopefully they aren't reading this). For the men she chose canvas fabric in both black & tan. For the women she chose a variety of fun printed fabrics and on the zipper pull we hung tassels and little beaded charms with their initials on it. They turned out so cute! These pouches are something that is easy to personalize and for men especially, not something they'd necessarily buy for themselves but could use.
I am happy to report that almost 9 years later and we still own this kitchen towel and it's one of my favorites. This was a sponsored post but you could make this towel using any stamp you like and a soft fabric paint.
Thank you for reading! We hope you have been inspired and have found a few ideas for DIY Christmas gifts for your friends & family. Merry Christmas to you and yours!!
