The holidays have been upon us since dinner was finished up on Thanksgiving, but if you celebrate Christmas, then you really need to have your present ducks in a row by now. I certainly don’t, which is why I was inspired to write on this topic of a last-minute DIY gift. At first, I was doing internet searches for just, “last minute gifts” without adding “DIY.” That part came later after reading some of the first results that came up.
The first lists I found said things like, “get them this scratch and sniff calendar, only $30 through Amazon.” I felt like adding the “DIY” part to my internet search made it clear to Google just how much time and money I’m working with to pull off the rest of my gift haul. None. The answer is none of either, friends. So, I can’t be ordering $30 items online tonight when things needed to be wrapped and under the tree yesterday.
Luckily, I found a handful of solid gift ideas that passed three tests: 1) can I actually make it how it looks in the picture? 2) Can I make it in time? And 3) would I be happy to get this as a gift? If the answer was, “yes,” or even, “I think so” to those three questions, it qualified!
1. Make an Ornament
The options are endless when it comes to making your own ornament gift. You could use a favorite photo, you could make a tree out of cinnamon sticks and ribbon, you could fold paper into stars to hang from the tree, etc. This is one of the last minute DIY gift ideas I used myself. I made an ornament gift this year using embroidery hoops and cross stitch patterns. Cross stitching is the easiest thing in the world, and you are just 10 minutes away from being a master yourself.
2. Wood Burn into a Cutting Board
Like with DIY ornaments, wood burning a cutting board offers a myriad of creative freedom. You could wood burn the date of an important anniversary, the coordinates of a special location, you could decorate the edges, etc. My personal favorite choice if I were to do this project is wood burning a meaningful family recipe into the wood (preferably one that would require a cutting board). Pro-tip: Check your local thrift and discount stores if you’re purchasing a cutting board before going to bigger stores. I found a really nice wood slab cutting board at Goodwill last month for under $3.00.
3. Cork Bulletin Board…
I, personally, don’t think you can ever have enough bulletin boards up. They’re universally useful and personalizing one for a friend could make a cork bulletin board an extra special gift. Like the other gifts, there are a variety of choices you could make moving forward. However, the first decision you have to make is, do you want to decorate or die cut the board? If you decide to decorate you could focus on the border, you could pattern the entire thing, you could fashion a photo board, etc. If you decide to die cut the board you could cut out the outline of someone’s first initial, their home state, an icon of their favorite video game, etc. Or you could mix and match both styles. The options are endless!
5. Food or Drink DIY Gift Jar Kit
Jar kits are the cutest things in one container these days, they’re always fun to get as gifts, and it’s the perfect time of year to fill one with something festive as a gift! You could put together a hot chocolate kit, deconstructed soup in a jar, fancy popcorn mix, pancake mix, etc. Or if you’re feeling a little chilly this winter, give a drink kit with an extra kick. (Spoiler alert: I’m talking about cocktail kits.) Check out how to make mini candles if you like the jar gift idea, but don’t want to involve anything perishable.
6. One of Each BumbleBar Pack
Oh, hey, bonus item! This One of Each Pack is a new item in our online store, and it features one of each of our 13 original BumbleBar and JunoBar flavors! Yeah, it doesn’t really count for this DIY gift list because you can’t really do this one yourself. However, you can order them online yourself! So, we’ll let it be part of the list.
I’m out of time, and now I’m out of ideas. If you’re reading this, then that probably means you’re in the same boat as me. Which idea seems the most appealing to you? What DIY gift ideas would you add to the list? Let us know in the comments and have such wonderful holidays, everyone!
