10 Easy Homemade Gifts Every One Will Love

Are you the super crafty Pinterest-perfect person? Me either.  I’m not sure who those women are.  They exist, but must be the 1% of our population… the 1% with great photographers?  Well, maybe it’s higher than 1%…  Pinterest perfect crafty superstar or not, this article will give you great easy homemade gifts and Ideas because they are now my favorite ways to Gift.

What Are Good Easy Homemade Gifts The Kids Can Help Make?

First, let me say that people love our easy homemade gifts and they will love yours too!

How do I know they don’t just tell me they love them because they are being nice? Well, first of all, they are not all nice…  😉  But seriously, they don’t just tell me they love the gifts.  They ask for the recipes, directions, links to the ideas, and offer to pay me to make them more…

What is a Good Homemade Gift?

So, what is a good homemade gift?

Aren’t Homemade gifts a lot of work? 

Why do you love making them?

Oh, I am so glad you asked!  For years we have struggled to find Christmas traditions that work well for our family.

Read some of that story here ~> How to Make a New Family Christmas Tradition and 10 Frugal Christmas Gifts Kids Can Make.

We stumbled upon a love of crafting in my oldest daughter early on and then we began to fall in love with crafting together as a family.  I love the way we can have fun with creating, and the natural way it opens up conversations!

Why Make Homemade Gifts?

1. Making Homemade Gifts creates Time and creating opens up communication

Let me just say – kids go deeper into conversations when they are doing something.  They will answer questions, share details of their lives, and really listen when you share your heart with them.  It has been a bonding time like no other for us!  I love hearing about what my kids are into and up to.  It is also a perfect way to point out God moments in their lives.  Win-Win!

2. Homemade Gifts are very Frugal

When we realized Homemade gifts are far more frugal than gift cards (our standby at Christmas) we wanted to at least try it.  We tried several great ideas (for most people) before landing on some I would not be embarrassed to give to friends and family.

Related: 23 Bible Verses for Birthday Blessings

Why make homemade gifts? 1. Making Homemade Gifts creates Time and creating opens up communication 2. Homemade Gifts are very Frugal Share on X

What are the Best Homemade Christmas Gifts?

Homemade Christmas gifts are fun and frugal. They are a great way together! If a gift brings in those elements it is listed in our top ten or best homemade Christmas gifts list!

When you add to it, homemade gifts made easy through DIY tutorials I rank the gift that much higher!

These 10 Christian gift ideas are easy gifts to make at home, and the kids can do most of the work.

Ahem… anything my kids can do and feel good about on a special occasion ranks as some of the best gifts whether they make it under our Christmas tree or not!

What are Good Cheap Gifts for Friends?

Just a side note: Homemade gifts require thought. When you are thinking about gifts that fit your budget for friends you may ask, “What are good cheap gifts for friends?” or “What are some cheap gift ideas?”

People often comment – on gifts that they don’t like so much – that it’s the thought that counts.  But how much thought really goes into most of your shopping?  If I’m honest, early on I had a list, I was in a hurry to mark people off of it and I was going into debt to do that.  Merry Christmas!

Making a gift by hand means I really am thinking of you while I make it.  I am praying over you and your life – and so are my kids!

Now, not everyone enjoys a hand scrub – what do you give the men in your life?

Last year we found fun bookmarks (which is #4) that are great DIY gifts for men! Now we have easy homemade gifts for friends of all kinds!!!!  

All 10 gifts on our list are cheap homemade gifts anyone can make.

What are the Best Homemade Gifts?

These are our top 10 favorite frugal easy homemade gifts – easy enough the kids can make – and everyone loves.

Pinterest perfect crafty superstar or not, this article will give you great easy homemade gifts Ideas because they are now my favorite ways to Gift. Share on X

Snowman Fingerprint Ornament  – Great DIY Christmas Gifts for Mom

We started with homemade ornaments.  They were easy creative DIY Christmas gifts and are fun to make – though we broke several in the process.

The total cost to make one ornament was $2

$2 for a beautiful DIY Christmas for mom!

Here is a link to the Directions for the Snowman Fingerprint Ornaments

Supplies for these creative homemade gifts:

1. Ornaments
   • I would swap a plastic ornament for the glass because they really break easily.
2. White Paint
3. Black and orange Sharpies

Cinnamon Ornaments

The next year we tried a different ornament.  Oh my goodness, I still love these easy gift ideas.  They are cinnamon and the smell just keeps giving.  That was almost 7 years ago and they have not molded – and they still smell amazing!

