Do you really want to get Dad another “World’s Best Dad” mug? Or panic-buy the same scented candle for your sister for the third year in a row?
Nope. Not this year.
This year, we’re going handmade. Easy, actually-doable, budget-friendly DIY gifts that look like you spent a fortune but really just took an afternoon, a little hot glue, and maybe a glass of eggnog.
No crafting expertise required. Just thoughtful, cozy, heartfelt gifts your family will actually love and keep.
Ready to get crafty and make this your most memorable Christmas yet? Let’s dive in!
From the Kitchen
I reach for edible gifts first when a relative says she has enough stuff. Peppermint bark is my pick here: it looks festive with almost no skill, and one pan fills tins for a crowd. For anyone managing diabetes or a food allergy, pass on this group and head to the keepsakes or the house gifts instead.
Hot Cocoa in a Jar
Hot Cocoa in a Jar is cocoa mix layered in a jar with marshmallows and a candy cane on top, no cooking required. The jar suits the whole household, especially one with kids who can help stack the layers. You can line up a dozen jars and fill them the same way, and the supplies can come from a dollar store.
Cookie Mix in a Jar
Cookie Mix in a Jar layers the dry ingredients for a batch of cookies in a mason jar, with the baking steps on a tag. Give it to the sibling or household that likes to bake together over the holidays. The catch: your tag has to list the wet ingredients they add at home and the oven temperature, or the jar is just pretty flour.
Peppermint Bark
Peppermint Bark is dark chocolate and white chocolate melted, spread thin, topped with crushed candy canes, then left to set and broken into pieces. The bark is no-bake, it’s for anyone with a sweet tooth, and it splits easily into tins or little bags for a big family. Keep it in a cool, dry place until you give it.
Spiced Whipped Honey
Spiced Whipped Honey is honey whipped with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves and vanilla until it turns pale and spreadable. For 1 cup of honey, that’s about 7 to 8 minutes with a mixer on medium-high. The warm spices make it a Christmas-morning toast gift for parents and in-laws who like a slow breakfast. Store the jar in a cool, dry place.
Keepsakes for Parents and Grandparents
These keepsakes are the gifts that tend to stay out long after the wrapping paper is gone. For grandparents, I’d make the salt dough handprint ornament, because it saves the size of a kid’s hand at this age and goes back on the tree every year. Leave the photo calendar off the list for the relative who never looks at a wall calendar. For that relative, the calendar just becomes clutter.
Salt Dough Handprint Ornaments
Salt Dough Handprint Ornaments are a child’s handprint pressed into salt dough (a flour, salt and water dough that hardens when baked), then painted and hung on the tree. Mix 1 cup hot water, 1 cup salt and 1 to 2 cups flour, let the pressed ornament air dry for 24 hours, then bake it at 250°F for 2 to 3 hours. The ornaments are easy, but plan for two days before you paint. Grandparents first, everyone else second.
Family Photo Coasters
Family Photo Coasters are family photos glued onto 4×4-inch bathroom tiles with Mod Podge (a glue and sealer you brush on), sealed with clear polyurethane spray, and backed with felt. A set of four with last year’s Christmas photos is an easy win for parents or grandparents. Spray the sealer outdoors or in a well-ventilated spot.
DIY Photo Calendar
A DIY Photo Calendar is twelve family photos, one for each month, made into a calendar for the coming year. It starts in January, so Christmas is exactly the right time to give it, and it lands best with grandparents who live far away. You can make a quick version or a more elaborate one. Both work if you pick bright, simple photos.
Memory Jar
A Memory Jar is a jar filled with handwritten notes of shared memories from the year or good wishes for the next one. The whole gift costs little beyond a jar and paper, and it suits parents who keep every card they get. My favorite twist: have each family member write a few notes, so the whole family makes one jar together for Christmas morning.
Cozy Pampering Gifts
Making for a crowd of sisters-in-law? This group is where you get the most gifts out of one afternoon. The brown sugar scrub earns its spot because one batch fills eight little jars, and that can cover a whole branch of the family. Every item here is scented, though, so for someone who reacts to scented products, the keepsakes group is the safer place to shop.
Brown Sugar Scrub
Brown Sugar Scrub mixes raw sugar, brown sugar and fractionated coconut oil, with essential oils if you want a scent (a little peppermint makes it smell like December). One batch uses 1 cup of each and fills eight 4-ounce jars. Pack it in jars with tight lids and label one each for mom, a sister or a mother-in-law.
Christmas Bath Salts
Christmas Bath Salts are bath soak salts mixed with a scent and packed in little jars. I like a eucalyptus-mint blend for December: fresh, but still cozy, for parents or grandparents who love a long bath. The salts batch easily, so you can make several jars at once.
Snow Globe Hand Soap
Snow Globe Hand Soap is a clear soap dispenser filled with clear gel hand soap and small waterproof Christmas charms. The thick gel holds the charms in place, so the bottle looks like a snow globe. The soap works for the whole household, sits by the sink all December, and needs no special skill.
Little Things for the House
For in-laws, whole households and that big family exchange where you need ten of the same thing, small home gifts are the easiest batch. My top pick is the Christmas simmer pot kit, because every kit is identical and any household with a stove can use one. I’d keep the mason jar snow globe away from a house with toddlers, who will shake a glass jar until it slips. The simmer kit or the magnets suit that house better.
Christmas Simmer Pot Kit
A Christmas Simmer Pot Kit is a bag or jar of dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks and cloves for a simmer pot (a pan of fruit and spices in water, left on low heat to scent the house). Your relative just tips it into water and warms it gently. Make one kit per family, and add a note on the tag never to leave the pot unattended.
Mason Jar Snow Globe
A Mason Jar Snow Globe is a mason jar with a small tree or figure glued to the lid, then filled with water and glitter and sealed tight. It’s a quick gift with only a few simple supplies. Give it to grandparents or the older kids in the family who like a little sparkle on a shelf.
Photo Fridge Magnets
Photo Fridge Magnets turn family photos or kids’ drawings into magnets for the fridge. This year’s Christmas photos or a stack of holiday drawings make a good set for the household that covers its fridge in pictures, or for grandparents far away. They take little effort, so a set per family is easy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Can I Make in Bulk for a Big Family?
Pick gifts that use the same supplies, so you can work assembly-line style. One batch of brown sugar scrub fills eight 4-ounce jars, which can cover a whole branch of the family at once. Hot cocoa jars, peppermint bark split into bags or tins, Christmas simmer pot kits and photo fridge magnets also scale well, at one per family or household.
How Far Ahead Can I Make These?
Give salt dough handprint ornaments about two days: they air dry for 24 hours, then bake for 2 to 3 hours before you paint them. Photo calendars, photo coasters, photo magnets and memory jars keep well if you tuck them away until Christmas. Make the edible gifts (hot cocoa jars, cookie mix jars, peppermint bark and spiced whipped honey) closer to giving, and keep them in a cool, dry place.
Whatever you make, add a small tag with the relative’s name and a one-line note about why you picked it for them. That tag and a plain ribbon do more for a homemade gift than a flawless finish ever will. So if the bark broke into odd shapes or one coaster sits a little crooked, wrap them anyway.
