Today, I wanted to share 101 handmade gift ideas. Lots of handmade gift ideas!
Gifts to make for kids; gifts to make for grown-ups. Most of these can be made by kids for their friends, siblings, and the special grown-ups in their life. Some of these are better made by adults or as a family collaboration.
In deciding what to make for handmade gifts, think what you (or your children) like best to do whether it’s build, write, cook, or print.

If they love to paint and draw, provide canvas or cardboard and let them create art gifts to their heart’s content!
If your child is into fingerknitting, you can go shopping for yarn together and encourage him to knit scarves for friends and family.
If you love to bake or sew, stick with those.
Okay! Ready?
101 Handmade Gift Ideas
24 ART GIFTS TO MAKE
- A painted canvas (or a large canvas like this)
- Candy cane playdough
- Playdough snowmen in mason jar snow globes
- A kid-made book of their artworks
- Bundle together a set of styrofoam-printed cards
- A map of my heart
- Make a photo book of kids art
- A plaster heart paperweight
- DIY notebooks or blank art journals
- A wood sculpture
- Clay creations
- An art or craft kit that you make yourself from favorite art supplies + a kids art book
- Make a modern art plate (on Craft Jr.)
- A suncatcher
- Make a chalkboard book and give with a set of chalk (on Apartment Therapy by Whip Up)
- Art dice plus paper and markers (on TinkerLab)
- Make a wooden hedgehog pencil holder and give with a set of colored pencils (on Skip to My Lou)
- Photo Bookmarks (on Nearly Crafty)
- Package some printable art activities with colored pencils
- Combine a set of DIY art activity pages with markers
- Print out a set of play dough mats (on Picklebums) and give with a batch of playdough
- An artful alphabet poster (towards the bottom).
- Make a DIY art journal
- A set of note cards from kids’ paintings
19 GIFTS TO MAKE FOR PLAY
- A set of painted magnet sticks
- Make a melted bead star wand
- Sew some pyramid bean bags
- Paint beautiful DIY wooden blocks
- Make a set of tin can stilts (on Playful Learning)
- Put together a dress-up set for pretend play with these ideas (on Hello, Wonderful)
- Fashion a set of clothespin fairy dolls or mermaids (on Red Ted Art)
- Make a kids’ science kit (on I Can Teach My Child)
- Tie-Dye some playsilks
- Make Kool-Aid dyed playsilks
- Construct a cardboard doll house
- Sew a doll pillow
- Make a miniature kitchen set in an Altoid tin (on Made by Joel)
- A DIY light table (with a set of water beads!)
- Make a set of story magnets (on Sun Hats & Wellie Boots)
- DIY spinning tops (on Babble Dabble Do)
- Make your own memory game (on Little Helsinki)
- A DIY perler bead maze (on Babble Dabble Do)
- A pulley and bucket
20 GIFT IDEAS FOR THE HOME
- Sharpie tie-dye comfort pillows
- Melted bead suncatcher mobile
- Make a clothespin wreath to hold holiday cards (or tea bags)
- Create an artful placemat (on Meri Cherry)
- Make a pillow buddy
- Sew a pillow
- Or decorate one with a message (on Meri Cherry)
- Make a melted bead suncatcher
- A melted bead suncatcher in an embroidery hoop frame
- DIY painted wooden candlesticks (on Love From Ginger)
- A Sharpie-decorated pillow
- Create a set of tissue paper candle holders
- Make a handprint ornament (on The Imagination Tree)
- Create a hanging cardboard heart art
- Make a set of salt dough ornaments
- Paint a set of wooden coasters (on Brit + Co) or add a design with tape resist (on Freutcake)
- Make a potholder with kid art (on Sycamore Strings)
- Create a set of salt dough magnets (on Tinkerlab)
- Make a decorative bunting
- Weave a special wall hanging (on Art Bar Blog)
17 EDIBLE GIFT IDEAS
- A plate of homemade cookies such as bear hug cookies (on Fun Crafts Kids) or cranberry oatmeal hearts
