Tis’ the season for creating! Whether you’re on a budget or want gifts that are a little more personalized, I wanted to share with you some of my favourite and relevant homemade Christmas gift ideas you can make this year. There’s something on this list for everyone!
I love the feeling of gifting someone something I made. Their face lights up as they open the present, and then you proudly say that you made it yourself. Then, their smile gets even bigger. Knowing that you put effort and love into a gift makes it much more special.
These homemade Christmas gift ideas range from simple to deluxe, so there’s something for every skill level here. And don’t worry! Everything on this is beautiful, useful, and something everyone would be thrilled about receiving.
Here are the homemade gifts I’ll be talking about today…
- 1. Pressed Lavender Candles
- 2. Natural Perfume
- 3. Resin Flower Coasters
- 4. Lavender and Cocoa Butter Bath Melts
- 5. Sand Art Terrariums
- 6. Flower Embroidery
- 7. Healing Crystal Candle
- 8. Dog Paw Balm
- 9. Camping Firestarters
- 10. Herbal Aftershave
- 11. Rose Soap
- 12. Clay Gift Tags
- 13. Leaf Bird Bath
- 14. Amaryllis in a Jar
- 15. Eco-printed Clothing
- How to Wrap Homemade Gifts
- Frequently Asked Questions About Christmas Gifts
- More Holiday Inspiration
1. Pressed Lavender Candles
Preserve the beauty of your garden with these lovely pressed lavender candles. Lavender not only has a lovely fresh scent, but it also helps to promote relaxation and destress.
These are wonderful homemade gifts for those you want to treat with a little peace and serenity, all while gifting gardening eye candy.
2. Natural Perfume
For the person in your life who loves to smell good, there’s nothing more amazing than having their own custom, personal scent. Making perfume is quite simple and, with the right packaging, can be one of the most beautiful homemade Christmas gifts.
Follow these instructions on how to make your own natural perfume. You can either create your own custom blend or steal my romantic or fresh recipe. Both smell simply divine!
3. Resin Flower Coasters
Pressed flowers are one of the best ways to preserve the beauty of a garden or a special bouquet. These resin coasters allow you to hold onto these delicate flowers and showcase their beauty in the home. They make for a heartfelt homemade Christmas gift for those obsessed with home decor and all things whimsical.
4. Lavender and Cocoa Butter Bath Melts
Another bath favourite, these bath melts are designed to leave the skin feeling ultra-soft and silky. The ingredients are so natural and smell so good, you just may want to take a bite out of them!
These are also the perfect gift for the chocolate lover in your life, as they smell like gourmet truffles. All you have to do to enjoy them is pop them in a hot bath and let the scent carry you away.
5. Sand Art Terrariums
I’m a big fan of giving plants as gifts. For Christmas, I like to make my own terrariums for people like teachers or neighbours. Everybody gets a kick out of them, and usually, they’re simple to maintain, even if they don’t have a green thumb.
These sand art terrariums are a fun spin on the traditional terrariums and utilize the beauty of stacked, coloured sand. They always turn out so lovely!
6. Flower Embroidery
My most recent project, this flower embroidery, is so darn cute that I had to include it in this homemade gift roundup to inspire you for this gift season. Flower embroidery uses a combination of tulle, dried flowers, and thread to create darling see-through hoops.
Depending on the type of flowers you choose, you can make this something to be displayed year-round, or you can focus on holiday-themed colours for some unique and beautiful seasonal decor.
7. Healing Crystal Candle
Do you have a crystal lover in your life? Crystals are such a fun way to spice up your candles. Add some crayons as a colourant, and you can really customize these for the person you’re crafting for.
To get really personal, you can find crystals with special properties. For example, amethyst promotes relaxation and selenite brings clarity. Even if you don’t believe in the powers of crystals, they’re pretty enough to be just a decorative element.
8. Dog Paw Balm
You’re sure to have someone in your life who’s obsessed with their furry best friend. This dog paw balm is ideal for dog owners, helping to treat and prevent paw injuries.
It’s made from natural ingredients, including olive oil, beeswax, shea butter, and coconut oil to help moisturize paws while also being safe to use on dogs. Package it up with the dog’s name to make it extra cute!
9. Camping Firestarters
For the outdoorsy person in your life, these firestarters are a great stocking stuffer, or give a set up of them to make up the whole gift.
I originally shared a winter-themed firestarter, but I decided to make more with the beauty of summer for camping and outdoor use. That being said, they’re the same idea, just packaged up two different ways.
10. Herbal Aftershave
The perfect gift for the man in your life is some homemade aftershave! I find aftershave to be one of the biggest victims of fragrance overload, which can make it irritating and overpowering for the skin.
This herbal version utilizes witch hazel and a combination of essential oils to be all organic and natural for sensitive skin.
And it’s not just for men! This aftershave is designed to soothe skin, no matter where it is. It works from legs to arms as a great product to help rehydrate the skin after shaving.
11. Rose Soap
This rose soap is one of the best DIY gifts for those who love skincare or a little pampering. Rose is one of the best herbs out there for skincare, and I include it in many of my DIY recipes.
