Canadian Finance Blog

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 02:00 AM PST

I’ve never been a crafty person. Except in kindergarten, where I spent plenty of time with scissors and glue, I’ve attempted to avoid having to make any sort of craft with my hands. I’ve never been the type of person to enjoy making cards, or origami, or pottery, or even baking. I just never felt like it was worth my time or effort, and I was never happy with the final result. My wife, on the other hand, loves to create things. She likes to paint, bake, cook, and craft, and she is exceptionally good at it. So this year when it came time to start thinking about Christmas gifts, my wife declared that she would like to make a bunch of homemade Christmas gifts for our family.

There are a number of good reasons to make your own homemade Christmas gifts. First, and most relevant to this site – you can save a lot of money. My wife found an old sweater at a thrift store for a few dollars, and from it she made a beautiful pair of mittens. Buying a similar pair would easily cost two or three times as much, and it likely would have been from a lesser quality material. Second, there’s nothing quite like having the knowledge that the gift you are receiving was made specifically for you. Grabbing something off the shelf can result in a good gift, but it is a far more personal gift when you craft an individualized present. Finally, if you don’t have the skill to make a present, then by determining that you will make some gifts this year, you can motivate yourself to learn something new. Even if it is something as simple as baking a different type of cake or cookie, you can expand your skill set while marking gifts off your list.

So what sort of gifts can you make for your friends and family? Here are some that we used this year.

Pottery

My wife joined a pottery class, where she went every evening for 4 weeks. At the end of the session, she had made a pitcher, a platter, and some smaller objects. Any of these would make fantastic gifts, as people are often looking for coffee table conversation starters and practical homemade kitchenware. The cost of the class was slightly more than purchasing the same type of gift from a store, but you also have the benefit of customizing the gift as well as learning how to craft clay.

Christmas Baking

We also found some success with making various baked goods. There were cookies and a cake, but the highlight would have been a fruit and nut chocolate bark. It is essentially brown and white baker’s chocolate, melted and poured into a wax paper lined pan. Sprinkle various nuts and dried fruits, let cool, break into pieces and package. The resulting gift looks good for the season and tastes good for the recipient.

Mittens and Scarves

As mentioned earlier, you can purchase some cheap sweaters from your local goodwill store and pretty easily turn them into some mittens or a scarf. The most important part is finding a sweater that is made out of pure wool, and then making sure that it has a pattern or style that will work for your crafted winter accessories. If you know how to knit, then by all means, learn how to make a toque or scarf or mittens! One can never have too many mittens.

Christmas Cards

Don’t forget to make a nice card to go with all your homemade gifts! Purchase some cardstock to make sure that you aren’t stuck folding together printer paper at the last minute.

Have you ever given homemade Christmas gifts for friends or family? What gifts did you make?

Homemade Christmas Gifts originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on December 22, 2010.