December brings cold, snow, hot chocolate, and many opportunities for gift giving to family and friends! If your budget is feeling stretched (or non-existent), or you love surprising people with things of your own making, here are some ideas for homemade gifts that are easy, fun, and fun to give!
Duct Tape Roses – Give a “forever bouquet” to someone! The roses are a bit labor intensive, so be ready to commit a bit of time to this. 3 – 4 roses, and a nice glass vase, and you have a great gift! Here’s a great site to learn how: http://ducttape.pbworks.com/w/page/18372577/Rose
Handmade soap – melt and pour soaps are fun to make. This one is a little bit costly, but once you buy the molds, fragrance, soap base and color, you can use them several times. Here’s a site to explain the steps: http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/meltandpoursoapmaking/a/meltpourbasics.htm
Earrings – Make some dangling sparklers to brighten up anyone’s holiday! With all the variety of beads and stones available, you can make some really exciting pieces. Here’s a place to start: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Hanging-Earrings
Mug cake – package this up with a pretty microwave safe mug, and it’s two gifts in one! http://www.budget101.com/recipes/id195.htm
Duct Tape iPhone cover – You can really personalize this, and duct tape comes in so many cool colors and patterns. I especially like the flame pattern for this one. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Duct-Tape-iPhone-Case/#step1
Keychain – Make it as colorful or crazy as you like! Everyone has keys to something!
http://crafts.lovetoknow.com/wiki/How_to_Make_Key_Chains_with_Beads
