One of the best parts of being a crafty person is the ability to make beautiful creations that you can give as gifts. There’s nothing quite like sharing the perfect gift that’s been made by hand with a family member, friend or neighbor. In today’s post we have 25 of the best, easy handmade gifts you can make that look expensive, but are thoughtful and budget-friendly!
What Makes a Great Homemade Gift?
As lifelong crafters and lovers of all things handmade, we’ll be the first to agree that not everything handmade makes a great gift. The trick is to make something that either looks expensive (if one were to buy it) or is particularly thoughtful.
Here are some things we think make the best gifts:
when you make something with a special skill that others don’t have such as sewing, knitting, painting or woodworking;
a useful gift that someone can use for their home (think blankets, edible gifts, lip balm, bath bombs);
something personalized or customized to the recipient’s likes and hobbies (are they a gardener, crafter, baker?);
anything with a photo such as a DIY photo book, photo ornament or other photo decor.
So, whether it’s for the holiday season, a birthday, Mother’s Day or other special occasion, harness your talents and a little thought about the recipient and you’ll always come out with some amazing homemade gifts. Here are some of our favorite handmade gifts along with links to the full DIY tutorials.
25 Easy Handmade Gift Ideas
Functional Homemade Gifts
1
Set of Miniature DIY Notebooks
Do you have a best friend who loves to journal? These pretty handmade journals, along with a lovely fountain pen or fine tip markers are an easy gift that she's sure to love!
While this craft looks complicated it's actually quite easy to make. This craft makes a special gift for anyone who loves the beach or coastal style in their home. Includes video tutorial as well!
Wondering how to crochet a coaster? This easy crochet pattern with a step-by-step photo tutorial makes it a great crochet coaster pattern for beginners.
You can make a larger batch of this amazing DIY sugar scrub with some essential oils, ground coffee and a few other simple ingredients. Package the exfoliating scrub in jars for a great gift for co-workers, neighbours or teachers!
Is there anything more delightful than a cup of hot chocolate on a cold Winter day? There is something so warm and cozy about this idea by Happy Hour Projects. We love how pretty the ingredients look layered in the clear glass mason jar. And she provides a beautiful printable tag as well!
A laser engraver opens the door to a whole world of handmade gift ideas including acrylic earrings such as these adorable owls. You can also make decor, personalized cutting boards, slate coasters, ornaments and more.
Upcycle Sweaters into Trendy Decorative Throw Pillows
If you have a sewing machine, making some decorative throw pillows from an old sweater (or find some inexpensive ones at thrift stores) is a simple gift that so useful.
Do you have mismatched tea cups or mugs that you don’t use anymore? Maybe ones with chips on them. Or else pick up an inexpensive set at your local thrift store and use them as a container for small plants such as succulents or clipping of other plants you already have at home. Ideally you want to plant any clippings a couple of weeks before to make sure they’ll take.
This is on our must-try DIY list for this year. How lucky would someone be to get an arm knitted blanket for Christmas? And the video tutorial provided by Simply Maggie makes this project doable even for beginner knitters!
Give the gift of organization to someone on your list. Is there such a thing as too much storage? We don’t think so! And we think these inexpensive DIY nested burlap storage boxes by A Piece of Rainbow are perfect for their practicality. Add some spa-like goods or perhaps some tea and coffee accessories, or even chocolate (I’ll take one, please) and you’ve got a gift basket within a gift.
LOVE, LOVE that blanket idea...are the supplies expensive for this?
Jane and Sonja
Tuesday 8th of November 2016
It all depends on the type of yarn you choose but because of the size, this project does require several skeins. We provided some suggestions on our shoppable page that you can check out. Simply Maggie also has BEAUTIFUL arm knitted scarf tutorials if you wanted to try something that required less yarn.
Charlotte Howes
Monday 7th of November 2016
LOVE, LOVE that blanket idea...are the supplies expensive for this?
Jane and Sonja
Tuesday 8th of November 2016
It all depends on the type of yarn you choose but because of the size, this project does require several skeins. We provided some suggestions on our shoppable page that you can check out. Simply Maggie also has BEAUTIFUL arm knitted scarf tutorials if you wanted to try something that required less yarn.