Homemade Gift Ideas: From Using a Sharpie, to Copper and Concrete DIYs

After spending some time writing a lot of posts on the best home DIY projects out there, and doing some myself, I’ve put together this huge list of easy and cheap homemade gift ideas. The ideas are grouped together based on materials (copper, concrete, air dry clay) and basic tools (using a sharpie, using a printer).

There is bound to be something in this list that you can use as an idea for a personal and memorable handmade gift. Whether it is for a friend, for mom, the men in your life, or a family member – for chirstmas, as a thank you, or a birthday.

All Things Dip Dyed

There are so many things that can be dip dyed to add some elegant handmade styling:

A beanbag cover
Pillowcases
Candles
Table cloth
A lamp shade

For pictures and more ideas visit my blog post here: All Things Dip Dyed Mood Board

Using a Sharpie

Here are some things to create using a Sharpie

Doodle on some porcelain mugs, or draw on a quote or message
Cute homemade doodled napkins
Add a handmade touch to a lamp

For more ideas and pictures on using a sharpie, have a look here: Home Decor Ideas: The Sharpie Touch

Inexpensive Handmade Ideas Using Your Printer

If you have a lazerjet printer, then you can print out images and photos that can be transferred onto wood (wooden panels, wooden crates, a stool, etc.). Or if you don’t have lazerjet printer, you can always go down to your local printer and get the photos printed there
Print out photos and mod podge them onto ceramic tiles to create custom handmade coasters
If you print on fabric transfer paper, you could make fun napkins, pillowcases, or bed sheets
Or head down to the printers to print out cheap large posters (they are called plotter/blueprint/engineer prints) that will cost $5-6. You can get inexpensive large frames from IKEA.

There are so many more inexpensive homemade gift ideas that you could do with your printer. So visit my other post to see some other ideas, links to tutorials, and pictures of them: Home Decor Ideas: Using Your Printer

Do You Have a Drill?

If you so, print out a design and grab a sheet of plywood. You can then drill the design onto the plywood, just like I did when I created this DIY project: Drill and Plywood DIY Art Board.

Creative Homemade Gifts Made Out of Air Dry Clay

Here are some ideas for using air dry clay:

You could create a faux deer bust to hang up on the wall
Make little photo stands
Craft some DIY garden markers
How about some decorative fridge magnets
Or use a doily to imprint a decorative design and make some bowls or trays.

For pictures and links to tutorials, head over to my post here: Home Decor Ideas: Using Air Dry Clay

Using Plants

Group together some vintage bottles to create a unique planter set
Use oven bake clay to make miniature planters

Elegant and Stylish Plant Decor Ideas

Using Chalkboard Paint

Grab some chalkboard paint and a plant pot to create a labeled planter. And then plant what is labeled.
The same can be done with glass jars to create labeled storage containers.

Have a look here for more ideas and some pictures: DIY Chalkboard Paint Decor Ideas for the Home

Going Vintage

Have a look my post here: Handmade: Simple DIY Vintage Decor Ideas, to see ideas ranging from DIY vintage containers, curtain tiebacks, and sewing doilies together to create a table runner.

The Glamour of Copper

Copper pipes and fittings can be used to make:

Planter stands
A hanging planter
A coat rack
Or you can get copper spray paint, and add some lux to candles, a stool, or storage containers.

Have a look at the pictures in this post to get more inspiration for using copper to make easy homemade gifts: DIY Mood Board: Playing With Copper.

Crafting Cool Homemade Gifts Out of Concrete

Here are just a few ides on what you could make out of concrete at home:

A decorative letter
A diamond paperweight
A pendant lamp
Or even a coat rack

Home Decor Ideas: Using Concrete

Or how about following along with a DIY that I did recently, where I made a concrete stool with a Koi Fish design inlayed into the seat: DIY Remix: Koi Fish $5 Buck Stool DIY

An easier DIY project would be to create concrete plaques, using any design you can print using your home printer. This is a DIY I did and posted here: DIY Experiment: Embossing Concrete Challenge

Do They Have a Pet?

Here are some crafty ideas for a creating a cat or dog bed.

For a cat lover:

A cute handmade hammock bed can be made to hang under a table
An old suitcase or a vintage one from Etsy can be crafted into a vintage cat bed
Or how about building a mini teepee bed

Making Sleeping Arrangements: Creative Ideas For Cat Beds

For a dog lover, here are some old items that can be upcycled into a custom dog bed: