Comments on: A Do-It-Yourself Christmas: 34 Great Homemade Gifts You Can Make

By: Kathln

Kathln — Sat, 04 May 2013 16:08:09 +0000

I love this very extensive homemade gift ideas list. I gave my boyfriend a desk decoration by fashioning a dolphin out of self hardening clay, sticking a hard wire into the bottom and letting it dry. Then I put the extra blue clay into a wide mouthed goblet and stuck the dolphin there. It looks good and my man thought it was store bought. Yay for artistry!

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By: Hether

Hether — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 21:39:52 +0000

This is a great list i lost my job and quite worried about christmas birthdays etc but this list has inspired me and saved me from the awkward not giving a gift moment xx

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By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 04:26:12 +0000

Thanks for these ideas, I used some of them this Christmas and they were a big hit.

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By: Steven

Steven — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 18:15:30 +0000

I also stumbled upon a crafty-mama-type-blog. Kinda late for the holiday, but some good ideas for next year maybe!
junecleaverinyogapants.com

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By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 17:50:24 +0000

A couple of years ago, I made a list of questions for my elementary school-aged niece and nephew. I made up most of the questions myself, but was inspired by “Kids Say the Darndest Things”. I video recorded our interviews and made DVDs for their parents and grandparents. (It helps to know someone who is good at video editing!) Everyone loved the present, and they’ll have it to remember that age forever. (I think I’ll recreate it with new questions in a couple more years!)

Thank you for this creative list! It has given me lots of ideas!

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By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 01:42:36 +0000

I did 2 out of the 34 items on here. The secret hollow book (Number 3) and the teacup candles (number 28). I went to the Goodwill and got a hard back book for .74 cents. (WOW) Not meany people can say they only spent .74 cents on one person on there list. Then I got 3 teacups and saucers all for 2.00. Can’t go wrong with that. The friends I made the teacup candles for LOVED them. I will be making more! So for 4 gifts I spent only 3.00 with tax!

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By: Luvs4u

Luvs4u — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 21:32:37 +0000

Nice ideas!

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By: Kelly

Kelly — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 05:15:51 +0000

These are nice, just a little word about the home made cards though, if you are sending a card to anyone in prison, don’t make it, they won’t give it to them.

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By: Keith Reed

Keith Reed — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 23:14:28 +0000

I love the one about personal gift certificates. I used that all the time when I was a teenager. I use it from time to time now as I have a lot of random skills that I can help my family out with. Saves both me and them some money.

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By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 09:46:00 +0000

Thanks for actually giving USEFUL and CREATIVE ideas! I’ve been searching everywhere and this has been really helpful.

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By: Janet

Janet — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 16:06:33 +0000

The family cookbook idea is a great one. When I was a poor grad student, I put one together for my family (parents and 5 siblings). We included all of our favorites, and included little jokes like under the servings “Makes enough for 6 normal adults of one round with Billy.” Also, I included photos of all of us throughout the years, so it was a hybrid cookbook/photo album.

I just printed all the recipes out, put them into plastic 3-ring protectors (we’re messy cooks!), and gave everyone a binder. They loved it!

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By: Ellen Cannon

Ellen Cannon — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 14:39:19 +0000

Hi Julie, every link in #17 took me to the exact project that J.D. is describing. Here’s the link to the marble magnets http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/marblemagnets/.

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By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 01:54:41 +0000

I love lists like yours…you even had some great ideas that I would like to try….what I can’t stand are things like this:
” 17. Sick of all my Martha Stewart links? Me too. Head on over to Not Martha to learn how to make stuff, including these marble magnets. You can pick up all of the supplies at your local craft store, and are reportedly fun to make. They look fun to make — I’m tempted to do these myself. (And though I couldn’t give them as Christmas gifts, I ♥ these cups made out of bacon.)

There are so many links….none of which actually take you to the project that you are talking about….it’s simply an annoying time waster. I realize that you probably have to link to the person’s blog and not just the exact project….but at least tell us how to GET to the project on their blog….especially that one…there’s so much …..s…I mean stuff, on that blog that I don’t have time to waste poking around to find some cute magnet project.

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By: Breanna

Breanna — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 15:44:10 +0000

Loved the ideas definitely going to use some of them for this Christmas season!!!

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By: stephanie odom

stephanie odom — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 13:05:05 +0000

Just what I was looking for.

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By: Lottie

Lottie — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 17:18:59 +0000

Wow! This has given me loads of great ideas for FAB Christmas prezzies! Thanks guys!

