In a society filled with a pandemic rendering many without a job, this Christmas it is important more than ever to be able to offer your family and friends DIY gifts. There are many benefits to DIY'ing Christmas gifts including the process of creating being good for mental health, they are one of a kind, and most importantly they help you save money. Take a look at five holiday gifts we will be utilizing this year for a more cost-effective gift.
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Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix
I don't know about you, but I absolutely love hot cocoa during this time of the year. What's better is I found a delicious recipe to make the mix, EXACTLY as the big name brands do. Go to Dollar Tree and grab the party favor bags (give you 5-10 bags) or a mason jar and combine all of the dry ingredients together. Garnish the packages with ribbon (also can be found at Dollar Tree) by taking scissors and running the ribbon between the blade and your finger (if a minor please seek assistance from an adult; do NOT run your finger along the blade) to make the ribbon curly. This is a perfect stocking stuffer for children and adults. This will be my second year making this for my family because they enjoyed it so much. Here's the recipe:
3 cups dry nonfat or whole milk powder (tailor this to whether you prefer skim or whole milk)
2 cups of powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups of white chocolate chips
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2. A Bubble Bath Gift Box
What you'll need:
A box (could be one you have lying around or thrift)
A demi bottle of alcohol
Small candles (Dollar Tree's candles, although cheap, keep their smell the entire time you burn them!)
Fancy matches/ Lighter
Bath salts (pour into a smaller glass bottle)
Crinkle cut craft paper/ Tissue Paper
3. DIY Funny Socks
Purchase any pair of socks and iron-on letters, and customize a pair of socks to fit the person you are gifting them to!
4. Homemade Soap
This is such a fun gift idea, that you know the person you gift it to will use! Making soap is super simple, another cheap and quick gift idea.
Soap base (you can grab this from craft stores or amazon, there are many different kinds of bases some regular some sensitive. tailor it to the persons skin, if you do not know their skin type its safe to stick with the all-natural)
Soap Mold
Essential Oils (my personal favorites are beragamot-smells like lime, rose, and lemon. make sure these oils are gentle so as to not irritate the person's skin)
Step 1: Heat the soap base up in a microwave safe bowl.
Step 2: Add essential oils (play around with formulas until its just how you want it).
Step 3: Pour soap into the mold and let dry for 5-10 minutes.
5. Sweater Totes
Use an old sweater or thrift a cheap sweater to create this cute wine bottle koozies. This project requires a bit of sewing, but if that is not your thing you could always piece the fabric together with small safety pins or hot glue. We got this cool idea from That's What Che Said.
Old/Thrifted Sweater
Scissors
Sewing Machine and Thread
Ribbon
Pen and Marker
Step 1: Cut 12 inches off of the sleeve
Step 2: Using the marker outline the bottom of the bottle of wine on the sweater, and cut out a circle for the bottom of the wine koozie.
Step 3: Turn the sleeve inside out, so the fabric is now on the wrong side. Stitch the circle around the base of the raw edge of the sleeve. If you are familiar with sewing, you might need to add a dart in there to make it fit.
Step 4: Turn holder right side out and place the bottle of wine in the holder. And add ribbon around the koozie near the neck of the bottle.
We hope you enjoyed these five simple and affordable gift ideas for Christmas. Have a happy holidays!