12 Homemade Christmas Gifts and Decor for Under $10

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Shopping for Christmas gifts on a budget can sometimes feel like a downer. Likewise, decorating a home and not knowing how to do it with little cash can make the best of people feel frustrated. I've provided some of my favorite holiday decor and homemade gift ideas. Most of these double as the other so as you are getting your own home ready you can make some extras that will prove to be creative, special presents for your loved ones. Have a blast making each of these fun crafts at a fraction of what you might pay in a store. Enjoy!

1. Berry Votive Holder- Dress up any plain glass votive holder with berries on wire at any Michael's craft store and wind around the holder. Once the circle is formed use some fine craft wire or picture hanging wire from any dollar store and tie the ends together. My favorite colors are gold, silver, burgundy wine, or red. For a fun flair use cream or baby blue. Use these in your own home or wrap them up as a set of four or six in a pretty box with a gorgeous bow for a great gift. The exact same items double as napkin holders too!

2. Festive Napkin Holders- Use plain wooden napkin holders and paint them any color such as red, gold, silver, or white and embellish them with a small bell, snowflake, beads, or simply another paint color with pattern of snowflake, polka dots, stripes etc.

 3. Funky Centerpiece- Fill an inexpensive glass vase (tall cylindrical work best) with all sizes of the same color glass ornaments balls. I like red, green, gold, silver, or blue. Use one color but multiple designs such as stripes, swirls, frosted, shiny etc. With a large enough bowl this can make a great centerpiece. Try hot and spicy red for your dinner table. You can purchase inexpensive balls at dollar stores, discount stores like Ross, Walmart ,Target or try the Salvation Army.

4. Ornament Wreath- I've seen so many gorgeous ornament wreaths and they can easily be made with marked down ornaments after Christmas for the next year and make a wonderful gift. the one above was made by none other than Martha herself. Here are the directions to make your own!

 5. Create Cool Coasters- Use a (4) 4" ceramic tiles from a hardware store of any color (white works best) and use rub-on stencils with Christmas designs, festive verbiage or even monogram letters to use on each tile. Once finished you can spray with a glaze gloss to seal it. You'll want to put some self-adhesive felt or little rubber feet on the bottom so the coasters won't scratch the table. Walmart is a great place to find the felt material.  

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6. Christmas Art Frame- Use pre-made frames that are fun and fit at least a 4" x 6" picture for holiday words such as JOY, LOVE or PEACE. Use pretty wrapping paper or fonts from your computer then print them out to slide behind the glass instead of a photo. Silver and Gold frames are my favorite for the season. Feel free to use barn board, wood, plastic, whatever you have around the house. These are cute décor gifts for friends and family also.

7. Mini Snow-covered tree- Collect a bunch of twigs long enough to pop out of a decent size vase. Use decoupage glue and white tissue paper to create a neat effect for the vase or leave as clear filled with glass ornaments or whatever you like. Spray paint the twigs white and use fishing wire to dangle tiny ornaments and vintage jewelry for fun effect. Use on a table, at an entry way, or in a bedroom. Feel free to add some basic white indoor lights for a nice evening glow.

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8. Monogrammed Towels- To stay on budget, buy some great basic kitchen towels with a simple stripe at the bottom in red, blue, green or even black. Use a lettered script stencil and some fabric paint to paint their surname initial on the towel. Feel free to make up a set of two with different colors if you can find the kitchen towels at a super discounted price. Alternatively, if you have a sewing machine that will stitch the monogram on, you could use that instead.

9. Holiday Centerpiece- One of the simplest centerpieces is a glass vase filled with water and real cranberries (not frozen, not dried) and a white floating candle. Use an interesting vase with a large opening or a great glass dish. Either way the cranberries and candle will float and look wonderful. Ensure to use a non-scented candle if this will go on your dining table. We wouldn't want the scent to interfere with the wonderful aroma of your home-cooked meal.

10. Home-Made Snow Globe- Use old jam jars to create a winter snow globe. You'll need water, the jam jar, glitter of your choice, epoxy glue, ribbon and a small figurine or a few for the inside. Use the epoxy glue and secure the figurine(s) to the lid on the inside. Then pour some glitter or plastic mini snowflakes inside the jar. Now add distilled water without bacteria and close the jar tightly. Lastly add some ribbon around the bottom of the globe (the lid) to hide it and you are done. Again, gift or your own décor...you decide.

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11. Holiday Dishware- Places such as Ikea and discount stores can provide for a set of 4 bowls and plates that you can paint up with glass paint. Be sure if you are going to eat off of them that the paint is used for that. You can use white ceramic or glass bowls and dishes. For the glass set, use glass etching cream and a stencil for a great effect. Wrap up the set and away you go.

12. Primp those Pillows-Take your existing pillows and make them holiday ready with some simple organza. Take square or rectangular pillows and wrap the sheet of organza around the back until the ties meet the front. Now make a bow. The idea here is to use colors that work. So, if you have red pillows, use some gold organza. If you have plain white pillows, use red or gold etc. If you are handy with the sewing machine you can make some simple square slipcovers for your existing ones so you can change them back when the holiday is over. Using an old knit sweater is another fun cover for them. A neat idea for slip covers is velvet. Use an iron and a stamper. Take the backside of the fabric and place the iron there. On the good side of the velvet is where you'll press the stamper into. After you are done the pattern will be revealed either as one large centered detail or several small ones all over. Use this for chair covers too!

If you enjoyed the DIY projects in this post but don't feel very crafty and you're still looking for a unique gifts for your family, you can get started by checking out these ready made great Christmas gifts for mom.


What lovely decor and homemade gifts have you created this Christmas? I'd love to hear about it!