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By: Kayla

Kayla — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 04:27:41 +0000

My daughter did a special present for her favorite teacher she with her premision (that she got at start of year she always does gifts for her) printed pics of her and her friends and her and my daughter and made it into a collage

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By: Sam

Sam — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 17:26:29 +0000

I’m on a budget this year, so I’ve decided to hand make some gift baskets. My friends and family with kids will be getting a basket with home made bath bombs, gingerbread and coconut ice ‘snowballs,’ hot chocolate, some cellophane bags layered with shaved chocolate and marshmallows as hot choc toppers, a bag of microwave popcorn and an inexpensive Christmas movie.
Hoping that I’ll be giving them the best gift I can think of….time spent as a family

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By: Jenni-pooh bear

Jenni-pooh bear — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 05:22:23 +0000

Last year my 7 year old daughter and I made home made sugar scrubs and everyone loved it! We made the mixes ourselves using a couple recipes i found online and added a few of our own varieties, packed the mixtures in recycled glass baby food jars, decorated the jars, made cute little homemade labels, and then put them in a decorated basket letting each person pick a couple jars of their choosing! We had like 9+ different varieties to choose from!! Vanilla, lavender, coffee, orange, almond, etc, and even mixed some of them together for even more yummy scents! they are pretty much all natural and even edible if you so chose, though i wouldn’t recommend it.. the men love it because it is great for getting oils and greases off their hands and leaves them a bit softer than before!! We had a lot of fun making it all too!!!

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By: Angie

Angie — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 17:20:57 +0000

Last year, I made a Family Recipe Book for my Dad. My Dad makes pickles and jams, along with christmas pies and treats. I took all his favourite recipes and some of his mom’s traditional recipes and built them into a family recipe book on picaboo. The best part, I found a groupon coupon to make a picaboo booklet worth $50 for $20. SCORE! It took a lot of time to gather the recipes and find the right pictures of family. The book is filled with family recipes and family pictures. It was also a great memory for my Dad, since he lost his mother and really misses her.

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By: Ingo

Ingo — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:32:22 +0000

Another great gift for children is to adopt an animal for them. It’s roughly 2 pounds a month, but they recieve lots of updates on how well their animals doing, pictures, and some even give a cuddly toy. Its a really amazing gift for someone who loves animals, and wants to help them

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By: Ingo

Ingo — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 08:32:56 +0000

Another good gift is to buy (or make) a bird house, and you can make them bird seed aswell. They will love this present, and so will the birds.

I got together some old wood, naliled it together, painted a sign saying ‘bird house’ and stuck it on the hut. To make bird seed, you can tip the crumbs out of the bottom of your toaster, or mould (with your hands) goose fat, berries ans seeds into a heart shape. Poke a piece of ribbon through a gap near the top of the heart, and tie it into a bow. Messy, but the finished product lookes awesome. Enjoy!

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By: Ingo

Ingo — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:58:29 +0000

My mum always makes us do home made cards, and they are as good as any other present.

We give our Nan photos of us, and she cuts us out, and sticks us on a photo shes taken, then sends the picture back to us.

Vouchers are always a good thing to do, my friend really likes books, so i gave her a waterstones voucher. She enjoys the gift more because she knows what to buy for herself.

If we get something we don’t like, we save the present and give it to someone else who would like it more than us.

You could also make soap, and personalise the mould: if someone likes dogs, make them a dog mould. If someone really likes lavender, scent the soap with lavender.

Always remember, christmas is about love and friendship, not buying the most expensive present you can find.

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By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 23:11:03 +0000

Last year, for my mom I couldn’t think of anything to make her! After awhile, it came to me.
I took an old bead set from when I was about 6 years old and made her a charm bracelet and one for myself.
She loved it, I wear it almost everyday.

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By: Erin

Erin — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:51:07 +0000

Hello, I made some homemade christmas ornaments. They were so easy. I took walnuts and carefully cracked them open, removed the nut, took twine or ribbon and made a loop, and hot glued the nuts back together. Once the glue was set, I painted them glittery gold and let them dry, then sprayed clear coat on them and let them dry over night. I just bought small brown treat bags, and tissue paper to put them (2 per bag). I just put ribbon around the top of the bag and vola! Easy cheap presents, and they look amazing on a tree. It cost me about $20 to make 60 of them.

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By: Joni

Joni — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 05:20:33 +0000

Another Christmas gift idea to make kids “get to the money” is to buy them a Good Return gift certificate. They then log on online and choose a woman that they want to loan money to, then they receive updates as she repays. They get the money to keep or re-lend.

Good Return is an Australian-based charity that provides small loans to impoverished women in the Asia Pacific who want to start or grow a small business to lift themselves and their family out of poverty. Worth checking out if you’re looking for a meaningful gift this Christmas!

Joni

http://www.goodreturn.org

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By: notnicolajames

notnicolajames — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:40:46 +0000

Make a mixed tape with songs about winter that not everyone knows. I have a playlist with singer-songwriter tunes that are beautiful: http://notnicolajames.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/mixed-tapes-best-songs-about-winter-and-snow/

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By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:02:55 +0000

Love this idea. One of the best presents I got was a used stereo that my brother bought me one year from a local thrift store. He was in college that year and couldn’t afford much, but the present was so much more then I expected.

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By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 06:15:22 +0000

Wow some of these people on here are scrooges lol No need to “Bah Humbug”. Take your negativity somewhere else. Your entitled to your opinion, but just because you’re miserable don’t take it out on here. If you don’t like the ideas then your just a click away from the backspace button. I loved these ideas and will be using some of them because thankfully my family and friends are loving people with great hearts who would cherish gifts like this and not a rediculously expensive gift that would put me in debt. Good job and thank you all and have a Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays!!

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By: angelina

angelina — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:20:53 +0000

this has given me an amazing idea thank-you very much!

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