Not only is this soap good for the skin, but it’s also naturally coloured with madder root powder and creates beautiful swirls. Once topped off with dried rose petals, people will have a hard time believing you made it yourself!
12. Clay Gift Tags
When decorating gift bags and packages, I like to add a homemade clay gift tag. It doubles as a decoration and gift, as it can be used as an ornament, key chain, or decoration.
They’re also amazing stocking stuffers and are the perfect homemade Christmas gift to give out as a little token of thanks to acquaintances, coworkers, teachers, and others in your life.
I also pair them alongside gift cards sometimes just so that they also get a physical item that is a little more personal.
13. Leaf Bird Bath
If you have a gardener in your life or someone with a beautiful backyard, this rhubarb leaf bird bath is a beautiful project to make.
Typically, you won’t find rhubarb leaves this time of year to make a casting. You can use any large-sized leaf for this project, from the fallen maple leaves this time of year to the giant monstera leaf in your living room.
14. Amaryllis in a Jar
Alongside the Christmas cactus and poinsettia, the amaryllis has become a symbol of the holiday season in the plant world.
For the person who has everything, try gifting them an amaryllis plant. To turn it into a homemade gift and make it more personal, find yourself a nice vase or pot to plant it in, add some decorative rock or other features, and decorate it with ribbon or twine.
Plan this one in advance so it’s blooming just in time for gift-giving season!
15. Eco-printed Clothing
I’ve long been a fan of flower pounding, but I took it up a notch this year, making a whole tablecloth for my gardener’s table outside full of imprints from flowers from my garden.
If you still have fall flowers kicking around, you can create beautiful fabric art from them. If not, you can always go grab a bouquet from the store to try eco-printing. Make napkins, a scarf, socks, a t-shirt…whatever your heart desires!
How to Wrap Homemade Gifts
Part of the joy of gift-giving is wrapping it up! The key to making homemade gifts look artisanal or store-bought comes down to the packaging. Customize your gifts by adding your own labels, tags, ribbons, and other decorative elements (including plants themselves!).
In most of my recipes and crafts, I include some creative ways to wrap homemade gifts. You can also find more ideas in this post about natural and recycled gift wrap ideas.
Frequently Asked Questions About Christmas Gifts
The four gift rule is where parents or partners only give away a total of four presents: one thing they need, one thing they want, one thing to wear, and one thing to read. The gifts above could easily fit into the “need” or “want” categories!
Besides gifts, experiences are the way to go. You can choose to gift experiences instead of presents or do the experience together as a family. For instance, you can look at Christmas lights while sipping hot cocoa or head to a Christmas-inspired performance. Hosting a game or movie night is another great way to get the family together for the season without spending money on gifts.
Another fun Christmas tradition I’ve enjoyed is making a Christmas wreath with my neighbours instead of exchanging gifts.
You can also still include gifts, but in a more minimalized way. For instance, everyone can make their own homemade Christmas gifts like the ideas above or do a white elephant or secret Santa where everyone only buys one gift with a pre-determined limit.
For quick DIY Christmas gifts, I usually recommend making things like these easy DIY soy candles, a simple sugar scrub, bath salts, or other five-ingredient or less beauty recipes like my lotion bar or lip balm.
The other great thing for quick and easy gifts is turning to the kitchen. You can find a full list of last-minute gifts from the kitchen here.
When I want to personalize a gift, I usually create something that I can customize the scent and the colour of.
This can mean making a candle in their favourite colour, adding eucalyptus essential oil to their bath salts because I know they love fresh fragrances, or decorating a soap with their favourite flowers. Almost all of these homemade Christmas gift ideas can be personalized for the special person in your life.
You can also personalize most of these homemade Christmas gifts with the packaging. Make custom labels with the person’s name on them or in a style you know they’ll love.
Practical gifts are anything that people will use in their everyday lives. You want to avoid any novelty items and instead think about an item that would fit into their daily routine.
What one person would find practical, another might not. But here are a few practical DIY gifts I turn to often: Soaps (bar or liquid), jams or jellies, candles or wax melts, air fresheners, customized napkins, houseplants, lotion bars, sugar scrubs, lip balms, and bath salts.
Food can be one of the best homemade Christmas gifts because it’s something everyone enjoys. Rather than gift something people can get from the store, it’s always nice to gift something you’ve made yourself.
Baked goods are always a popular option, but so are preserves from your own garden or stash, like jams, sauces, spice blends, and syrups. I have a whole post dedicated to ideas for last-minute gifts you can make from the kitchen.
More Holiday Inspiration
- 50+ Last-Minute Diy Gifts from The Kitchen
- Liquid Sunshine Soap with Dried Orange Slices
- 20 Crafty Christmas Tree Recycling Projects
- Garden Therapy Christmas Wreaths Throughout the Years
A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants.
Great ideas. I’m planning to make the lotion bars for sure and maybe the sugar scrub. Yummy❤️ Thank you for sharing ☺️
OMG making some of the this year for sure!