A gift that’s handmade
is a gift not replaced
entrapping sweet memories
that can’t be erased

Amanda Evanson

We all love unwrapping gifts, with the anticipation of what could be inside. Underneath the wrapping paper could be anything; a CD from your favourite band, a new game to play, any one of a million things from a million stores. But what’s really special is when what’s found inside is a tangible representation of the love and adoration the person giving the gift felt towards you. Nothing says that like a homemade gift.

There was time, not all that long ago, when a hand-made gift was the only sort of gift you could give. There were no major manufacturing facilities churning out the latest trend that you and every one of your friends has. Instead, when a gift was given, you knew that it was hand-made. Even more common was that a gift would be hand-made by those presenting it, with time and care spent crafting it with the recipient specifically in mind. Whether it was a simple as a Christmas card, a photo in a frame, shortbread… each of them were hand-made with attention and love.

This Christmas, show your love by hand-making a gift, no matter what it is. We all have skills we can turn to producing something made with personal care and attention. Whether you’re making a card, or creating an entire gift box of goodies, really express yourself and your view of the recipient through arts and crafts.

The kinds of gifts you can make is limitless, and if you don’t currently possess the skill to create a gift you can certainly use this as your excuse to learn! Your recipient will know how much you love them and how much you value your relationship, all wrapped up in one homemade bundle.

The Best Homemade Gifts to Give this Christmas

Here’s a list of homemade gift ideas if you don’t know where to begin.

Bakes

Home baking enjoyed a big moment in the spotlight when we were all at home making banana bread, but it’s not just for pandemics! Why not put together a box of baking ingredients and equipment so they can enjoy special time with their family or friends making brownies, cupcakes, or more banana bread! Baking is a great way to reduce food waste and there’s no plastic packaging on cakes fresh from the oven.

You can also bake treats yourself to gift to your loved ones. Try making shortbread, muffins, Christmas cake or cookies and delivering them whilst still warm for an early Christmas surprise.

Christmas Cards

Much nicer than the 3-for-£1 cards in your supermarket, a handmade card can be used as decoration for following years rather than thrown away. There are loads of designs on Pinterest if you’re stuck for ideas, ranging from the very minimalist to the extravagantly decorated!

Selection Boxes

Avoid the argument of which selection box to buy (and who gets the Bounties) with homemade selection boxes. Not only will it be tailored to your recipient’s tastes, but you’re also reducing plastic. Homemade truffles and other chocolate treats aren’t as hard to make as you think, and recipes can be found all over the internet.

Beauty Products

It’s easy to make homemade beauty products at home. For example, fill a mason jar with a body scrub by combining coconut oil, granulated sugar, olive oil and your chosen essential oil. You could also make a green tea honey face mask by combining equal amounts of matcha green tea, raw honey and bicarbonate of soda, telling the recipient to add a little bit of water to create a paste when they want to use the mask.

It’s also fairly easy to make soap, shampoo bars, bath bombs, candles, and perfume at home. Find an online tutorial and get making!

And Much More…

We’d be here forever if we talked about every single homemade gift idea we had! Here’s a quick list of everything else we thought of:

• bookmarks
• macrame plant hangers
• photo frames
• string art
• jewellery
• knitted/crocheted items (if you can knit/crochet!)
• embroidered items (if you can sew!)
• clay pots or ornaments
• mobiles
• prints or artwork
• wreaths
• phone, tablet or book slip covers
• keyrings
• limoncello (or other alcohol if you plan ahead!)
• tote bags
• wall hangings