Want more Christmas-related posts? Click the links below:

12 Dates of Christmas

Party dress inspiration

Gift Cards are the New Fruitcake?

Quick tidy up tips

Humble & Merry Christmas

To Re-Gift or not to Re-gift?

I Won a Christmas Blog Giveaway

Re-gifting Etiquette

Thanks for reading!

XO

The Etiquette of Regifting

What percentage of people do you believe re-gift? You might be surprised to know that a recent study revealed that 67% of all people have re-gifted at some point in their life. Another interesting fact is that the most popular way to re-gift is to pass along the items to co-workers at Christmas time. About 40% do just that!

At one point, re-gifting was considered to be a huge faux pas and done in poor taste. Today, however, it has become widely acceptable in our modern society. Blame it on the economy or the green movement, but people are determined to save their hard-earned money and keep items out of the landfills too. It's a nice way to make use of unwanted gifts that are perfect for someone else you may know that would appreciate or enjoy it more. Sometimes a return is impolite or just not possible and this is a suitable alternative. I do realize this option isn't for everyone and many are uncomfortable with the idea f re-gifting for various reasons.

If you do plan on re-gifting this year, here are some guidelines:

1. Keep a Log Book- To avoid uncomfortable situations, if you tend to put items aside to give to others, be sure to keep a small log book to note who gave you what so you don't give the same gift back to the person who gifted it to you to begin with. That would be incredibly embarrassing. This also allows you to think of your circle of family and friends so you can ensure that nobody close to the gift recipient may recognize it. If you are not 100% sure of who gave you the gift, do not regift that particular item.

2. New Items Only-Under no circumstances should you ever give a gift that was used or opened. All items need to be new, in immaculate condition and in their original packaging also. You wouldn't want to receive a used present or a gift in banged up packaging, and neither will your recipient. Be sure to keep all 'regift' items in a special closet or bin and ensure everything is kept clean and free from dust also. If you are giving a book of any kind or jewelry, make absolutely sure it was never inscribed. That would be awkward for both you and the recipient.

3. Shop Mindfully-You should use the same selection process when shopping through your own gift closet as you would if you were in a store. Be sure that the gifts you choose for your recipient show thoughtfulness and are geared especially to their hobbies, interests or preferences. For example if your friend dislikes the color green and you give her a green scarf, that won't be well received. Don't give a gift for the sake of de-cluttering your guest bedroom closet. The gift must be useful for the person who will receive it.

4. Be Honest- If the recipient asks you point blank if it was a re-gift, don't lie. Let them know that it was hand selected for them because you knew they'd like it for "x" reasons. Know that 99.9% of the time nobody will ask you this question, as asking the very question is a bit rude and distasteful.

5. Make it Special- Wrap it up in some pretty paper or a gift bag also in pristine condition (it is never okay to give any gift-purchased or re-gifted in a crushed or used looking gift bag). Be sure to check the tags on the gift bag too to make sure it doesn't contain old names on the "to" and "from" areas. You'll want to write a card to go along with your gift where you can perhaps write a brief line or two about why you chose such a gift for your friend or family member.

6. Inappropriate Gifts- You might have a closet full of re-gift items just waiting to be unloaded but you are far better off to show up empty handed and send an appropriate gift later then to just bring any old thing along for the sake of showing up with a gift. Put yourself in the recipient's shoes. How would you want to be treated? 

7. Have Fun- Enjoy preparing such a gift as much as you would heading to the mall and shopping for hours. Be confident in your decision to re-gift and don't let other people's opinions on the subject make you feel bad. If you truly believe the gift comes from your heart and you are perhaps a little low on cash, do what makes you happy. Remember, the new modern manners and etiquette of today do not turn up their nose on this subject just so long as it is done tastefully and discreetly.

8. What NOT To Re-gift- You're probably wondering if there are any exceptions to the re-gifting rules. There are several types of items that you shouldn't re-gift. Many items have a shelf life such as lotions, perfumes, and other bath products. If they have turned color or the consistency has changed they are not only unsuitable for giving but they need to go into the trash.This is where using a log book comes in handy because you can add the received date for the gift. Likewise family heirlooms, expensive jewelry, travel souvenirs, items with corporate logos or any type of outdated or unusual DVD's, CD's or books. Never regift an item that someone has handmade and taken great care to give to you.

While re-gifting is popular during the holiday season, you can also do the same for other occasions like birthdays or baby showers where you may have been given a duplicate item that never got opened or used. As long as you follow the guidelines above, your gift recipient should be just as thrilled to open your gift as they would one from someone else and you keep money in your pocket and find a home for a useful item that simply didn't work out for you.

So you must be wondering by now if I re-gift, given that I've just dedicated a whole blog post to the subject. The truth is that I sometimes do. I don't go out of my way to make everyone's Christmas gifts re-gifts, obviously that would be ridiculous. I do however from time-to-time receive gifts from well meaning family, friends or acquaintances that just aren't my personal preference. They are items I'll never use that would otherwise sit on a shelf and eventually wind up in the trash (if it was perishible) or donated to a charitable organization. I do donate items when I don't feel they might be appropriate for anyone I know. The majority of the time I use my lower value re-gifts for white elephant exchanges where it is generally very acceptable and the whole point of the event is for fun, often the very enjoyment comes from gag type gifts or themed gifts. Now there are actual re-gifting parties where people bring their unwanted items to swap for something they will in fact like and use.

Beyond the monetary aspect, in general I just believe people have too much stuff. There is a whole lot of excessive manufacturing taking place to produce new items which pollute our planet, which is completely unnecessary.

What are your thoughts on re-gifting? Are there particular items you feel should never be passed along?

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