Homemade Gifts for Family

I absolutely love giving gifts! It is my favorite part of Christmas. I get to sit back and watch the faces of people I care about as they unwrap boxes to see what's inside. Christmas gifting can be hard when you're on a strict budget, so while my parents may say not to get them anything (ha!), I had to really think about what I could give to my family members that would be special yet inexpensive. Not an easy task..

For my Parents

I have been working on this cork board on and off for over a year now and I decided to try and have it finished for Christmas. Of course the last 2 months were my busiest (working 3 jobs and working on everyone else's gifts) so it was never completed on time, but I am so close! A lot of work goes into a mosaic like this. Everything is made of cork (we drink a lot of wine, haha) and the entire size of the board is pretty large (6x6ft). I dyed and cut all the pieces and it's like an insane puzzle trying to put them all together. I got the idea from a Roman mosaic but changed the image to look more feminine and added in a bunch of details for added pops of color.

For my 2 Year Old Niece Kate

My niece likes macaroni and cheese, Paw Patrol, and playing on my phone. Thinking of a gift for her was difficult. Instead of a toy or game, I wanted to give her something special that would stay with her for years to come. Pinterest came in very handy when tryig to figure out what my options could be. I always see the initials made of flowers all over my feed and thought it would be adorable. I made the flowers in colors that would work well with the colors that Kate's room is painted (and that would still be pretty if the paint colors change one day). The framed pictures are from Pinterest as well. I thought they were adorable and had a great message so I drew, colored, and framed them. I also got her a hockey alphabet book.. because.. why not?

For my Brother

I actually made 3 different sets of this game to give to different people. My family loves Harry Potter so I thought this would be a great idea when we get together and want to play a board game. I can't take credit for the PDFs as they were created by someone else (I'm not THAT skilled with computers) but if you want more information about it please comment below or shoot me an email. The box has the lid design (below) and also has a design on the bottom. I made all the property cards as well as the 'Spells' and 'Potions' decks to place on the board. I had a lot of fun putting these together and am so excited to put them to use!

There are always options (even when you're broke) when gifting people you love with DIY presents. They don't have to be macaroni projects or something that will be thrown out. I hope you enjoy the ideas above and get creative with your own DIY gifts or projects!