Homemade gifts for Christmas?

[Kikya]

So I really want to do some homemade gifts this year! But I am the least creative person ever lol. I feel like every year, it's all about the materialistic gifts and I am just not feeling that this year! (no shade, this is just me!)

Are you guys doing any homemade gifts this year or previous years? If so, who was it for and what did you do?

[daisy]

When I am very stuck for what to buy someone, I generally fall back on an edible gift. I traditionally make peanut brittle at Christmas. This year I might try almond brittle. Other ideas would be toffee, fudge, cookies, jam (or jelly as I think you would call it), lemon curd, coconut ice etc.

[Thatrobohammy]

If you have time and a bit of patience I would recommend trying crocheting if you haven't already. Every year I crochet little dolls and stuffed animals for my niece and she thoroughly enjoys them.

[Lydia]

If you have time and a bit of patience I would recommend trying crocheting if you haven't already. Every year I crochet little dolls and stuffed animals for my niece and she thoroughly enjoys them.

I second this. Crochet is fun and you can make some cute stuff with minimal experience. I’ve also seen some people make little figurines and stuff with polymer clay but I’ve never personally done it. Another idea I did a few years ago was painting. I painted my mom a picture of a cat and it turned out pretty nice for my low level art skills.

[alexandra the great]

on the topic of gifts, for really creative gift ideas go to www.uncommongoods.com
they have got tons of super cool things. I've wanted to order gifts from there for a while.
sorry, it's not homemade, but I just wanted to share it with ya'll.

[Lillias]

I feel you on materialism. A lot of us have too much casually-acquired stuff, and it's hard to guess or shop for the things others actually need. I don't mind buying gifts, but I want to get them things they will actually use, not more junk to gather dust.

I'm a crafter, so I gift homemade items often (if I think the recipient will like it; I'm not wasting hours of my time for a gift that won't be appreciated). I could use some ideas because I've exhausted mine. I might make a quilt/playmat for a toddler. I've signed up to paint guinea pig ornaments for a local rescue to sell as a fundraiser. My main list though is a blank.

It's late in the game to pick up a new skill set. I would stick with something you already know how to do or something fairly easy, so you don't have the stress of trying to learn a skill and produce a giftable item in less than two months.

A few simple ideas:
Vanilla extract: Split the beans vertically and put them in a bottle. Warm the vodka and pour it over the beans. Shake occasionally until Christmas. Decant into smaller bottles for gifting.
Hot chocolate mix: Measure out appropriate portions of cocoa, sugar, and powdered milk into a jar. Shake and label with instructions. Optional add-ins: mini marshmallows, crushed peppermint sticks (the ones made with sugar, rather than the corn syrup ones), instant coffee powder, red chili powder, mini chocolate chips
Phone pillow stand (sewing): https://hellosewing.com/diy-phone-pillow-stand-holder/
Heat packs (sewing): https://sewcanshe.com/2014-12-16-diy-he ... -and-neck/ Use cotton thread, not polyester.
Coffee cup cozy (crochet): https://www.windingroadcrochet.com/begi ... y-pattern/ This is a beginner pattern. There are fancier options if you want something more challenging.
No-sew fleece blanket: https://decorhint.com/how-to-make-fleec ... hout-ties/

You can also do lots of fun things with melted chocolate and add-ins (nuts, hard pretzels, dried fruits, etc.).

[Kikya]

A few simple ideas:
Vanilla extract: Split the beans vertically and put them in a bottle. Warm the vodka and pour it over the beans. Shake occasionally until Christmas. Decant into smaller bottles for gifting.

It's SO funny you said that about vanilla extract. I just bought some beans and was thinking... should I make my own vanilla extract LOL I would thinking that might be a cool gift but then I was like, nah that's so lame, only I would like something weird like that LOL I guess not!! Maybe I will do that! Great minds!

I can somewhat sew but I but I more mend and hem then sew pretty things but even I could do a pillow lol

I was trying to look up some youtube videos for homemade gifts but I don't want them to be cheap, I don't mind spending the time learning or making the gift. I would much prefer that over buying yet another gift card to somewhere.

Also, if you have a beloved grandparent or parent that you want to have a piece of after they are gone. I got this for my MIL last year as a gift:
https://welcome.storyworth.com/
Basically, you ask them questions and they get emailed once a week to them and they write their "story". So I asked her about her parents, her wedding, about the birth of her children, things I thought my hubby would want to remember and the grandkids would want to remember after she was gone. You can also add pictures. Then at the end of the year, you order a real book and then print it for you.

For my FIL, we bought two "memberships" to support his favorite model train club. We aren't real members but he was thrilled!

Just a couple of ideas that I had last year.

I hope this topic keeps going cause I love to hear about the special gifts people gave or received! Thank you all for the ideas!

[Lillias]

I try to gift the vanilla extract to people who bake occasionally (and know that real vanilla extract is precious!). Don't give it to the people who have forever clean kitchens, lol. However, it's just flavored vodka or white rum, so it could also be used for, um, flavoring beverages.

A bit more advanced:
French memo board: https://www.sailrite.com/How-to-Make-a- ... Memo-Board (I've also made a couple with a framed canvas instead of a board. Then I used buttons instead of tacks. I sewed them through the layers with a thick needle.)

[HoneyBagerr]

So one of my friends just surprised with a homemade necklace on my birthday and this is one of the prettiest pieces of jewelry I have and I can't believe he made it, he took a chain and high quality beads and uses my favorite color (yellow) and a gold rose pendant.

I didn't have the heart to tell him I am slightly allergic to the metal, so I have just worn it with a turtleneck lol

[Lillias]

How is everyone doing with their gift-making? I decided to make presents for two adults, in addition to the baby blanket (the blanket doesn't need to be done by Christmas). Sorry no details because this is a public forum, and people know I hang out on hamster forums. Mustn't ruin the surprise too much. Homemade gifts tend to send me over budget; I'm too gung-ho about supplies. I'm still waiting on several important materials, and it's crunchtime for my Etsy shop, so I haven't worked much on the gifts yet. Customer orders take priority since there's shipping time to account for. There's four more guys on the list that I have no ideas for. I'll probably buy *something* for them because I don't want to be stuck finishing presents on Christmas Eve, again. Not sure what though. My niece is making some gifts. She always so grateful when I give her some relevant supplies, but they are mostly scraps from projects gone-by, so Child, please take them away! I just bought more vanilla beans (there was a Black Friday sale). It's too late to make extract for Christmas, so it'll be springtime vanilla and I'll have to ask everyone to bring back their bottles because I'm running out of smaller bottles.