The total cost to make 1 ornament was $0.50

$0.50 for these beautiful easy gifts to make at home!

Here is an easy tutorial for the Cinnamon Ornament

Some tips for these easy DIY gifts for friends:

• Designate a place for them where the kids can’t peek!
• It takes 24-48 hours for them to dry and if they are moved a lot they will crack.
• 1/4 of an inch and they break – bigger than 1/2 inch and they never dry.
• Pick cookie cutter shapes that have a side big enough to poke a straw threw
• Poke the straw threw while still wet – so you have a place to slip a hook in it to hang

The Supplies for these easy gift ideas:

1. 1 Cup Apple Sauce
2. 1 Cup Cinnamon
3. 2 Tbsp white glue
4. 1 straw
5. Christmas themed cookie cutters
6. Parchment paper to dry on

Sugar Scrub which is an easy DIY gift for friends and family!

For a couple of years, we experimented with sugar scrubs.  I love sugar scrubs and they are great for so many things.

• You can moisturize your hands
• Use them to scrub your lips
• Personally, I use them to shave my legs.
  • When I found that a sugar scrub causes the hair follicles to exfoliate and makes the shave last longer I began trying it out.  It is sometimes a month between shaves for me now… TMI I know I know, but I love it and love giving it to others.

The total cost for each jar of a sugar scrub is $5

Homemade Sugar Scrub Supplies:

• 2 1/2 Cups of Sugar
• 1 Cup of Coconut oil
• 5 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice
• 15 drops of an Essential Oil.  (I love Lavender but some prefer Peppermint)
• Recycled jar

How do you make an inexpensive gift? How do you make a simple gift?

Recycle or up-cycle! To up-cycle jars, simply wash them after use and remove the label.  There is a shelf in our kitchen full of jars set aside for Christmas!

We created these fun free printable labels to use – I’d love to give them to you below!

Origami Bookmarks are easy homemade gifts for friends!!!!!!

Now, the men in your life love to figure things out and prove they are top dogs.  Several of them – upon receiving these bookmarks – were so impressed they began taking them apart to figure out how to make them!  It was hilarious.

One gentleman, who shall remain nameless here, even made some himself just to prove he could…  Love it!

These easy homemade gifts for friends are both easy – deep breath – and fun to make together.

The total cost per bookmark was about $0.50

Here is a Tutorial from RedTedArt about them and so many to pick from

Just a Tip – origami paper is hard to find – in solid colors – in my area.  We tried making these with construction paper but they just weren’t so nice.  I ended up ordering Solid Origami Paper from Amazon!

Bracelets are Cute Homemade Gifts for Friends!!!!!!

Okay, so this one is on my list this year.  These bracelets are cute homemade gifts for friends, DIY gifts for mom or teachers!

The bracelet is pretty – I would wear it!  Win-Win!

The total cost is about $1 and I would probably pair it with a bookmark to make someone’s day!

Here is a Tutorial to make the Homemade Bracelet

Supplies Needed:

1. Jumbo Popsicle Sticks
2. Cup
3. Rubber Band
4. Washi Tape to Decorate

I literally have all of that on hand right now #HomeSchoolMomLife fun!

PS. This special gift required its own special wrapping project.  We made boxes and tote bags (a fun first run through the sewing machine!) as a creative craft project.  It was a lot of fun and didn’t take a long time.

Homemade Mason Jar are easy gifts to make at home

I love this Nativity Christmas Story Trail Mix Mason Jar!  A Hundred Affections has a printable story to tie to the jar in her post below and you can change out parts of the mix that you know people may not love.   

Talk about the perfect easy gifts to make from home!  This perfect gift is one of our favorite homemade Christmas food gifts!

The total cost for these easy homemade gifts is $5 per jar!

Here is a Tutorial to make the Christmas Story Trail Mix Mason Jars

Supplies Needed:

1. Hershey’s Kisses (or hugs)
2. Star Puff Marshmellows
3. Almonds
4. Pretzels
5. Popcorn
6. optionally other chocolate
7. Mason Jars (or Up-cycled jar if you plan for it)

I love this because it keeps the focus on Christ and the gospel and they really are easy homemade gifts for friends and family at Christmas!

PS. You can spin this into a set of mason jars using hot chocolate mix for any special occasion in the holiday season or just wintertime in general.  

I am all about making good use of jars!  I am all about making good use of jars and edible gifts can be the best way to up-cycle jars! (LOL, we have a special storage space for them in fact!)

