Most people go out and buy their friends and family gifts but there is something nice about making a gift for someone, and something really touching about receiving a hand-made gift from a loved one. There are lots of different gifts you can make so today’s post is a little bit of inspiration (along with links to instructions and where to buy things that you may need in order to make the gift.)
- For someone who loves scented candles…
Why not make your own to give as gifts? You can get kits that are reasonably priced in most craft shops (such as this kit for £10 from Hobbycraft) If you have never made candles before then a kit is the perfect way to start, and should you want to then continue making candles you can buy all the items you need individually both on-line and in craft stores. I really like these tins that you can use as candle holders.
- For the one with a sweet tooth…
How about having a go at making your own fudge or toffee? You can then present it in a cute container, tin or jar. There are lots of recipes online and heaps of handy instruction videos, but I’m a fan of this one for fudge (its super quick to make and tastes amazing!) and this one for toffee (I could eat this all to myself!). You can get really pretty tins, jars and other containers in most supermarkets now and its worth checking out the cheaper shops to see what they have as well. I really like the look of Kilner Jars or these clip lid jars from Wilkinson .
- For the Fashionista
Nothing would be more fabulous than a one of a kind t-shirt. You can buy plain t-shirts fairly cheaply in most clothing outlets and supermarkets so why not buy one and customise it? You can use fabric paint from any craft shop (I love the Tulip range as they have lots of different finishes). You could create a t-shirt with the recipient’s initial on it, a tie dye top, or even add in sewn elements like pockets or a collar depending on their fashion tastes.
- For the Beauty Lover
Home made bath bombs are a really lovely gift to make and receive. You can customise the scent to match the recipients favorite scents or add elements such as popping candy or petals, and make them any colour or shape you choose. There are some fab tutorials available on-line, my favorite one is this one over on youtube .
- For the Jewellery Magpie
A cool necklace or bracelet to match their style or personality always goes down a treat and doesn’t need anything more than some waxed cord and some pretty beads in the recipients favorite colours. You can add items like small charms or shells, pretty ribbon or chains. I really like this store for my jewellery making supplies. The beauty of making a gift like this is that it can be as simple or intricate as you want it to be and can be created regardless of skill level.
- For the Blogger
A notebook is always a welcomed gift (talking from experience) and if you know anyone who blogs then why not gift them a customised note-book? I really like Kraft books for customisation purposes and they are pretty cheap to pick up too, though you could choose any plain hard backed book. Once you have chosen the book you can let loose with your design, maybe you could personalise with the recipients blog name or a favorite hashtag? And if the blog has a theme (like recipes or food for example) you could decorate the front and back to match. The fab thing about a personalised notebook is that you can decorate with any material you want, whether it be painting something onto it, sticking things like feathers and sequins on to it or decopatching it, the possibilities and customisation possibilities are pretty much endless!
- For the Student
Fabric can be bought in many different places these days and in tons of different designs so why not try your hand at making a pencil-case or zip close pouch for the student in your life? I really love fat quarter fabric bundles and experimenting with making my own zipped pouches and they are super useful, not just for pens and pencils, you could make smaller ones to gift as coin purses, larger ones for makeup or even to keep an e-reader in. I love the fat quarter bundles you can get at Hobbycraft though you can buy these at most fabric or craft shops and you can pick up zips there too. I found the Wikihow tutorial really easy to follow!
- For the Photographer
As a photographer, there is nothing better than taking photos, printing the best ones and displaying them around the home. A DIY photo display using an old picture frame, some cheap string lights and some tiny pegs would be a lovely gift to receive, especially if you added prints of your favorite photographs that they had taken too. You can find old picture frames in charity shops, at boot sales and local selling pages and can customise to suit by spraying with a colour of your choice, after removing the glass and back of the frame before adding a string of fairy lights. Once the frame has been put together add the chosen photos using tiny pegs like these. If you wanted to, you could add to the back, a piece of fabric or wallpaper with a cool pattern or design on it or just leave the back open. The beauty of this gift is that new life has been given to something old, its been re-purposed and upcycled, the pegs mean that the images displayed can be switched around easily and there is the flexibility to display anything you want, from photos to lists.
- For the Book Lover
Instead of gifting another book token, how about crafting a customised tote bag for the book lover in your life to carry around their books in? If you purchase a plain tote bag (like the one here) you could use some printable fabric transfer paper (which you can find in most good stationery, craft or fabric shops) to print out and iron on to the bag a quote from the recipient’s favorite book. To make the bag extra special you could use beads, buttons or sequins to enhance the quote.
- For the Foodie
My Dad loves cooking and I have made him flavoured oils a few years running. You can make almost any flavour of oil that you want but I have found that things like rosemary and thyme, garlic and chilli seem to give the best flavour pay off, not only that but the oils can be used in cooking, as salad dressing, dips and many other things. The method I use is …
- Cut up whatever ingredient you are using to flavour the oil, and bruise it slightly so that it starts to release the flavours.
- Warm up some olive oil, you want it to warm, not bubble or boil.
- Add the cut up flavorings and stir gently at intervals over about 10 mins while the oil is still warming.
- Remove the oil from the heat and leave to cool.
- Strain the cooled oil to remove the bits of flavoring.
- Before adding to bottles, I always add fresh flavour ingredients, such as a sprig of rosemary and thyme to the bottle that will have the rosemary and thyme oil added to it (this adds a bit of visual interest and lets you know at a glance which oil is which)
- Add the oil to the bottle and seal.
- Add a tag or sticker with the oil used, flavoring and when it was bottled.
You could give several different flavoured oils to your recipient along with a little leaflet about what you could use the oils for.
- For the Eco Friendly
How about creating a unique soap dispenser repurposed from an old bottle? You could choose an empty bottle of their favorite tipple, sauce or an old glass oil bottle. Just clean out the bottle and use a pump top (I found this but you can find lots via a google search) just make sure that it will fit the bottle you will be using! There are other ideas here, which is where I found the above image! You can give the dispenser empty, or why not fill it with a lovely scented hand wash?
- For Your Partner
For a gift that shows you really care how about a 365 Jar? Write down memories, songs, reasons why you love them, fold them all up small and put into a jar. The idea is that they get to pick a new note each day to read right from the 1st Jan to the end of the year. You can get really pretty jars here though any glass jar will do so long as it has a wide mouth to it.
- For Your Bestie
What would be nicer than a friendship package? You could include a small hand-made candle, a bath bomb, a CD of both of your favorite songs, a little book with photos printed out of the pair of you along with little notes about the day that they were taken. Package it all up in a pretty gift box or wicker basket along with some chocolates or treats that you know they would enjoy.
What sort of gifts will you be making? And what would you love to receive?
My Colourful Life 