10 Easy Homemade Christmas Gifts

Do you ever wish you could skip the shopping mall part of the holidays? Ever want to give a gift that’s more personal than something just anyone could buy? Here are 10 great gift ideas that you can make from scratch!
For the kids…

Farmhand Puppets
Supplies:

Felt
Old glove
Glue

Directions:

Cut 5 felt circles. Place an old glove palm side up.

Glue felt circle to each finger tip. Cut felt pieces to make animals faces.

Glue them to felt circles. Let glue dry. Then put your hand inside glove and make your own puppet play.

For the older kids:

Bath Bombs / Bath Fizzies

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons citric acid (you can get this at a pharmacy)
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup baking soda
3 Tablespoons coconut oil (or any other emollient oil like almond, avocado or
apricot kernel oil)
1/4 teaspoon fragrance oil
3-6 drops of food coloring (if desired)
Paper candy cups

Directions:

Place all of the dry ingredients (first 3) into a bowl and mix well.

Place coconut oil into a small glass bowl and add fragrance and food coloring.

Slowly add oil mixture into dry ingredients and mix well. Scoop up small amounts of the mixture and shape into 1″ balls.

Let the balls rest on a sheet of waxed paper for about 2 to 3 hours, then place each ball into a candy cup to let dry and harden for 24 to 48 hours.

Store bombs in a closed, air-tight container. To use, drop 1 to 3 bombs into warm bath water.

Polar Fleece Scarf

Directions:

Purchase a 1/4 of a yard to make polar fleece in the fabric department of your local discount store.

Cut up the ends about 2-3 inches up vertically and about 2 inches wide on your sections you cut then just knot each ones end for a fun look.

Clay Beads for Jewelry Making

Ingredients:

3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup salt
Warm water

Directions:

1. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Gradually add warm water until mixture can be kneaded into a stiff dough. To reduce stickiness, dust with flour.

2. Roll into balls for beads. Pierce each with a toothpick for hole to thread onto string. Air dry and paint.

3. Include beading wire and clasps for them to make their own creations.

Clay Wall Ornaments or Letters for Personalized Wall Decor

Ingredients:

4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cup cold water
sharp knife for freehand designs, stencils, or cookie cutters
Shellac
Ribbons for hangers

Directions:

Mix flour and salt together. Slowly add water while stirring with a fork until soft dough forms.

Turn out on lightly floured to 45 minutes. Baking time will vary with size of ornaments.

When completely cool, you may paint ornaments with Tempra paints or leave natural. Coat with shellac.

Note: Dough will keep indefinitely if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

For Mom:
Chocolate Peppermint Fudge Mix in a Mug

Ingredients:

1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon finely chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions:

Measure into small Ziploc baggie, seal & shake to combine

Measure into a separate small baggie 5 Crushed peppermint candies & 1/2 cup mini marshmallows.

Place in a Mug lined with Tissue paper, attach pretty tag & tiny wooden spoon.

Attach Tag:

Combine Fudge Mix, 2 1/2 Tablespoons butter & cook in microwave 3 minutes. Remove & quickly stir in marshmallows, until well melted.

Cool 5-7 minutes and then place in fridge for 8-10 minutes to set.

For Dad:
Foam Sheet Glasses Case

To make the glasses case, you will need the following simple materials:

a square of craft foam
plastic or large blunt needles
lanyard lace or thick yarn

Directions:

1. Cut two rectangles from the foam, each 3-1/2 inches (9 cm.) by 6 inches (15 cm.).

2. With a hole punch, make holes on three sides of each rectangle, leaving one short side unpunched. Make the holes 1/2 inch apart and allow at least 1/4 inch between the hole and the edge of the craft foam. The holes need to line up so that the two pieces can be laced together. If you are preparing the craft for small children, you should make the holes yourself. Otherwise, the crafters can do this step if you have enough pairs of hole punches.

3. At this point the crafters can cut decorative shapes from other colors of craft foam, or you can buy sets of ready-cut foam shapes. Choose the shapes you like and glue on as desired. You might also like to add beads or sequins to glue on as well.

4. The next step is to thread the plastic needle with the yarn or lanyard lace. Yarn might be a little easier to handle, but lanyard lace is shiny and attractive. Begin to lace the front and back of the glasses case together.

For Everyone:

Homemade Bath Salts

Supplies:

1 cup Epsom salts
Measuring cup
2 jars with lids
2 colored of liquid food color
1 pretty 8 oz. jar
A few drops of your favorite perfume
1/2 yard of ribbon, 1/2″ to 1″ wide

Directions:

1. To make these good smelling bath salts, first measure 1/2 cup of Epsom salt into each jar with a lid.

2. Add 15 drops of food color to each jar, one color per jar and put on the lids. Shake the jars until the Epsom salts are dyed evenly.

3.If you want your colors to be darker, add more food color and shake again. Take off the lids and let the salts dry overnight.

4. Now, make sure your pretty jar is all clean and dry. Then pour the dyed bath salts into the jar, alternating colors (you may want to get colors that go together well).

5. Add a couple of drops of perfume to the bath salts, put on the lid and tie the jar with your pretty ribbon.

Homemade Refrigerator Magnets

Custom magnets are fun and easy to make. The local craft store (your new best friend when making gifts yourself) will have all the supplies you’ll need: magnets, and clear or lightly colored flat circular glass stones. When you get the glass stones home step one is to customize them. You can do this by gluing a photo or scrap of pretty paper with fun designs on it to the flat side. With the stone customized and glue dried attach the magnet to the bottom. The persons most likely to enjoy these are grandparents (use photo of grandkids), tween or teen age girls (use photos of friends, hunky movie stars or funky designs).

Homemade Christmas Ornaments

There are about a bazillion ways to make a homemade ornament; one favorite is the popcorn glass ball. Buy a box of plain, clear glass tree ornaments. You an often find them at the dollar store during the holiday season. Take off the metal top, and fill the ball 1/3 full of popcorn. To pop the corn put it in the microwave on medium-high heat. Watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn. Replace the top, add a red or green ribbon, and the results are pretty!

Another Christmas ornament idea that also starts with glass balls is the painted ball. These mimic those ultra fancy blown and spun glass balls. Again start with a clear glass ball, and remove the top. Next using crafters paint choose a few coordinating colors and add a few drops of the first color into the ball. Then spin or twirl the ball until the paint inside is thrown onto the sides and creates swirled patters. Let each color dry before adding the next color.

Gift ideas courtesy of www.momswhothink.com.  Click here for tons more homemade Christmas gift ideas and instructions.