- Candy cane lollipops
- Chocolate pretzel Christmas tree treats
- Candy cane shapes (goes well with the above)
- Hot chocolate in a mason jar (on Love Grows Wild)
- Or hot chocolate on a stick (on Evermine)
- Homemade soup mix in a jar (on Recipe Goldmine)
- A loaf of home-baked bread tied up with a ribbon
- Chocolate-dipped pretzel sticks (on Annie’s City Kitchen)
- DIY peanut butter cups in fun designs
- A tea bag wreath (on Kojodesigns)
- An ice cream sundae kit with easy homemade caramel sauce (on Pioneer Woman), chocolate sauce, and sprinkles
- Maple cinnamon spiced nuts (on Table for Two)
- A mason jar of homemade granola
- Healthy trail mix (on The Healthy Maven)
- Super simple chocolate truffles (on Little House Living)
- Make a batch of apricot coconut balls (on Childhood 101)
14 GIFTS YOU CAN WEAR
- A mitten sweater
- Painted bead necklaces (on Art Bar Blog)
- A T-shirt with kids’ art
- An altered or decorated t-shirt
- Finger knit some accessories (on Housing a Forest)
- Cute hats from upcycled sweaters (on This Heart of Mine)
- Sew a bag or purse
- Make a crown
- A cooking apron for you and your child (on Brown Eyes Plus Blue) or try this upcycled apron made using a shirt (on eHow)
- An art smock
- A T-shirt dress
- Whip up some easy elastic band skirts (on Make It & Love It)
- Make some cute headbands with fabric (on Craft Snob) or with ribbon or lace (on Brit + Co)
- A dress up outfit (such as a pair of wings or a monster costume)
7 SELF CARE GIFT IDEAS
- DIY hand warmers (on Trends with Benefits)
- Make a happy jar (on Our Army Life)
- A handmade coupon book—for a child (ideas and printables on Wondermom Wannabe) or for a parent (ideas and printables on Inspiration Made Simple)
- Whip up some bath bombs (on Red Ted Art)
- Make fun soap (on Craft Whack)
- A jar of wish stones
- Make herbal dream pillows (on GardenMama)
Whew! That’s a lot of handmade gift ideas!! Hopefully you see a few here that your family would enjoy making and giving.
Pin It For Later
What a list! My daughter and I are going through a baking spree these days. But, most of our close and extended family is in other cities and towns. Painted canvas will work better. We’re the artsy-types, like you and your family :-)
For Diwali recently, we sent handmade greeting cards with mandala drawings and mantras/shlokas written on those…
Thank you for sharing this, Jean.
I know you are the artsy types, Rashmie! :) Thanks for the note! I hadn’t heard from you in a while. Sounds like you’re doing well.
Thank you for this great list. The chalkboard book looks like a great gift idea for some nieces.
Yes! I want to try that chalkboard book idea myself!
This list is amazing! I can’t believe all of the cool ideas you came up with (and thanks for including my soap project.) I see these roundups and get all itchy to make like 40 things immediately.
Thank you for compiling and sharing this list. I am browsing through it and making a list of ideas to try for gift recipients on our list. I love the idea of giving something heartfelt and homemade.
Already on my list that I didn’t see here at a glance is to embroider on kitchen towels. My girls made these for their Daddy on Father’s day and they turned out great. My 8yo did her own, while I stitched from a drawing my 4yo made. She added accents to the main design once I finished.
Related to the soup in a jar idea, I once gave a gift of several jars (soup, snack, granola, cracker, treat) that kinda made a meal all together.
Thanks again, I’m excited about creating and sharing!
What a fabulous list!!! This is such a great reference for all things hand made with kids. Thank you for including some of my ideas, Jean! xo Bar
Thanks, Bar!! And you’re more than welcome!! :)