DIY Christmas Gifts
The Christmas season is quickly approaching and with all that has happened this year, this December is bound to be different. The festive season is traditionally about family, food and of course, presents. Here are eight homemade DIY Christmas gift ideas to help you swap time in the shops in return for a more personal touch (and a chance to brush up on your lockdown DIY skills).
Treats
Gingerbread Fudge
This Gingerbread Fudge uses six ingredients and takes just over an hour to make. Perfect for your sweet-toothed friends and family.
Custom Cooking Salts
Make a selection of cooking salts that your foodie friends can add to their meals. Use sea salt as a base and gradually add different ground herbs and spices to make unique flavour combinations. Try additions such as dried porcini mushrooms, chilli, paprika, lime zest, ginger, lavender or rosemary.
For an extra personal touch, include a recipe with each salt combination.
Ice Cream
Summer celebrations and ice cream are a winning combination. Making your own ice cream isn’t as daunting as it may seem with this no-churn halva ice cream recipe or this sweetened condensed milk recipe.
Add in flavour favourites such as Oreos, chocolate, peppermint crisp, berry, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger and cloves for a Christmas flavour punch.
Freeze it in individual ice cream tubs, add a layer of baking paper over the ice cream to prevent freezer burn, stick on a custom label and deliver ASAP so it doesn’t melt.
Beer / Soda Bread Pre-Mix
Beer and bread were all the rage during lockdown. This super simple beer bread recipe is basically foolproof and will have your giftee enjoying homemade bread in just over an hour. Add the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder) together in a jar. Gift with a beer or can of soda water for an alcohol-free option and the printed recipe for a nifty DIY gift.
Optional: Add a few tablespoons of mixed herbs to the mix for a ready-spiced option.
Limoncello
Limoncello is a refreshing vodka-based lemon liqueur that is easy to make. The ingredients (organic lemons, minimum 100-proof vodka and sugar) are easy enough to find but the liquor needs at least two weeks to infuse, so make it well in advance.
Want an alcohol-free option? Try making your own herb-infused olive oil.
Trinkets
Plant Starter Kit
A great DIY Christmas gift for your green-fingered friends, put together a plant starter kit filled with succulents or herbs. Choose three to four small potted plants and put them in a wooden box or crate to keep them together.
If you’re going with succulents, add small jars of gravel, soil, sand and a glass vase (geometric vases look great) as a succulent terrarium starter kit.
Personalised Mugs
Personalised mugs are an easy DIY Christmas gift. All you need is a white mug, a Sharpie Paint permanent marker (oil-based permanent marker) and a little creativity. From custom monikers to quotes, drawings and fun patterns, a personalised mug is a special way to show how well you know your friends and family. The idea can be used on any heatproof porcelain-like teacups, teapots or plates.
Framed Pressed Flowers
A new way to give flowers: framed pressed flowers is a pretty, artistic gift that will brighten up any wall, windowsill or shelf. Pick a selection of fresh flowers, flatten them using heavy books, plan your composition and stick them between two pieces of glass. This is also a great way to repurpose old photo frames you have lying around.
Once you’ve got your gift idea down, think about how you will wrap it. Glass jars, boxes and crates with a decorative bow are great for edible gifts. Brown paper with twine, ribbon or cookie-cutter stamps will finish off your homemade present perfectly.
Enjoy this article in sign language.
Check back here soon!
