There are only a few weeks (or maybe just days) left to go until Christmas, but you realize you still haven’t checked everyone off your list! It’s time to choose your own adventure:
Do you…
A) Brave the crowds in town and at the mall, rush around trying to buy presents for everyone and probably drop $100 or more on last-minute gifts.
B) Order something impersonal online and hope it shows up on time
Or…
C) Keep your money (and your sanity), make a cup of tea, gather a few supplies out of your pantry and craft closet and relax by the wood stove while you whip up a few simple but impressive last-minute gifts with your own two hands?
If you chose C, congratulations! You’re not insane:)
Seriously though, nothing against anyone who likes to shop for Christmas presents. I’ll admit we buy lots of our gifts from the store or online each year. But I try to make at least some of our own homemade gifts every year, and when time gets away from me (as it often does in December), I like to have a few gifts that I can whip up at home in next to no time and for much less than they would cost to buy from the store.
So I compiled this list of last-minute gifts that just about anyone can make at home. Some of them take a few days, some take less than a day and some take mere minutes to whip together. Most use ingredients and materials you likely have on hand already (or at least ones you can get from somewhere that’s not a mall).
So save your sanity and enjoy this special time of year at home with your family instead of battling it out with a bunch of strangers or searching online for hours for the right gift. Here are 35+ last-minute gifts you can make at home this Christmas.
Sugar/Salt Scrubs
Sugar and salt scrubs are one of the easiest things to whip up in just a few minutes using ingredients you almost certainly have on hand already. All you need is a little sugar or sea salt, some type of vegetable oil and a little essential oil for fragrance. Throw it all in a Mason jar and you’ve got yourself a gift! Here are a couple recipes to get you started:
Peppermint Sugar Scrub (with FREE printable labels)
Juniper-Rosemary Salt Scrub by Healing Harvest Homestead
Bath Salts
Much like sugar and salt scrubs, homemade bath salts and soaks take no time at all to put together. Just mix together some Epsom salts with a few simple pantry ingredients and essential oils and you’ve got yourself a beautiful homemade gift fit to pamper a queen:) Try this quick and easy bath salts recipe:
DIY Baths Salts with Essential Oils
Homemade Soap
Homemade soap is another quick and easy homemade gift that can be made two ways, depending on your level of experience. If you’re a total beginner, melt & pour soap is the easiest way to go. If you’re ready to try hot process soap with lye, the soap-making possibilities are endless!
Here are a few ideas to suit everybody’s needs and expertise:
Melt & Pour Goat’s Milk Soap by Tammy from Trayer Wilderness (guest posting for Melissa K Norris)
Homemade Hand Soap by Little House Living
Handmade Christmas Soap with Frankincense and Myrrh by Healing Harvest Homestead
Salves, Lotions & Other Body Products
Making your own homemade salves, body butters, lotion bars and other body products is super simple and takes no time at all as long as you have a few essential ingredients on hand such as beeswax, coconut oil, essential oils and the like. Here are a few ideas:
DIY Hair Pomade with Rosemary Essential Oil
Glorious Soothing Lavender Salve by Healing Harvest Homestead
3-Ingredient Lotion Bars by Melissa K Norris
Cocoa Orange Calendula Lotion Bars by Healing Harvest Homestead
Homemade Extracts & Syrups
While homemade extracts can’t exactly be made last-minute, if you’re someone who makes big batches of extracts for yourself throughout the year, you probably have some in your pantry that you can bottle these up as gifts for Christmas. And if not, you can always gift a “Make Your Own Extract” kit with all of the ingredients and they can make it themselves!
Mexican Vanilla Extract (with Printable Gift Tags) by A Modern Homestead
‘Make Your Own Extract Kit’ by Learning and Yearning
Baked Goods and DIY Mixes from the Kitchen
You really can’t go wrong with gifting some homemade Christmas cookies or DIY mixes that loved ones can use to easily make themselves a treat at home. The possibilities are endless when it comes to homemade cookies and other treats. Here is an extensive list of Christmas cookie recipes to get you started, and some great DIY Hot Chocolate and Chai Tea mix recipes to go with them. Package some cookies and some drink mix up together and there’s another easy homemade Christmas gift knocked right off your list!
101 Christmas Cookie Recipes by A Modern Homestead
Make Your Own Instant Hot Chocolate Mix Recipe by Hillsborough Homesteading
Homemade Preserves
If you can during the summer, you probably have a bounty of homemade preserves sitting in your pantry just waiting to be gifted to someone special. If you freeze your summer fruits, you can just as easily turn those fruits into last-minute homemade preserves that are ready to gift in less than a day. Here are a few tried and true recipes for newbie and seasoned canners alike:
Pectin-Free Strawberry Vanilla Jam
Christmas Jam Recipe by The Rustic Elk
Homemade Hot Pepper Jelly by Better Hens & Gardens
Quick & Easy Fabric and Fibre Arts Projects
While some sewing and and knitting projects can take forever and a day, here are a few quick and easy project ideas that you can make in under a weekend, a day and even in under an hour!
Simple Cable Knit Scarf by A Modern Homestead
How to Make an Infinity Scarf in an Evening by Once Upon A Time In A Bed Of Wildflowers
How to Knit a Toddler Sweater in 8 Hours or Less by A Modern Homestead
How to Make a Rag Quilt – A Simple DIY Sewing Project by Flip Flop Barnyard
Fabric Jam Jar Covers by Walkerland
Candles & Home Fragrances
There’s nothing like the soft, warm glow of candles in the dead of winter. But buying candles from the store can be pretty pricey. Plus, many of the store-bought varieties are full of questionable ingredients that you might think twice about burning and ingesting.
Likewise, store-bought air fresheners might fill your home with the scent of Christmas, but most of them are loaded with chemicals and are labelled as explosive and poisonous right on the bottle! Who wants to breathe that in? Luckily, there are some fast, easy, safe, natural and affordable alternatives. Here are a few:
Homemade Soy Candles with Essential Oils
DIY Christmas Room Sprays with Essential Oils
How to Make Beeswax Candles by The Rustic Elk
4 Homemade Holiday Potpourri Recipes by Homestead Wishing
Odds and Ends
Here are a few more gift ideas that you can make with random ingredients, scraps, odds and ends you might have laying around the house.
DIY Cookie Cutter Birdseed Ornaments
11 Free Handmade Gifts to Make with Scrap Fabric by A Modern Homestead
How to Make Reusable Cling Wrap from Cloth by Healing Harvest Homestead
Wine Cork Wreath by Better Hens and Gardens
Free Gifts You Can Make with PAPER! by A Modern Homestead
Handmade Gifts in 15 Minutes or Less by A Modern Homestead
14 Free Handmade Gifts Using Re-Purposed Items by A Modern Homestead
I hope you enjoyed these quick and easy last-minute gift ideas and tutorials! I’ll be adding to this list over time so beside to check back here next Christmas (or any time you need a homemade gift idea).
Wishing you a homemade, homegrown, homestead Christmas 🙂
Thanks for the unique gift ideas. I have been experimenting with drying my own herbs to make herbal tea. The homemade preserves sound good too. I’m still trying to recreate my mom’s recipe for strawberry rhubarb preserves.
Hi Jim! Thanks for the message:) I have grown some of my own herbs for tea such as mint, lavender and chamomile. Those are good ones to start with. Strawberry Rhubarb preserves sound amazing! Maybe I will try that one out this year and see how it works out. Happy New Year to you!