Easy DIY Holiday Gifts Everyone Will Love

Are you someone who stresses out over the thought of going to a store to buy a special gift for the people on your list? Do you feel like the stores lack the personal touch you want to give those special people in your life? Well, look no further because this is one of my specialties. I have had a longstanding tradition on Black Friday of going to craft stores to shop for decor and supplies I need to create these gifts with huge savings.

Here are some of my favorite and easy DIY holiday gifts (with links where possible) for you to make for your loved ones this holiday season:

Arts and Crafts:

• Painted Ornaments: I love love love to paint ornaments, so I usually buy one of every ornament to dazzle my ornament-collecting loved ones. A bonus is finding some cool beads to glue on to give it some extra pizazz.
• Kids’ Homemade Ornaments: My kids love any opportunity to do art, so we have many variations of colored ornaments that they have worked on each year. Some are those very flashy ones with their picture in the middle, a fan favorite in our house.
• Filled Ornaments Craft: Stores sell a vat of clear ornaments that you can fill with glitter or other fun things to create a custom ornament that will make trees stand out for years to come. This is another great one to do with your kids. You can also make this a treat-focused one and fill it with hot cocoa and all the fixings!
• Custom Aprons: My family does a cookie-baking day leading into Christmas to make all of our cookies for Santa, so last year I crafted special aprons that we could all wear to remember the day. I own a Cricut, so I was able to cut the lettering and image out of vinyl and iron it on the aprons I picked out. My kids are still wearing them every time we go to bake.
• Custom Holiday Shirts: Again, using my Cricut, I create fun shirts the kids can wear throughout the season. Now that my oldest is rounding 8, he has very specific tastes that aren’t always met by what you find in the stores. I love wrapping these and seeing their faces when they unwrap them. I usually give these on Black Friday to kick off the official season.

Baking and Food:

• Cookie Bags: I use one day when all three of my kids are in school to bake probably 20 dozen cookies that I assemble into cookie bags that I bring to my closest friends. I include a variety of each cookie I make (a few of my favorites are Whipped Shortbread Cookies, Hot Cocoa Cookies, and Oreo Peppermint Crunch Cookies) and place them in a festive bag with some hot cocoa or hot cocoa spoons and the fixings for a cocoa and cookie treat. I handmake tags with my Cricut, but you can also find cute tags at Target, Michaels, Home Goods, or Joann Fabrics. 
• Cookies or Brownies in a Jar: For friends who live too far to ensure a fresh cookie, I mail them cookies in a jar with the dry ingredients layered in a mason jar with instructions on how to make and bake the treat. I also added the hot cocoa pieces that I mentioned in the cookie bags to make it a little extra special.
• Bar: My mother-in-law introduced me to bark during the first Christmas I spent with her. It has been a staple on our dessert table for years, but sometimes, for teachers or our mailman or delivery drivers, I whip up a batch and include it with a thank-you note and tip for their hard work all year, especially with the added deliveries we have during the holiday season.
• Holidays in a Jar: One of my neighbors always drives around with goodies in tow around the holidays and hand-delivers to each of our neighbors. One year, she gifted what I call Holiday in a Jar. It makes your house smell like all the smells you think of during the holidays, and you can even put it in a slow cooker to give your house that smell while hosting. Here is a recipe for you to try.
• Coffee Bar in a Thanks: To mindless scrolling on Instagram, I stumbled across this idea. Being a coffee addict, it spoke to me. There are little syrups you can get in a set at Target, and the person got a giant jar that they filled in about 1/3 of the way with whole coffee beans, placed the syrups in, and then filled in the rest with coffee. She even went all fancy and put a little coffee mug in there to enjoy the syrups with, and of course, candy canes. Totally genius idea for the coffee lover in your life.
• Chex Mix: Who doesn’t feel nostalgic eating a handful of Chex Mix…..just me? You can get some really cute airtight jars at Home Goods or Target and fill them up with a generous helping of homemade Chex mix.
• Muddy Buddies: Same idea above with the Chex Mix, but make it sweet. This one is a little bit messier but super fun to do with the kids.
• Rice Krispie Treat Ornaments: Make a set of Rice Krispie Treats and use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out your favorite holiday shapes and package them up like an ornament with a bow.

My favorite place to find inspiration for recipes and crafts is still Pinterest. Call me old-fashioned, but there is nothing better than scrolling for holiday things to get me in the holiday DIY spirit. Happy creating!