Why You Should Give Homemade Gifts This Year

Christmas is quickly approaching, which means you’re seeing more people bustling about the stores rushing to get their holiday gift shopping done. With all the hustle and bustle of the season, sometimes we get lost in the busyness of it all and don’t put as much thought into the things that really matter.

If you’re planning on giving gifts to your friends and loved ones this year, try doing homemade gifts.

Why?

It’s More Meaningful--

Homemade gifts say “thoughtful” much more than a generic giftset from a national retailer. It shows the receiver of the gift that you care by putting thought, time, and effort into creating something unique just for them.

It’s Unique--

Where else are you going to find this sweet homemade gift that you come up with? Every homemade gift is different, and that gives it so much more personal value than anything you might buy.

It’s Economical--

You can save money by making a homemade gift instead of buying something - depending on what you make of course. If you can save money by making something just as good or better than the mass manufacturers do, and it’s unique and personal, then why not do it?

It’s Environmentally Friendly--

Think about the packaging that you save when you make something yourself than if you buy it at the store with the plastic tags and wrappings. Also, if you’re good at upcycling old items into a new and unique gift, then you’re helping in another way too.

It’s Fun!

Gift giving is more fun when you get to make the gift, instead of just taking a few minutes to make a monetary transaction. Taking the time to plan the gift out and getting the right supplies, and then the actual process of making the gift is so fun, especially as you think about the person that you are doing it for.

What can make it even more fun is getting together with a friend or family member to make gifts together.

You Don’t Have to Start from Scratch--

If you don’t feel that you have the skills or know-how to make a gift from scratch, there are options to help you still add that personal touch. Craft stores have kits that you can put together easily, while still adding that personal and unique element to it. One such online store, Thoughts in Vinyl, has adorable wooden letter craft kits that you can purchase the base supplies and add all of the decorative elements yourself, or you can get everything from them that you need.

Some Ideas--

If you know you want to do some homemade gifts this year but aren’t quite sure where to start, here are some fun and relatively simple ideas to help you out. (And if you want some great tutorials for how to make them, just search for it on Pinterest.)

• Fudge (or any sweet treats)
• Candles
• Fleece tied blankets
• Photo album
• Scrapbook
• Hot cocoa mix
• Sugar scrub
• Bath bombs
• Decorative mugs
• Mason jar snowglobe
• Microwaveable heat packs
• Homemade Crayons (for kids or the quirky artist)
• Homemade soap
• Infused olive oil
• Dip mix
• Dry soup mix in a mason jar
• Artwork
• Coasters
• Jewelry
• Potpourri