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10 Fun & Unique DIY Gifts for This Holiday Season

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Pitt chapter.

The holidays can be a stressful time as you’re stretching your budget thin trying to get all of your loved ones gifts, but some of the best and most thoughtful gifts can be homemade! Here’s a list of some of the best gifts that you can DIY this holiday season (with links to some tutorials!).

Photo Strip Bookmarks

The perfect DIY gift for a reader in your life, this can be given by itself or with a book off of their TBR. You can use pictures of some of their favorite pop culture moments, or pictures of you and your friend to create this awesome gift!

collage on wood frame

This is a fun and simple gift! Getting a wooden frame, putting a personalized photo in it, and creating a collage on the frame is a fun and creative way to create a unique gift. This can be as detailed or as simple as you want it to be and can be made with many materials you probably already have laying around your house.

clay magnets

Some clay, paint, mod podge, and magnetic tape are literally all the materials you need to create this fun and useful gift! Not only are these fun to make, but they also create a cute little piece of decor for a fridge or white board!

Knitted or Crocheted Scarf

If you’re just learning to knit or crochet, or if you’re looking to learn, a scarf is a simple and easy way to practice basic techniques and also makes for a great gift! There are all kinds of tutorials all over Youtube if you need some help.

Scrapbook

A sweet way to commemorate a relationship; this can be as simple as getting a photobook and printing off pictures of you and the person you’re gifting it to, or as complex as a full-blown scrapbook with writing, stickers, and page layouts. 

altoid tin

A fairly involved DIY gift, an altoid tin often involves decorations in the interior of the tin itself and then the addition of various trinkets to fill the tin. 

Homemade Jewelry

This craft can involve a few more materials than others, and also more fine motor skills, but if you have a ton of supplies left over from the Eras Tour friendship bracelet making phenomenon this might be the perfect gift for you to make. 

Homemade Cards

Homemade cards are not only a cute gift to receive, but they also let you include a meaningful note inside of your thoughtful gift! These cards can be as simple or complex as you want them to be and can be made with a variety of materials. My favorite thing to use when making cards is stamps, but there’s all kinds of ideas all over Pinterest!

Clay Charms

Very similar to the clay magnets, these clay charms can be made into fun accessories like necklaces or simply kept as fun trinkets!

Other Fun Collages!

Collages are an easy and creative gift for anyone in your life. They are easily customizable to every kind of relationship and can include all of the different things that a person may be interested in. This can be given as is or put into a fun frame for display!

I hope this list gave you some inspiration for some awesome DIY gifts this holiday season. Happy holidays and happy crafting!

Lauren Deaton is a third-year student at the University of Pittsburgh, she is currently serving both as Chapter Chair and Writer. She most frequently writes about entertainment topics– including music recommendations, topics of representation, and anticipated movie lists. Lauren is double majoring in English Literature and Media and Professional Communications with a focus on Corporate and Community Relations. She is also pursuing a Film and Media Studies minor and Public and Professional Writing and Children's Literature Certificates and is a member of the Honors College. She recently completed a research position with the Pitt School of Education and will be continuing a research position with the Language and Literacy Division at Pitt during the Fall 2024 semester. In the future, she hopes to work in publishing helping to increase access to representation. She is also a writer for Studio 412 a creative outlet on Pitt’s campus and is a member of Alpha Epsilon Phi Sorority. Lauren loves her dog, her friends, her family, and everything reading and coming of age related.