The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
I wait ALL YEAR for Christmas. It is the best holiday, by far, in my opinion. In our house, once Halloween is over, we jump straight to Christmas. We aren’t big on Thanksgiving, so it doesn’t require too much planning. My favorite part of Christmas is making DIY Christmas gifts!
So now that I’ve set my brain into Christmas mode (Don’t worry, we don’t actually decorate until after Thanksgiving), I’ve started thinking about what to make for our families this year. If you are looking to DIY your gifts this year and need ideas, keep reading!
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Last Year’s DIY Christmas Gifts
Since having my kid, I’ve become a super crafty mom (as I’m sure you could tell from diying my toddler’s Halloween costume this year). We have a big family, so buying gifts for everyone is overwhelming and expensive. I decided to make our Christmas gifts instead of buying them and it’s worked out great so far!
Last year I made these adorable exploding picture boxes for everyone, and they were a huge hit. I designed them to look like presents that “explode” to a bunch of pictures of us from the year before.
I’ll recreate one to give you instructions if you would like to make one for your DIY Christmas gifts soon, so look forward to that. For now, let’s get into what my plans are for this year!
Why I Love to DIY Our Christmas Gifts
If you have a large family like me, or you have kids, DIY presents are definitely the go-to. Everyone loves a handmade gift and involving the kids makes it even more special.
I try to tailor the gifts to something I enjoy doing and keep it simple, it helps when you have to make many gifts. And for this I like to brainstorm!
I used the Notes sheet from my Ultimate Life Planner to brainstorm ideas for DIY gifts.
I enjoy crafting, baking, and crocheting, so that inspired this year’s gifts: crochet ornaments and home-baked cookies!
Putting a Plan in Motion
After I’ve brainstormed and come up with an idea, I like to use the My Priorities sheet from my Ultimate Life Planner to list out all the steps I’ll need to take to execute my plans.
It’s just one way I keep organized with all the projects I have going on at any given time.
Crochet Ornaments
When I’m planning any project, the first thing I do is head to Pinterest. I will link to my Christmas Cookies and Christmas Crochet Projects boards to give you some ideas of what you can make this year.
One of the best things about crochet is it’s relatively cheap to get into. All you really need is 1 hook and a skein of yarn, which you can get for less than $10 at Walmart or a craft store.
Here are a few of the ornaments that I loved but ultimately did not decide to recreate this year.
Also, check out my Christmas Crochet Projects Board to see all my favorite Christmas-themed crochet project ideas. I add to this all year round.
The Snowdrop Christmas Ornament This one is a paid pattern that’s super pretty and I really like the ringed design.
Classic Ball Shaped Christmas Ornament I love how it looks like a knit sweater pattern, it’s totally my aesthetic. I think I would make these in the future.
Bell-shaped Ornament I think this one is adorable and I could see myself making these for my own tree.
Pinecone Ornmanent I love pinecones on my Christmas tree. I could also see myself making these in the future, but maybe not as gifts.
Ultimately, I decided to go for a ring-shaped wreath looking ornament like this one:
This one doesn’t have a pattern but I plan to find one similar or just freehand it from the picture. Instead of a bell, I will have my husband 3d print “Our Names 2024” to hang in the middle. I think it will turn out really cute!
I can still get creative with other embellishments and details, which is most of the fun for me.
This will be half of the present, though. The other half will be an assortment of Christmas cookies.
Home-made Christmas Cookie Assortment
Everyone loves cookies so I think Christmas cookies are a great gift idea. You can also make a large batch of them for relatively cheap, just the cost of ingredients. Most of which you probably have on hand already if you cook or bake at home.
I think pairing a small keepsake gift with an edible gift is a good idea if you like to avoid waste around Christmas time. That way you don’t have to worry about buying something someone will just throw away.
Now, I know I said to keep it simple, but I ultimately decided to do an assortment of 3 types of Christmas cookies for our gift boxes.
My thought process was to include a spiced cookie, butter/shortbread cookie, and a kind of mint flavored cookie to give a bit of variety.
I haven’t decided on the cookie recipes exactly yet, but here are some of the recipes I’m eyeing from Pinterest.
Check out my Pinterest board for Christmas Cookies to see everything I add between now and Christmas.
Cookie Options for an Assortment Pack
Chocolate Mint Cookies These are a girl scout thin mint copycat. I think I might dip mine in chocolate and sprinkle with crushed peppermint if I go this route.
Chocolate Mint Thumbprint Cookies Another variation of chocolate mint, in a thumbprint cookie.
Chai Spiced Cookie I thought this was a cool spin on a spiced cookie.
Classic Snickerdoodle Chewy and perfectly spiced. A safer bet for a spiced cookie.
Embossed Gingerbread Another classic with a chance to add some cute shapes. Definitely a contender.
White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cranberry definitely fits the festive flavor profile and would give a different texture and flavor to add to a variety pack.
Orange Cranberry Shortbread Keeping the cranberry theme but adding orange. Also, a different texture being a shortbread cookie.
Soft Butter Cookie Another classic, safe cookie. Would offer a chance for decoration with the kid!
There are countless other recipes that would work here. Things I’m keeping in mind is: variety of flavors and textures, opportunities for different shapes, and decoration options.
This will be a fun way to make a special gift for your friends and family that is personal, and you can involve your little ones too. And, if you like this idea but you’re not a baker, you could totally just buy some cookies and wrap them. No one will know!
My Favorite Part – Presentation!
The final presentation is my favorite part when it comes to any present. This is the part where you can really get creative and make your gift stand out!
For this type of gift, I think an open/windowed box like these would be perfect. Give them a peek at what’s inside, and they won’t be able to resist opening it.
Here are some more festive windowed gift boxes from Amazon:
You can really go minimal or maximal depending on your style.
I like to lean in on the present theme, wrapping the box with ribbon like a present and giving them that experience of opening a gift. Colorful tissue paper to set everything on as well.
If you’re doing a cookie assortment like me, make sure to wrap the same cookies together in plastic and put a paper tag on them with the flavor. Adding these details really make the gift, in my opinion.
Top it off with a Christmas card placed under the ribbon and you’ve got the perfect DIY Christmas Gift!
I hope that you found this post helpful and were able to gain some inspiration for your own DIY Christmas gifts.
Are you planning on making your gifts this year? Is this your first year or are you a pro?
How do you like to involve your kids in giftmaking?
Until next time.
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Always amazed at your creative ideas. Just simply amazing. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read. Thank you again. Keep up the good work 👍. Can’t wait to see what’s next
Thanks! ☺️
Be on the lookout next week for more posts.