The beauty of giving a gift of your time

During the holiday season, it is easy to get wrapped up in the monetary value of gifts. But if you’re some who cherishes the beauty and heart-felt touch that your DIY gifts represent, have a look at our 5 unique present ideas that transcend everyday buys.

One for the bookworms

A handmade bookmark is an easy way to crawl into the heart of an avid reader. Being easy to craft and extremely customizable, you can match your gift perfectly to the person receiving it. You can get crafty with painted, clear plastic tags, that can be anything you want – from floral designs, to faux stained-glass. Of course, you can decide to paint anything that makes you think of the person, whether that be their favourite fictional character, or a rendition of their pet.

If you’re into a more natural look, you can laminate flowers or leaves that you have dried – ranging from rose petals, to little daisies, or even oak tree leaves. And if you’re a knitter or crocheter, don’t forget how quick bookmarks are to work up, so if you have some scraps lying around, you can put them to good use.

A vintage take on candles

Obviously, making a candle yourself is already a super thoughtful gift idea. However, take it up a notch by using thrifted vintage glassware. Your local thrift store is the perfect place to find varying sizes and colours of glasses and dishes, with embossed, tempered, and stained styles. But, of course, the customisability doesn’t end there – by adding different fragrances, dyes, dried flowers and herbs, you’re able to make your gift entirely one-of-a-kind. And when the person burns your candle, they’ll have a lasting memory of the effort and thoughtfulness behind the gift.

 Not your average plant pot

If you’re gifting to a plant lover, they’ll know the struggle of finding affordable plant pots that still look nice. Often, they may resort to nursery pot look, or the standard white ceramic pot. But, if you get creative, you can give their plants a whole new look. By taking terracotta pots, that you can find at any hardware store or nursery for a decent price, painting and sealing them, you can create a unique pot that shows character. Acrylic paint can be used to paint the design, and any clear based sealant, such as Gripseal, can be used to lock in the design. All that is left to do is to find a saucer to put underneath the pot, and maybe a new plant friend to put in the pot! But if that’s too much thinking to do, a hand painted pot is effort enough.

 A new place to put your drink

Coasters are often the forgotten accessory of your home – you don’t really notice when you have them, but you definitely notice when they’re not there. Whether the person you’re gifting has wooden or glass tabletops, the ring stains scattered all over the furniture are prevalent. And, if you’ve been in the market for coasters, you know how they can go from too boring, to a bit too much – that’s where you step in! In the same breath as the terracotta pots, you can find unfinished tiles at your hardware store and paint them to your liking. And as long as the surface is porous, you can follow the exact same steps as painting the terracotta pots and paint something strikingly distinctive. So now, when you visit, you’ll have a new place to put your glass that won’t, in turn, damage the furniture!

A remix on mixtapes

Lastly, if you want to do something a little less crafty, get in tune and make a playlist as a gift. You can choose to include all their favourite bands or give them a musical education by sprinkling in your music taste – and every time they open their music app, they’ll in turn think of you. Spotify has the option to print a scannable code that takes the person to the playlist, so you can print it out, laminate it, and customise it. By adding some charms, beads or other bits and bobs, you can also transform your playlist code into a keychain that they can keep with them as a memorable sentiment.

So, if you’re stressing about the big spend hovering over the holiday season, take a second to relax crafting these unique gifts of time. Remember that something that has time and effort put into it is leaps and bounds more special than an off the shelf gift, and the person you’re giving the gift to will have a special sentiment of your love.