Detox Bath Salts in a Jar

Over the past couple of years, my health has been touch and go.  One thing that has helped me has been detox baths.  The Epsom salt really helps relax my joints and muscles – which are always inflamed with this Hashimoto Disease.

This year I am giving some of my loved ones this same detox because it is easy to make in batches and it really is so soothing!

The total cost per jar is $6 (again because I up-cycle jars – add the cost of jars to your budget if you don’t up-cycle.)

Here is a Tutorial to make the Detox Bath Salts

Supplies Needed

1 cup Epsom salts
1/2 cup ground ginger
1/3 cup baking soda
15 -20 drops Lavender Essential Oil. 
Jars

Deodorizer Balms

These balms are great homemade gift ideas for friends who are pet lovers.  We recently lost our Australian Shepherd – a beloved family member of 15 years.  I still remember Bud sneaking him out of my mom’s house when he was 3 weeks old and fit in the pocket of his hoody.  Ah, I miss that little rascal.

But I digress.

We love animals but hate the smell of animals.  We also try to live chemical-free.  Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place!

Anyway, baking soda is a great deodorizer but we went a step further this year!  A failed attempt at creating bath balms gave us deodorizer balms!!!!!!!!!

The total cost per set of deodorizer balms (I give 2 or 4 small ones tied together in a mesh bag) is $1

Here is the Tutorial to Make the Balms – they do not do well in the shower or bath but are great air fresheners!

Supplies Needed:

• 1 Cup baking soda
• 1/3 Cup Water
• 20 drops Essential Oil (I use a homemade Thieves blend essential oils)
• Mesh bags (6 for $1 at the Dollar Tree)

Now, in the early stages, making bath bombs failed.  We had to find creative ideas to help salvage the creations.  While they didn’t end up as a useful gift, we still had so much fun figuring it all out!

Fast Easy Lip Balm

Life with allergies is a roller-coaster ride of learning Y’all.  When we discovered my youngest was sensitive to dye I about lost my mind.  Not only can she not eat them, but they cause rashes when they are in body products.

Dye Free and soap, shampoo have entered our world.  But when you have a little girl makeup also comes into play.  It is so expensive to buy lip balm she can use.

It is amidst all the organic vegan things and is $6 or more a tube!  Yikes!  We found we could make it ourselves really easy and cheaply. And it works well and others love it too!!!!!!!!

The total cost for lip balm is $1 per – if you upcycle jars and tins!

Find an easy to follow Tutorial for 5- Minute DIY Lip Balm here

Supplies:

• 5 Tbsp  Coconut oil
• 3 Tbsp Beeswax (cheap on Amazon)
• 12-15 drops Essential Oil Oil of your choice
• Small tins or jars

Hand Lotion

For the same reason, we had to learn to make lip balm we learned to make hand lotion.  Y’all, I love this stuff so much more than store-bought – alcohol (skin drying) filled – lotions that break out my eczema!

This one costs more, but everyone loves it so I thought it was absolutely worth it.  Now, to make the lotion itself I exclude the Magnesium oil (which is also homemade by heating magnesium flakes with distilled water – costs about $1 per cup as opposed to $13 per cup pre-made).

The total cost for Hand Lotion per jar is $7.

Here is the easy tutorial to make the Magnesium Lotion

Supplies needed:

• 1/2 cup Coconut oil
• 1/2 cup Shea Butter
• 3 Tbsp Beeswax
• 20-30 drops Peppermint Essential Oil (or your choice)
• 1/4 cup Magnesium Oil (optional)
• 1/2 Cup size jar

We never figured out how to make them into lotion bars like the tutorial suggests, but I loved that they are made from natural ingredients, so they made the gift list.

Which of these Easy Homemade Gifts Will You Make?

These are our favorite, time-tested easy homemade gifts. Everyone loves them.  They literally cost less than $10.  Our family loves spending time creating them.  We think of the recipient and pray over them through the process.  Making gifts for others is a great time to laugh, love, and learn together!

Which could you try to make?

1. Snowman Fingerprint Ornaments
2. Cinnamon Ornaments
3. Sugar Scrub
4. Origami Bookmarks
5. Bracelets
6. Mason Jar Gifts
7. Detox Bath Salts
8. Deodorizer Balms
9. Lip Balm
10. Lotion

I’d love to know if there are some you use!  Drop me a comment below.  We’d love to try them and add to the list of fun!

in HIM,

If you found these quick gift ideas helpful, you will also love these:

• Gift Guide for the Family Who Value Quality Time
• The Best Frugal Gifts for Bible Journaling
• 10 Frugal Christmas Gifts the Kids Can Make