Homemade Gift Ideas

We did a bit of family crafting last month and we've got a few Homemade Gift Ideas for you! 

Last month was a flurry of holiday activities and gift making. But it was such a fun flurry! At 6, 8, and 10, my girls are finally old enough to really get involved with the gift making and giving. Together we managed to make a pile of homemade gifts for friends and teachers. It was a meaningful experience for the kids to actually make the gifts they were giving and it made the holidays feel so special.

It all started with the washcloths. I'd been knitting cotton washcloths all year long - partly for something to keep my hands busy, but also imagining that eventually I'd find something fun to do with all those cloths. When I saw how pretty the stacks of knit cloths looked all lined up on the shelf, I built the rest of our gift ideas around them.

For the Washcloths:

I used a cone of cotton yarn and the Boxy Dishcloth pattern from Michelle Krause (available for free on Ravelry)

For the Soap:

I really wanted to try making our own soap to gift with the cloths, but it hasn't happened yet. So, we did the next best thing and bought homemade soap from the Cobble Hill Farm Apothecary.  I've been using their Dead Sea Frankincense and Myrrh soap on my face for a few months now and I'm in love with it!

For our holiday gifts we also bought Calendula Tea + Sweet Orange (such a refreshing, bright smell), Lake Placid Cabin (which smells like a dreamy mountain cabin, for real), and Pumpkin Spice (because pumpkin, and spice, you know). I've been so pleased with all of their products!

Lavender Sachets:

These lavender sachets were really fun to make. I used 4 inch squares of cotton fabric, with a print on the top and muslin on the bottom.

I like the smell of lavender, but sometimes it can be a little overpowering on its own. So, I combined the fresh lavender buds with jasmine rice and a few drops of Serenity, doTerra essential oil blend. They smell delicious and it was easy to make a whole bunch of them.

For each sachet, you will need:

• Two 4 inch squares of fabric
• ¼ cup dried lavender
• ½ cup uncooked rice (I use Jasmine)
• 1 to 2 drops Serenity 
• See here for sewing instructions if needed 

Homemade Lip Gloss and Chap-stick

The homemade lip gloss and chap sticks were the kids favorite part of our homemade holiday gift ideas. Because we'd never made our own lip gloss, I simplified things and bought a kit from Lusa Organics.  They were easy to make and turned out beautifully. They're soft (unlike some homemade chap sticks I've tried) and they smell delicious too.

The kids had a lot of fun making these, but even more fun handing them out. Their friends loved receiving homemade lip gloss! I'd highly recommend this kit if you're interested in getting started on your own. We'll be making more of these for sure!

We packaged them in some small linen bags and through in few candies just for good measure.

Kid Art Gift Tags

My favorite part of our homemade holiday gift ideas was most definitely the Kid Art Gift Tags my kids made. They each drew a few pictures, which I scanned into the computer and then used this template to turn them into gift tags. They were absolutely adorable! Plus, the kids felt awesome handing out their artwork as part of their gifts.

And that's a wrap!

What are some of your favorite homemade gift ideas? Time to start planning for next year already!