When I realized how tight our budget needs to be this Christmas, I started feeling like Mr. Grinch, but rather than whine and feel grumpy, I decided to ask you all for your best DIY Christmas gifts that are really inexpensive or free to make.
I know my readers are some of the thriftiest and most creative people around, so I’d love to hear about gifts you’ve made or gifts you’ve received that were your favorites.
I’m all ears and can’t wait to hear your ideas!
To kick things off, I made an adorable “snowballs for sale” gift can, because who doesn’t love snowballs?
It’s an easy project that is a gift with built-in gift wrap.
Supplies needed: (includes some affiliate links)
empty coffee can
red spray paint or cardstock paper
hot glue and glue gun
foam sticker letters
faux snowballs (if desired)
I started my mission with a trip out to my workshop to see what I had in my junk stash.
I try not to overthink things when I’m looking at my junk stash.
I just grab anything that looks like a good candidate for a repurposing project and brainstorm what I’ll do with it once I’ve picked something.
What I chose was a metal coffee can, because as you know, I never throw away metal cans. 🙂
I would have painted the can red, but I didn’t have any red spray paint, so instead I cut cardstock paper to fit the height of the can. Two sheets were needed to wrap all the way around the can.
I used a ruler to line up the glittered sticky letters. I didn’t measure the distance between the letters – I just eyed it.
I hot glued the sheet without letters onto the can first, then glued the sheet with letters so that it overlapped at the edges.
I cut out the center of the lid so I could use the can like an open gift bag, then spray painted the outer rim of the lid white.
Now to add snow! This can get messy, so put the lid rim on a disposable plate.
Put a bead of hot glue around the edge.
Work quickly before the glue cools and sprinkle faux snow on.
I added another bead of glue around the bottom of the can and pressed it into the snow on the plate.
Pull the can off quickly, so it doesn’t stick to the plate.
Put the lid back on the can and put more glue and snow around the top of the can. This covers up the edges of the paper.
I filled my can with glittery faux snowballs to use as a decoration.
Because the top of the lid is open, I can also add small gifts inside. If you fill yours with cookies, I recommend putting them in a zipper plastic bag so they don’t pick up any coffee smell or taste.
This is so inexpensive and easy to make, and I love that it can be used as a decoration as well as gift wrap.
Now it’s your turn!
Please share your favorite DIY Christmas gifts!
I need all the ideas I can get to keep my budget in check this year! 🙂
20+ Repurposed Tin Can Projects
Vaya con Dios,
Great idea, Angie! I love the idea of repurposing the coffee can. I did a variation of this idea last year w/ a cute metal bucket with a chalkboard rectangle painted on it from Wal-Mart ( found in wedding section) and large homemade pom-poms that I made with white yarn and my Clover pom-pom maker. I wrote ” Snowballs for Sale” with my chalk pen on the side. The only thing I bought was the bucket which was under $5 at the time. My 3 year old neighbor loves to come over and have “snowball” fights! Thanks for the coffee can idea. Will definitely make some more using this idea and it will be virtually free since I already have the materials!! Merry Christmas!
Every year my classes celebrate the end of a semester with Pancake Day. I bring in the electric griddle and make scratch pancakes for the kids. This year money for students gifts was tight, so I made a double batch of the dry ingredients for pancakes and put it into a zipper bag along with the directions for making them. A cute tag topped off the bag, and these were the gifts from me to each student. The kids loved the idea of taking Pancake Day magic home to their families this holiday season.
That is such a great idea, Cindy! It’s inexpensive, and the bag topper can be customized any way, plus who doesn’t love hot, fresh pancakes?!
Hi, Angie. Wow, don’t I know the strain of gift-giving when the budget is tight. This isn’t DIY but one year when my two girls were still at home and my budget was stretched to the limit we all agreed we would only give each other gifts that we had purchased at a thrift store. I think it is one of my most memorable Christmases. Every gift was something exactly suited for its recipient! I still display the little clay angel from my oldest daughter and use the small, pansy-shaped rug from my younger daughter. We had a wonderful time shopping for the gifts and a lot of fun seeing what everyone came up with and my budget was still intact!
I had one other gift suggestion and that is giving the gift of a photograph or print that you know someone would appreciate by framing it yourself. I’ve done that several times.
That is all that comes to mind right now, but I’ll be interested to see what others come up with in a day or so.
Angie, I love this idea. Your can looks great and doubles up as a gift and a decoration i’d like to receive this gift can.
Very cute to put the snow on the top and bottom edges of the can!