Handmade Holiday Gift Guide…

Happy Friday and welcome to the official start of the Christmas countdown!

I thought today would be the perfect time to share a handmade gift project guide of some of my favorite gift project tutorials that I have shared here on the blog over the last {almost} three years. As you begin to make your gift list, I wanted to throw out some suggestions of some handmade gift giving ideas and inspiration to add to the list of possible gift ideas.

Before I jump into the list, if you missed it on Tuesday, I finally finished the tree cone/craft cone templates and tutorial and the PDF’s are now available for purchase and immediate download in my shop.  I am so excited about them you can go here and to read all about what comes with the templates and what you can do with them.   The possibilities are endless!

 

 

As you look through my handmade gift project list, keep in mind that these are past gift projects that I have shared.  I have a fun long list of gift projects for this holiday season that I have already started making and I hope to add one new gift project each week between now and Christmas.

So on to the list!

I can’t think of better gift project to start with than the easiest one! It also happens to be one of my favorite projects;  DIY Rhinestone monogrammed sticker letter ornaments:

 

 

 

Yep, this project is as simple as it sounds! You can find the tutorial here and basically all you need is some rhinestone sticker letters from the craft store and an ornament. Don’t let the “sticker” part fool you, for some reason, rhinestone sticker letters have a stronger adhesive than regular stickers and the minute it is placed on a glass ornament, it’s not going anywhere and it’s pretty much permanent! This is a great gift idea for a friend or a teacher!

If you decide to make the monogrammed ornament, you can just wrap it in cellophane with tissue and tie a bow or wrap some fun tinsel around it:

 

 

Next up is another fun and personalized gift idea; monogrammed photo albums created by using your printer to print on fabric!!

 

 

 

In this tutorial, I go through the steps in showing you exactly how you can use your printer to print directly onto fabric. It’s so easy to do and I even shared some free printables that look beautiful printed onto fabric. You can use this tutorial to make personalized photo albums or journal covers, which are great gift ideas for almost anyone!

If you’re looking for a unique and inexpensive way to give sweet treats, you might be interested in this easy project for gluing a melamine plate and bowl together to make easy cake/cookie stands for your treats:

 

 

Cookies and sweet treats are always great gift ideas and if you’re looking for an quick and easy gift, you will want to check out these fun DIY chalkboard cookie jars:

 

 

In that tutorial, I also include a free printable stencil to make your chalkboard label.

Another super easy handmade gift idea is to bling out a frame by attaching some unique items.  This is really not technically handmade but more bedazzling! Ha!  Either way, these Anthropologie inspired frames are a great {and quick} way to really dress up an very inexpensive frame with a vintage pin/brooch or metal painted napkin holders;

 

 

In this blinged out frame tutorial,  I share a lot of ideas for unique ways of adding adornment to a frame.  My favorite item to use are vintage painted metal flower pins that really turn a boring frame into something fun.

Another quick way to transform inexpensive frames in by turning them into chalkboards.  I have shared two very different tutorials for doing this.  The first way is by painting the glass in a frame with chalkboard paint:

 

 

The second way to create instant chalkboard frames is by sliding black card stock in front of the glass in the frame.  It looks and feels just like chalkboard and yes, chalk works perfectly on black card stock:

 

 

Either way, these two chalkboard projects are easy and great handmade gift idea to give to almost anyone.  Are great way to give someone a chalkboard frame is by giving it with a quote you have written:

 

 

you can use small frames, or you can use large ready made wall frames as well:

 

 

or you can draw a picture:

 

 

By the way, cutting black card stock into squares and writing on them with chalk is fun and inexpensive gift tag idea:

 

 

If you’re looking for a really unique gift idea, especially for a family member or friend that has a dog, how about creating a dog silhouette on canvas for them?

 

 

Creating a dog silhouette on canvas is really easy and it’s such a fun gift to create for someone.  How can they resist a painting of their pooch?  The hardest part of this project is getting a side profile image of the dog.  The rest of the project is easy thanks to an 8.5 x 11 adhesive label and spray paint!  It’s really that easy.  You can find the details of that project here.

For a unique way to make an inexpensive gift basket, you might like this recycled project that I was challenged to do by turning an empty iced coffee caddy and jars into a fun “Merry Bubble” gift basket:

 

 

This was such a fun project to do! If you go to the “Merry Bubble” post, you will see I shared some other gift basket ideas as well using this spray painted chalkboard caddy.

I love to give monogrammed pillows, placemats and towels as Christmas gifts too.  They are so personalized and quick and easy by creating a stencil out of large adhesive labels:

 

 

This monogram madness post is a really old post of mine and the pictures are not that great (I was just learning the blogging ropes) but the tutorial is still the same easy technique that I use today and the possibilities are endless!

Speaking of monogramming, one of my favorite posts that I shared awhile back that is also a great and easy way to personalize a gift is creating vinyl letters and monograms without a machine!!

 

 

It was a great day in my house when I discovered this little easy trick to making my own vinyl letters/monograms without a machine.  You can pretty much monogram anything with this technique and I pretty much monogrammed my house that day!  You can see the tutorial here.

If you’re looking for some inexpensive but creative teacher/neighbor gifts, you might be interested in a post that I did last Christmas using cheap melamine plates and bowls that I glued together to create cake/cookie stands and then added packages of holiday Oreo’s and Ghiradelli Chocolates:

 

 

These melamine cake/cookie stands are so easy to make my finished gifts when I added the Oreo’s and chocolate’s were under $10.00!!  I also shared some a ton of other unique but inexpensive gift ideas in that post as well.  You can find that post here.

That’s it for my list right now but I plan on adding this year’s projects to this list as I post them.  I hope you see something here that may inspire you and help you as you plan your gift list.

Have a wonderful weekend friends and I will be back on Monday with a new project!

Cheers!

Cyndy

Sharing this post with:
Home Stories AtoZ {Tutorials & Tips Party}
Somewhat Simple {Thanksgiving Link Party}
Skip to My Lou {Made by you Mondays}
Savvy Southern Style {Wow Us Wednesdays}
Shabby Nest {Frugal Friday}
Tatertots & Jello {Weekend Wrap Up Party}
Under The Table Dreaming {Sunday Showcase}