No place like home: DIY Christmas gifts

Ariella Gage '27

Around Campus Page Editor

Christmas is just around the corner, and buying gifts for everyone in your life can get stressful, so why not make them yourself? Check out these easy DIY Christmas gifts that will be perfect for your friends and family:

Dough Christmas Ornaments

Love to bake but you’re not a master chef? Make these simple ornaments with only three ingredients: one cup of salt, two cups of flour and one cup of water. This will make about seven to ten ornaments, depending on their size. Just mix the flour and salt, then add warm water until it forms a dough. Knead the dough, roll it out, then use cookie cutters to make fun shapes (and don’t forget to make a hole in the top of each ornament so you can hang them). Bake until the ornaments harden. Then comes the fun part—personalize your ornaments by decorating them with acrylic paint, ribbons and glitter!

Homemade Christmas ornaments

Arrange various self-care gifts into a beautiful basket like this one.

Spa Basket

Winter is the perfect time for appreciating a relaxing spa day to refresh and rewind. To add an aesthetic personal touch to your gift, put together a basket with all the necessities for self-care and relaxation. Don’t forget essentials like a sugar scrub, lotion, masks and some cozy slippers for afterwards. This is a good reminder to the loved ones in your life that self care is just as important as taking care of others.

Crocheted Cozy Gifts

Engage your inner grandma as you knit or crochet a cozy gift perfect for those chilly winter mornings. Options include blankets, sweaters, drink coasters, stockings, stuffed animals and anything else you can create. If you don’t know how to knit or crochet, ask your grandma to teach you, watch tutorials or try making an easy no-sew fleece blanket.

Pick out your favorite holiday-themed fleece fabric and cut 1-inch thick strips around the perimeter. Simply tie together each pair of strips and place it under the Christmas tree! You can also use the same technique to make a matching scarf.

Photo Magnets

We all have that photo that tells a story. Why not immortalize it on the front of the refrigerator with a magnet? This gift is so easy to make, yet so adorable. Just hot glue a small magnet to the back of your favorite photo, whether it’s a baby picture, a photo of your adorable puppy or anything in between. For extra pizzazz, consider laminating the photo.

Holiday Bookmarks

Cold weather is the time for sitting by the fireplace with a good book, so a festive bookmark is the perfect gift for a book lover in your life. All you need is a few colors of cardstock, a hole punch, ribbon and whatever else you would like to decorate your bookmarks with. Cut out rectangles from the cardstock and punch a hole in the top. Thread ribbon through the hole, then get creative with markers, glitter and stickers to personalize each bookmark.

These festive bookmarks are super easy to make.