DIY Christmas Gifts

You cannot go wrong with a mixtape, or anything else burned onto a CD. You could even record your own stuff! From music to podcasts to audiobooks, gifting a CD will be a wonderful way to introduce physical media back into the recipient’s life. 

DVDs

Speaking of physical media, DVDs are the cousin to CDs. You can implement home videos, or maybe the giftees favourite YouTube videos. There are also programs you can use on your computer to create your own DVD menu too. I have used DVD Styler before, a bare bones program, but it is free!

Hand Sewn Ornaments

So I saw this on TikTok where someone was sewing felt ornaments, decorating them with beads and embroidery floss. My roommate then also took this up as well and it looks incredible! She is doing a lot of letter shapes, but there are also cookie shapes, or just abstract designs. Good craft to improve your handsewing as well! 

Fancy Card

I am doing a gift exchange with a friend group this year where we only give each other cards that we made ourselves. With the cards we have to include three stickers! This is going to be so much fun because there is so much you can do with card making, and you can really put your arts and craft skills to the test with this to try to impress your recipient. I might add ribbons and lace to mine. Completely personalized and cost effective!

DIY Band Shirts

So I’ve been getting into the wonderful world of fabric paint, and when you are out and about to say a place like Hot Topic, you can see the tees there cost an arm and a leg. Thankfully, there is a better, more punk way to go about wearing band shirts, thanks to said fabric paint and stencils. I have printed out designs on my printer and have cut them out (you can cut it out on cardstock for a sturdier version). Then you place it onto the shirt and carefully add the paint over it! You can also use the stencils in a different way, since I wanted my graphic to take up more space, I shone a light through it to project the pattern onto my shirt, and freehanded where the light was. Hopefully that made sense lol. But you can do so much with fabric paint and clothing items.

DIY Jewelry

BOOM! Jewelry! I have supplies to make beaded stuff, but if you do not have any of that, start saving your can tabs and create cuffs with them!!!!! Also you can take up friendship bracelet making with embroidery floss or yarn - or literally any string. If you are a sewer, you can even sew denim cuffs with a button to be able to take it on and off- that is also where fabric paint can come back into play.

Handmade Books

So, I have made some books recently using a book formatting program on my laptop, my school’s nice printer, sewing thread, chipboard, fabric and a ton of glue. I have even gifted one of my friends a physical copy of My Immortal, which was formatted like a real book through someone before it was downloaded by me off of Scribd. I have yet to find more chipboard, I may have to purchase it online, but there are lots of great tutorials out there like from DAS Bookbinding on YouTube. You can also find free printouts on Project Gutenberg!

Smooch on the Cheek

Mwah

Well there you go. I hope this sparked some kind of inspiration to try new things or to get in touch with your inner creative. No longer will we be caught in the notion of constantly buying new things only!!!! There is something special in learning and honing your creative skills. Collect them like Pokemon LOL. Have an amazing Christmas season. 

XOXO, 

Mayday