Homemade Christmas Gifts CouponMamaUK

Posted on | by couponmama

November 24, 2015 Craft Ideas

Looking around the shops at Christmas I’ve found a brilliant way to turn an expensive gift into an affordable personalised one. I’ve had loads of ideas and there’s a few I have done and I’m very happy with the results.

Canvas Art

I saw on Facebook a few weeks ago a mum whose son was as crazy about Minecraft as mine is,  like me she was horrified at the cost of the various Canvases available to buy so like her I did my own.

All I needed was a few blank canvases, a good rummage of the reduced tester pot section in B&Q and a pencil and ruler. I found it easier to use as the paint there as it was thicker, acrylic paint would be ideal also.

A quick look on google for design idea’s and I was off, you can do any design that you like, you can use stencils or even let the children use handprints to do their own piece of art.

Drawing with pencil on the canvas is fine as the paint will cover any mistakes, and the finished look is fab, and the best bit was that my son loves them.

Wooden Gifts

Similar to the canvas idea above I’ve used a wooden heart my friend bought for £1 and asked me to make a gift for her mum. I drew on a design and painted using tester pots of silk and matt paint that I bought in a sale, a steady hand and some patience and I think it’s come out well.

Pyrography

Last year I was treated to a new toy, anyone who knows me knows I love learning new crafts, this one is called Pyrography, you can even personalise leather items not just wood. You can buy one HERE.

 

The art of burning designs into wood, it does make your hair smell like a bonfire but the outcome is definitely worth it. It’s not an overly expensive thing to buy and there are hundreds of different shapes and styles of wood you can pick up cheaply to customise for yourself or as a gift.

The design below is one I made for my mum, who is Eeyore mad, they were asked children to draw their names on and all I did was go over with the pyrography pen. I am quite good at free drawing but tracing paper is pretty cheap to buy and is really good to trace any design you’d like. It’s worth doing a test run on a scrap piece of wood but this is one craft that can be used throughout the year not just at Christmas.

This year my friend asked me to design a gift on a wooden heart for her mum, I quickly took a picture before passing it on as an example of what can be made

Homemade Candles

My husband bought a kit last Christmas for himself, obviously my craftiness had rubbed off on him. He made some beautiful scented candles from it. And it’s so simple to do.

With the pre made kits it will have all the things needed, but for those who wish to make it without one here’s the items needed to make them.

  • Wax pellets, these can be Paraffin or Soy Wax, Paraffin wax is very easy to melt and ideal for beginners but when melted can emit chemicals that can irritate. Soy is a more natural choice and easier fragrance but either works fine.
  • Candle moulds, tin cans, teacup etc
  • Coloured Oil Dyes
  • Fragrance oil
  • Wicks
  • One large and one small pot or pans
  • Thermometer
  • Scissors
  • Pencil

How to make them:

  • To prevent spills place newspaper where you will be working.
  • Make a double boiler, you cannot melt wax directly on heat, so put a large pan of water with a smaller disposable/ old pot or pan inside to melt the wax. (The wax can ruin a nice pot so use one that you can dedicate for candle making)

  • Shred or chop your wax into smaller pieces if they are large chunks, keeping the pieces small is better as they will melt at the same rate.
  • Now turn the heat on high to boil the water. Place the wax pieces in the smaller pot to start melting, and stir until it has all melted.
  • Use a thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature, Paraffin wax should be melted until it reaches between 122 and 140°F . Soy wax should be melted until it reaches between 170 and 180 degrees,
  • Now add the fragrance, you can buy this from any craft store. Make sure you read the instructions to ensure you have the right amount in or it could end up being overpowering.
  • Add in the dye, using the directions to achieve the colour you want while mixing as you go along.
  • Now we have to put the Wick in the mould, placing in the centre of the mould. (You can use tape or blu tack to keep it still) Make sure you leave 2 cm of wick sticking out the end of the candle and then tying the end round a pencil or stick that will sit on the of the mould keeping the wick in place.

  • Place your mould on the covered surface and prepare your mould for the wax. The container can be anything you like as long as it can withstand heat.

  • Now carefully pour the wax into the moulds up until the desired height, keeping the pencil with the wick on in the middle of their mould and sitting nicely on the top.
  • Now leave to cool. Paraffin candles tend to take 24 hours to cool, whereas Soy candles take 4 to 5 hours. The longer you can leave them to cool the better.
  • When cool trim the wick so that there is at least half an inch of wick left.
  • Now light your candle and enjoy.

Wreaths

This is a craft I love, reusing old metal hangers and old fabric/clothes and turning it into a perfect holiday gift or decoration at home.

What you need:

  • Metal hanger, or something that can be used for the shape.
  • Fabric/ old Clothes
  • Scissors

How to make one…

  • Bend a metal hanger into a circle.
  • Use scissors to cut the fabric into lengths.
  • Tie the fabric with a knot round the hanger, do this in whichever design you want.
  • Keep going until its fully covered and you can’t add more.

If you don’t want to make a fabric wreath you can reuse old baubles and super glue them onto the round frame and have a bauble wreath instead. The possibilities are endless.

Homemade  Snow Globes

This is a simple craft to do too, a jar, water glitter and a small decoration inside. I raided my sons animal box for a deer last year to do this, but if there’s a special significant thing that makes it a personal gift then that’s great too.

How to make one:

  • Using a clean jar and lid superglue an item/ animal on the inside of the lid, and leave to dry.
  • Next fill the jar with water and mix with glitter and teaspoon of Glycerin..
  • Now superglue the top of the jar where the lid will go on. (this helps stop the children from opening it and pouring glitter everywhere)
  • Turn over when all dry
  • . You can decorate the jar with ribbons and paper to cover the bottom (lid) but there you have a homemade simple gift.

Homemade baubles

There is so many ways to make a tree bauble, polystyrene balls with sequins glued or pinned in. You can buy clear baubles and fill with fake snow, or a picture of a loved one with snow or glitter in. We have one of my granddad who passed away this year so we have a picture of him in a clear bauble ready for our tree. It’s something that you can keep and reuse each year.