The holidays can be a stressful time for everyone, but students have it worse than most. We also have to deal with final exams and try to stretch our budgets enough to get gifts for all of our family and friends. It sucks when you want to give everyone a lovely, thoughtful gift… but you’re broke. To make it worse, a lot of DIY projects seem to be for useless junk no one actually wants to unwrap. Here are a few ideas for easy and cheap DIY gifts that are also something your friends and family will be happy to unwrap.
Instant Hot Cocoa Kit
This DIY gift is inexpensive but looks so thoughtful—and you can make it for just a couple of dollars! Just take a cute mug and put some pretty tissue paper, an instant hot cocoa packet, some Hershey’s Kisses or other small chocolates, and a pretty spoon (optional) inside of it. Make a cute gift tag to tie around the handle and ta-da! You can get mugs for 99 cents or $1.99 at Goodwill, which also sells spoons for 29 cents each. Dollar Tree is also a good option since everything costs $1. If you buy a box of hot cocoa mix and a bag of chocolates you’ll have enough to make these for everyone on your list!
Spa Day Gift Basket
Everyone loves a nice relaxing bath (and if they don’t, they’re wrong). For this DIY gift, you’ll be giving an attractive jar of bath salt and a few other goodies for the receiver to pamper themselves with. Get a nice looking Mason jar or similar container ($1 at Dollar Tree) and fill it up with scented bath salt. You can buy a 3lb bag of scented bath salt at Target for $3.99 or a 4lb bag of unscented epsom salt for $2.49. If you buy unscented then just add a few drops of essential oil or perfume to the salt and mix well. Make a cute personalized label for the side of the jar and add in a bath scrubbie, slippers and/or scented candle ($1 each at Dollar Tree) to make it a super luxurious bath set. With a large bag of bath salt, you’ll have enough to fill at least a half dozen jars.
Edible Gifts
Brownies and cookies make great presents! Whip up a batch of fancy brownies or your favorite kind of cookie and wrap them up as gifts. Putting a few treats on a small decorative paper plate and wrapping the whole thing up with cellophane and a nice tag makes this gift perfect. To make your brownies extra-fancy, cut out a paper snowflake or get a small cookie cutter and lay it on each brownie while you sift powdered sugar over the top. Remove the paper and you’re left with a super-cute snowflake! Baking treats is a universal symbol of love, and baking mixes are cheap and easy to make even if you’re a novice in the kitchen.
Despite the pressure to spend money on fancy gifts, we can all celebrate this holiday season without overspending. After all, gifts are just to show people how much we love them. DIY gifts are fun to make and so special to receive. Have a wonderful holiday season everyone!