Hello, dears! Now that my crazy NaNoWriMo and holiday days are over, I can get back to (or begin, I suppose) regular posting. I'm hoping to have a regular posting schedule in which I post every Friday, but we'll see if my consistency is actually as great as I make it sound.
We've all been there before--you want the perfect gift for your loved ones, but you're running out of time and you're on a low budget. Well, I can't promise you the perfect gift, but I can certainly give you some ideas for thoughtful and creative homemade gifts that you can make on a low budget!
What's more, these ideas don't actually require much artistic talent, so if you're thinking, "uhh, I'm not an artist," read on! You may be surprised. ;D
**Note...you can tell I'm a procrastinator because this isn't actually posted until the 23rd. Whoops.**
Folded Bookmarks
These adorable bookmarks are great not just for the adults in your life, but the kids as well. All you need is a sheet of origami paper, some other colored paper, and a glue stick. If you look up "corner bookmark ideas," you'll find tons of cute inspiration photos for just about anybody. You can stick with the simple or go a bit crazy.
The bookmarks pictured are not actually ones I made...these were ones my brother made for a craft fair last month. Aren't they adorable?
Cookie Mix Jars
Mm, what better present than cookies, right? And you don't even have to make them! All you need is your favorite (or your receiver's favorite) cookie recipe, and a Mason jar or something of the kind. Just layer the dry ingredients in the jar, put the lid on snug, and write a little card saying how many wet ingredients to add, what temperature to bake them at, and how long to put them in the oven for. Then tie the label around the jar and bam, you have a cute and simple present!
For those of you wondering about the image, yes, it is someone else's picture. But I promise that I have made these before and they are easy and lovely. :)
Personalized Portraits
Yes, these are on the trickier side artistically. But they actually don't require as much talent as one might think! (I mean, I was able to pull off a ton of these last winter and I promise I'm not that good at art.)
All one has to do is find a good picture and trace it with light pencil onto a piece of watercolor paper. Make the lines super simple! I didn't do faces because I like that style and I don't trust myself with painting face anyways. Then just fill in the lines with light watercolors, adding layers as needed, and let dry. Once it's dry, you can trace over the lines with a thin black pen (Sharpie pens work really well for this type of thing, but you can use really whatever thin pen you want as long as it doesn't bleed too much). If you have a laminator, you can always laminate the painting, but that step is optional.
Sticker Ornaments
I love this idea, because I have sheets upon sheets of stickers, most of which I wouldn't use on their own, but are great for a project like this one.
These ornaments can be whatever shape and size you'd like! You may want to choose a fatter shape, like this Christmas tree I did, instead of the letter to someone's name or something skinnier. This way, you can see what the individual stickers are.
This craft is super easy, and it looks nice and polished once it's laminated! Just use a piece of paper and trace or sketch your shape, and then cut it out before you begin sticker-ing. Starting with large stickers and ending with the tiny ones to fill in the gaps and edges, cover the entire ornament with stickers. Think about what the person likes, maybe even include some inside jokes in your sticker choices. Don't be afraid to cover up other stickers in the process!
Once you've fully covered the entire paper shape, peel it up and turn it over, cutting off the excess sticker. Then laminate, cut out, punch a hole, and tie a ribbon!
Well, I hope that these last-minute ideas were helpful to someone in need of a quick and easy present! Thanks for reading!
did you make any of your presents from scratch? did anyone make anything for you? merry christmas, mayflower readers!
Toodeloo, friends!
~Lily May
These are such fun ideas, Lily! :D