Y’all.

Remember when I lived in Kentucky and every month I’d go to Nashville and film a segment for Talk of the Town? It’s a midday news show on Channel 5.

When I moved back to Texas, I thought my Talk of the Town days were over.

I thought wrong.

Today, from my new studio upstairs, I’m going to be filming a new segment on the CUTEST buffalo check wreath with red and white ribbon and the cutest tag.

I’ll share the segment here once it goes live.

But the tag and the Christmas wreath got me thinking. It’s almost time to start working on handmade presents. If this is your first Christmas with me, our family makes handmade presents for each other every year. There was the year my sister made lampshades from slides and the year my brother carved bowls out of a tree that was struck by lightning and the year my sister made thistle artwork out of the words on my blog.

If you want to get lost down a rabbit hole of all our Christmas presents, you can see them here.

Handmade presents are the best.

And here are 9 ideas to get you started.

1. Handmade bottle stopper

difficulty: easy

Make your own bottle stopper out of an old doorknob and package it with a bottle of your favorite dish soap.

Such a simple, vintage project for the holidays.

You can see the DIY here.

2. Handmade wood Christmas tree

difficulty: hard

One of the best things to give at Christmas is—well—Christmas.

This handmade DIY Christmas tree is made out of pallet wood.

You can see all the instructions here.

3. Hand-stitched tray

difficulty: medium

This is one of my favorite DIY’s.

You simply find an old thrift store tray, paint it and embroider the wood.

See how to make it here.

map-tag

4. handmade tags

difficulty: easy

Take an oversized wood tag (you can find these in the wood section of the craft store) and cut letters out of a map and glued them on.

I think I’ve seen map stickers that would work for this, too.

The cutest is that quotes match the paper.

5. Handstitched notebooks

difficulty: medium

You can find notebooks like this in the Target dollarspot.

Then make them extra-special by stitching a pattern onto the front and then make sure to write something extra special on the first page.

You can see the entire DIY here.

6. Felted wreath

difficulty: easy

Make a wreath (or a tree or an ornament) with felted wool.

It’s so easy to felt a thrift store sweater and then you just cut it out an hot glue.

See the entire DIY here.

7. Monogrammed pillow

difficulty: medium

This is a fun personalized gift for someone special.

You can sew the letters on, or just glue them with fabric glue.

The entire pillow DIY is here.

8. Stamped silver bracelet

difficulty: medium

Make your own bracelet out of a vintage silverplate spoon.

You could add famiily names or a scripture or an inspirational saying.

Here’s how to stamp silver and make your own.

9. Picture frame wreath

difficulty: easy

Here’s a fun idea for someone special.

Make your own picture frame wreath with pictures of the entire family.

You can see the DIY here.

I hope this inspires you to add a little handmade under your tree.

And just in case you needed some handmade wrapping ideas?

No worries.

I got you.

You can find all the handmade wrapping ideas here.

Want to know how to decorate your home for free?
Click here to get my FIVE BEST secrets.

Comments

  1. Image for Meryll Meryll

    Thank heavens for Zoom and a cute new studio! Now you can still be the Talk of the Town!! Can't wait to record your amazing project today!

  2. Image for Debra Debra

    Our family has drawn names for a holiday gift exchange but I still want to give something to my grown children. What would they appreciate more than a picture frame wreath of their beautiful daughters? Thanks for your brilliant idea!

  3. Image for Kris Kris

    I've always loved the picture frame wreath. There are always more pictures than there is wall space, at least in my small house! It's a brilliant idea for honoring loved ones.

  4. Image for Tammy Tammy

    KariAnne, I love that picture frame wreath. What a wonderful craft project and gift idea for someone. Heck, I want to make one for myself with all the children’s photos. You always have the best ideas.

Comments are closed.