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Christmas is a wonderful time for of giving and receiving. Learn more about the 25 DIY Christmas Gifts Kids Can Make so you never lose them again.
Children often want to be a part of that excitement but with a limited budget – handmade gifts tend to be the way to go. The downside to that is many times you’ll end up with gifts that don’t serve a function at all!
What does one do with a macaroni covered tissue box?? We’re here to save the day with our comprehensive list of DIY Christmas gifts for kids to make that you’ll actually use!
#1: Tissue Paper Votive Holders
25 DIY Christmas Gifts Kids Can Make
Source: Crafulate
Any craft that can be assembled exclusively using items purchased at the dollar store is an automatic winner in our books. This votive holder is easy on the eyes and the budget, while being simple enough for even young toddlers to make if you pre-cut the tissue paper for them.
You aren’t limited to the circle design pictured. Let your kids get creative with a mosaic or other geometric shapes and patterns!
#2: Sweet Treats
Source: Nurture Store
Everyone can use a little more chocolate in their lives! This recipe is easy enough that most children can handle assembling completely on their own. Get creative with fillings as well.
Nuts, cherries, rice krispies, peanut butter and nutella are all great mix-ins for chocolate treats. Gather your ingredients and become a chocolatier!
#3: Sharp Art
25 DIY Christmas Gifts Kids Can Make
Source: Paging Fun Mums
If you ever cook or serve drinks at home you can certainly use a trivet or a coaster. Now the kids can make an amazing set using only items purchased from your local hardware store!
Even better than the foolproof method to create these is the fact that your kids can watch the video tutorial and follow along.
Gather your materials and let your Picassos get to work creating their own masterpieces!
#4: Functional and Sustainable
Source: Brashear Kids
Dinner napkins are things that often just get thrown in the trash at the end of a meal. Kids can save the earth and style up the dinner table with these printed napkins.
If a family member loves a particular theme – like grapes or roosters – kids can stamp designs that will match their decor! This sustainable gift is sure to be a treasured addition!
#5: Soothe Sore Muscles
Source: The Happy Housewife
The holiday season and cold weather tend to bring on aches and pains of all sorts. Kids can come to the rescue with these DIY heat pads.
Super affordable you could easily cover everyone on your list using little more than felt, glue and rice. Fuzzy socks also work well and offer tons of fun and funky patterns. For an added treat, add a few drops of peppermint or lavender essential oils to the rice.
#6: Lather and Rinse
Source: Like A Bubbling Brook
We’re hoping everyone on your list bathes and can use this gift. Oatmeal soap balls are easy and affordable to make. Kids will love adding the various scents to them and thinking up creative ways to package the presents as well!
#7: Platters That Impress
Source: Happy Hooligans
Most of us use platters a lot in our homes. You may have one by the front door for collecting odds and ends. There’s probably another on your dining table holding fruit for a quick on the go snack.
Let your kids create functional platters and amazing art all in one with these gorgeous paper mache platters! Older children can paint entire scenes or patterned swirls around the plate!
#8: Garden Art
Source: Kids Stuff World
Everyone loves displaying colorful flowers in their garden and what goes better with colorful flowers than a finger painted flowerpot? To truly make it a special gift, allow your kids to pick out seed packets with vibrantly colored flowers to compliment the flower pots they’ve designed.
#9: Kiss (or Hug) The Cook!
Source: Simply Kierste
Most of us spend some sort of time cooking. Whether it’s baking up a storm in the kitchen or manning the grill out back – a handmade apron with the handprints of loved ones is guaranteed to steal the show during the holiday gift exchange. The simplicity of the project makes it perfect for busy parents as well!
#10: No Sew T-Shirt Bag
Source: Mommypotamus
Many stores are now either not offering shopping bags at all or offering discounts to those that bring their own bags. Your kids can be the ultimate sustainability supporter by upcycling T-shirts into no sew tote bags.
The best part of these bags is that you can customize them to whatever the interests of the recipient are – favorite bands, sports teams, or even movies are all fair game for crafting!
#11: Good Enough to Eat
Source: Cul-de-sac-cool
The best and worst parts of the holidays are all of the baked goods! While receiving a tin of homemade cookies is always nice – most of us have reached sugar overload by the time Christmas hits.
Kids will love assembling these cookie mixes in a jar that allow the recipient to bake the cookies when the craving hits them! For an added twist, throw in a mug and some hot chocolate mix along with a bag of mini marshmallows.
#12: Custom Candles
Source: A Girl in Paradise
Children’s artwork is always treasured but not everyone has a place in their home to display it! These candles solve that dilemma by creating works of art that can be displayed and used virtually anywhere in the home. Kids will love creating designs to transfer on to the candle, almost as much as others will love opening their masterpieces up on Christmas morning!
