Save money by making homemade Christmas gifts.
If you’ve ever read the ever-popular book, “The 5 Love Languages” you know that gift giving is one of the major ways that people say “I love you” to one another.
You don’t have to be rich to be a great gift giver. But for those of us who love giving gifts, Christmas can put us in the poor house if we don’t make wise choices.
Homemade gifts are a wonderful choice for people who have the gift-giving bug. You can save lots of money with a little creativity. When you give homemade Christmas gifts, you’re giving a part of yourself.
Not all homemade gifts are created equal. I’m a practical girl, and if we’re being honest (and we are), most of us don’t need or desire a dog-shaped toilet paper cozy (that is unless you live in Alaska where your toilet paper might need to be kept warm). And, a hand-embroidered plaque chronicling the different species of beetles is probably interesting … but it’s not going up on my walls!
For those of us with a practical slant, the best homemade Christmas gifts are those that can be used in everyday life.
With that being said, I love to give and receive homemade gifts. Here are some popular and practical ideas for homemade Christmas gifts that your friends and family will enjoy. Even better, these Christmas gifts won’t break the bank.
Homemade Christmas Gifts with Paper
A Gift Set of Greeting Cards
Ever needed a greeting card and just couldn’t make it to the store in time for the event? It’s happened to us all. This Christmas gift idea addresses that very issue.
If you enjoy scrap-booking or card making and have extra scraps of card stock or paper, this gift won’t cost you a thing.
The idea is to create a selection of greeting cards that the receiver can use throughout the year to give to her friends and family.
Handmade greeting cards can sell for up to $10 each! When you give a selection of greeting cards as a gift, the receiver can use these cards as needed, and she will save time and money in the process!
Create one or two cards for each special occasion: friendship, thank you, birthdays, anniversaries, Valentines Day, Easter, and other various holidays.
A really nice selection of greeting cards would include between 12 and 15 cards total. Place them in a previously used gift card box or create a large envelope from a large piece of heavy cardstock.
Finally, create a special gift tag for the card set that reads, “Greeting Cards for the Year”.
Homemade Christmas Gifts: Sewing Projects
If you sew, there is a lot of opportunity for practical homemade Christmas gifts.
Fabric can be expensive, however; so don’t start at the fabric store. Start in your fabric scrap bin. If you need to purchase material, look at remnants and don’t purchase more than you need.
Sleeping Cap
Who wears a sleeping cap?! Bald men. And, in my family, there’s plenty of opportunity to give this gift! Of course, you see sleeping caps on babies all the time. But anyone with a little less insulation on top will tell you this is a great homemade Christmas gift idea.
Truly, this is one of the most loved gifts I’ve ever given to the men in my family.
I got the idea from my husband who often complained that he had trouble sleeping because his head was cold at night.
For about $1, you can purchase enough soft fleece material to create a cap. Decorate the top with a tassel. Like funny pajamas, you can get creative with sleeping caps because they’re not worn in public.
Cold Drink Cozies
My husband and I spend lots of time outdoors in the summer. A cold beverage is made much more enjoyable when it remains cold with an insulated cozy.
You can create a gift set of cozies very easily and very inexpensively! Purchase ¼ inch foam insulating fabric from your fabric store. It usually comes in black. It’s very cheap and you only need 5/8 yard of 50-inch wide fabric for about 10 cozies.
To fit an average size soda can that has a circumference of 9 inches, cut the insulating fabric into 5”x10” rectangles.
Note: you can create any size cozy you like. Measure the circumference of the beverage container and add one inch for the closure.
Cut decorative fabric into identical 5”x10” pieces. (You use scrap fabric left over from another project).
Sew the decorative fabric to the foam insulating fabric. (The foam fabric goes towards the can).
On both 5” sides of rectangular fabric pieces, sew Velcro so that when the insulated fabric is wrapped around the can it will seal closed.
You can further decorate your cozies by monogramming them, adding iron on transfers, or embellishing them with fabric paint if you desire.
Cloth Napkin Set
One of my favorite things to both give and receive is a cloth napkin set. We use cloth napkins every day in my household.
Any scraps of fabric will do when making napkins. You can even make an 8 piece set with 8 different pieces of fabric!
For really nice napkins and 18 inch square works best. Simply fold and iron the edges over and sew to finish.
More Handmade Christmas Gift Ideas
The ideas for homemade Christmas gifts are practically endless! More practical ideas I’ve made include croqueted scarves and hats (very vogue this year), 365 love notes, handmade jewelry, handmade cork boards and hot plate trivets made from old wine corks.
The list goes on and on!
There’s an old saying that I love, “Necessity is the mother of invention”… my mother used to say this all the time. I think this saying applies to homemade Christmas gifts.
Think of something you think the receiver might need or enjoy, then figure out if you can make it!
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