The ease and breadth of online shopping have made our lives easier for most of the year, but when it comes to the holidays, this modern life has taken a lot of the magic out of gift-giving. Somehow, there’s something missing when you have an item delivered straight from a warehouse to your gift recipient’s doorstep—where’s the thrill of finding the perfect present out in the wild, so to speak?
One way you can restore the feeling of a gift that’s truly from the heart is with a homemade present. With your own personal craftsmanship, you’ll give a gift that didn’t just come off the warehouse pallets, and your thought and effort will be memorable for years. Here are some homemade gift ideas for the holidays that will bring a smile to someone’s face—and yours, too.
Fudge
The holidays are the time of year when we allow ourselves to indulge in all sorts of treats. Cookies don’t always ship as well as we’d like, especially a lot of our favorite crisp and delicate Christmas cookies. Why not, then, consider sending friends and family some delicious holiday fudge? While there’s a little bit of a learning curve when it comes to making candy on the stove, a well-made block of homemade fudge is irresistible. And don’t feel as if it has to be chocolate—fudge can come in all sorts of flavors, even holiday flavors like pumpkin spice or fennel!
Christmas Ornaments
The magical thing about a well-curated collection of Christmas tree ornaments is its sheer variety: you have the old, the new, the classic, the avant-garde, the mass-produced, and the homemade. You can contribute to both the new and the homemade categories by crafting your own ornaments as gifts this holiday season. A well-designed homemade ornament can look just as nice as anything you’d buy from the department stores, and your whole family will enjoy getting in on the DIY spirit, too.
Homemade Candles
The lovely candles you saw—and smelled—in stores are nothing you can’t make at home, too. By ordering the raw materials, from the jars and the wax to the wicks and the fragrances, you can offer up personalized scented candles that will bring wonderful holiday aromas to any home. Consider such favorites as vanilla, spiced orange, pine needles, or even the unmistakable scent of freshly baked gingerbread cookies. If you know your gift recipient’s preferred scents, making your own candles with those favored fragrances could be one of the best homemade gift ideas for the holidays you could come up with.