#13: Hands Off Hottie!
Source: Momma D and Da Boyz
Hot pads are one of those things that are constantly being used and needing to be replaced! Make the cooks on your Christmas list happy when they not only get new hot pads but they have the precious hands of those they love embedded on them. If you can find pint sized hot pads for the child as well, include those with a coupon book redeemable for cooking and baking sessions together!
#14: Fresh Popped Presents
Source: U Create Crafts
There are few things as appreciated and as addictive as popcorn. Tins of flavored popcorn are always a popular gift but this homemade popcorn recipe will blow everyone away.
Older kids can handle either air popping or microwave popping the popcorn. Younger kids will get a kick out of adding the salt and candy for an impressive flavor combination.
#15: Fingerprint Frames
Source: Fun A Day
There’s nothing like the feeling of pulling down the ornaments and beginning to decorate the Christmas tree. Many of the ornaments hold special memories and nostalgia. Photo ornaments are always a hit as you can watch how children have grown though the years.
Now your kids can make the very frame for those ornaments using nothing more than their fingerprints and some decorative squiggles. This festive frame filled with a smiling face will be passed around for all to see!
#16: Rub A Dub
Source: Kids Activities Blog
If your child has a favorite teacher, this sugar scrub that they can make themselves will be the perfect gift! We can all agree that these fine folks need all the indulgence they can get – in fact you should probably throw some chocolate in too for good measure! Scented with essential oils and just luxurious – you might ask the kids to make an extra jar for you!
#17: Salty and Sweet
Source: Not So Humble Pie
We would argue that sweet and salty is the most perfect combination in the world. Kids can now make their own sweet and salty gift with just a little help from you. You’ll want to handle the hot stuff but leave the smashing to the kids!
#18: Refreshingly Sweet
Source: Frugal Mom Eh!
While some anxiously await the arrival of all things pumpkin spice, there are those of us that simply cannot wait for all things peppermint to get here! Your kids can help usher in that season by putting together these adorable peppermint hot chocolate mixes. If you want to add a unique twist to these you could make them into peppermint mocha mixes by adding some instant coffee to the jar as well.
#19: Jot It Down
Source: iHanna
Teens and tweens will love making these patchwork journals to gift to their friends. This is a gift they can make entirely on their own.
In addition to decorating with scrapbook paper they can also use photos, fabric pieces, and cut outs of favorite magazines. These unique and personalized gifts will be well loved by their friends and family alike.
#19: Spice Things Up
Source: Mummy Deals
Making homemade gifts for Dad can be a challenge. If there’s one thing men love, it’s meat and spices. Your children can easily put together a tasty steak rub that will have Dad thinking of them every time he uses it. Add in some new grilling utensils along with a grocery store gift card and you have a complete gift!
#21: A Gift That Grows On You
Source: Maya Made
A gift that grows leaves family thinking of you long after the holidays. Reusing materials from around the house, your kids can prepare these growing tins and plant bulbs in them before the holidays so when they gift them, they will already be sprouting. Bring joy and happiness with a little gift that grows.
#22: Spa Indulgence
Source: Jennifer P Priest
Nothing compares to the feeling of soaking in a hot tub. Your kids can make you, and others they love, enjoy that sensation a little more with this great spa in a jar that they can put together.
Personalize these gifts using favorite scents and colors. Don’t forget about the men in their lives either – body wash in a manly scent, lotion, and even hair products would all work.
#23: Wrap Them In Warmth
Source: Confessions of a Homeschooler
Winter is made for snuggling under a warm blanket in front of a fire with a cup of hot cocoa! If your children can tie a knot, they can make these blankets for pretty much everyone they know.
One of these blankets can easily be made in under an hour. They are also great because they are reversible, so you can even combine two favorites in one blanket.
#24: Frame For Dad
Source: She Knows
This frame for dad is super adorable and easy to make. Pop in a picture of your kiddo and their dad and there will be smiles on both sides of the frame!
#25: Have a Cuppa
Source: How Does She
Coffee and tea drinkers alike love getting new mugs. These dollar store versions can be gussied up by your kids with names, artwork, and other designs. I’d love having a mug from my kids sitting on my desk at work, so I can think of them every time I take a sip!
We hope this list of kid-made DIY Christmas gifts you’ll actually use was helpful. Anyone can go to the store to buy a gift but receiving something that someone poured their love and time into, is so much more meaningful. If you think back, many of your favorite gifts were probably made – not bought.
Pass that tradition on now to your children so it continues for years to come. Let us know what your favorite projects on this list were. We’d love to hear about any original DIY Christmas gift ideas for kids to make that you came up with and the process behind them. Tell us more and you might find yourself featured in a future blog post.
Make sure to send us pictures of your work and don’t forget to share this post with friends as well!
