Christmas is an expensive time for everyone, especially when you’re a student living off bags of the cheapest pasta. So this year, why not get creative. While some may be more time-consuming than others, they’re worth it for those special to us. Here are some ideas of gifts to make this Christmas:
- A photo book – You can print off some photos of yourself and a friend and stick them in a book! You can also add bits of collage which you can easily find lying around the house, for example using old things and upcycling them; old bits of paper and string to make pretty patterns cut out bits of old packaging. One example of this could be cutting the pizza photo out from a pizza box and glueing it in your collage then adding photos of you and a friend out for food. This adds a nice touch to a photo book!
- Make your own Christmas cards – One fun way to spice up your Christmas card game is to make them… From scratch. The way to do this is to find old pieces of scrap paper, tear them apart and blend them with a little bit of water. Then, once it’s blended add some plant seeds and mix to make a paper mache seed mix and lay it out as a square, ideally in a square-shaped tin or something similar and leave to dry, once you’ve done this you can cut them to shape and write in them. This gift will allow people to plant their Christmas cards in a plant pot and the seeds will grow.
- A knitted gift – If you enjoy crafting and are good at knitting I recommend knitting a gift. A good woolly hat will be much appreciated during the cold months leading up to spring! Also, you can knit a very simple bunny by knitting just a square. A YouTube tutorial I recommend to follow for the bunny is ‘Studio Knit’!
- An embroidered item – This may sound tricky but to embroider all you need is to learn a few stitches, have an embroidery hoop and purchase some sewing needles and embroidery thread. Once you have these things all you need to do is trace an image or words onto some fabric with a pencil and sew over it. Embroidery tutorials can be found for free on YouTube.
- Christmas cookies – Christmas cookies or Christmas cake can be a great present at Christmas because who doesn’t love a sweet snack. This will also be helpful for people who cook Christmas dinner as it means they may not have to bake more for dessert. It could also cheer someone up if you make their favourite cookies!
- Make your own candle – Making candles is really creative and fun and can be cheap! All you need is a jar, a candle wick, some wax and essential oils. Another way you can do this is heat and use old leftover bits from candles lying around the house. But if you want to make one from scratch all you need to do is put the wick in the jar, heat the wax while adding the oils, and pour it in the jar leaving it to cool and harden.
- Handmade snow globe – This is a very sweet and heartfelt gift as you can make a personal snow globe with a photo of you and a friend for example, or a family member. You could add something significant to it or make it Christmassy and have a Christmas tree snow globe. There are many online tutorials for cheap and easy but professional looking snow globes.
- A clay or pottery gift – A fun way to kill time while making a Christmas gift is using clay or decorating pottery. This is a very sweet idea as you can paint and personalise your crafts. You could make a Pinterest mood board for the gift receiver and find some ideas based on their personality and interests. This is a great present as it adds a personal flair to a handy little gift.
- DIY terrarium – This is a pretty simple self-explanatory gift and something nice to spruce up a home. Succulents don’t need much attention, just the occasional watering. A good way to find ideas for this is on Pinterest or Youtube. You could also reuse lightbulbs or other glass objects from your home to make this more environmentally friendly. You should also bubble wrap this gift and make a note on it that it is fragile.
- A potted plant – if you have plants in your home you can propagate them which means to cut off a piece and replant it in a pot. This can be a great cheap and easy yet effective Christmas gift.
So… be creative this year for Christmas. Try to support smaller businesses this year rather than bigger corporations like Amazon, and try to have as much fun as possible with your crafts!
