With the holidays approaching, we’re going to be thinking more and more about gifts that we can get our loved ones and friends. But of course, being high school students, most of us don’t have tons of money to spend on extravagant gifts, even though we might want to. These five DIY gifts are super easy and don’t cost loads of money.
- Mason Jar Baking Kit
This gift is one of my personal favorites, and I’ve been making it for years. For this project, you will need a medium-to-large mason jar, a sheet of cardstock, painting supplies, and a ribbon.
First, find a recipe that you think your friend or family member will enjoy. Either print it out or handletter it onto the cardstock. Then, punch a hole in the top and set it aside. Next, get a mason jar and unscrew the lid. This step is optional, but I like to paint a mini picture of the baked good this mix is for.
Next, fill the mason jar with all the dry ingredients from the recipe. Screw the lid on, and tie the recipe around it with the ribbon. You’re all done! A variation of this gift is filling the mason jar with hot chocolate mix and adding something like cinnamon, marshmallow, or candy cane chunks.
- Hand-Bound Journal
This one is a little labor-intensive, but quite fun. I’ve been binding books as a hobby for half a year now, and while my quality isn’t professional, I still enjoy it thoroughly. This particular project is with chain stitch book binding, which is, in my opinion, the easiest. For this project you will need ten pages of letter sized paper, scissors, a utility knife, a ruler, two kinds of colored cardstock, a glue stick, a needle and thread, an awl or safety pin, duct tape, and some chipboard or an old cereal box to use as a cover.
To start, fold your paper in half lengthwise, then cut them in half widthwise. Now you should have forty 4 ¼’’ by 5 ½’’ sheets. Stack them all inside of each other (this is called a signature). When you do this, you will get a raised edge at the end of the pages, which you can cut off or just leave. To cut it off, place a ruler at the end of the pages where you want to cut, and cut the pages with slow, controlled movements until you get the edge that you want. If you want it even smoother, you can sand it when you’ve finished.
Next, let’s make the cover. Out of your chipboard or cereal box, cut two 4 ⅛’’ by
5 ¾’’ pieces. These will be your front and back covers. Next, cover one side of your board with glue and place it in the center of a piece of colored card stock. Trim three of the edges to one inch from the board and one of the long sides flush to it, or right against it.
Next, cut triangles out of the corners of the cardstock about three millimeters away from the board (that way, the cardstock can fold over it). Cover the flaps with glue and press them down onto the inside of the board. To make the inside of the cover, cut out a 3 ¾” by 5” section of your other cardstock, gluing it to the inside of the board, making sure that one of the long edges is flush again. Put this under a weight to make sure it dries properly. Repeat this to make the other cover. When both have dried, we’re going to make the hinge of the book.
Set them down on a flat surface ⅞” apart. Tape them down with removable tape, like painter’s or washi tape. Next, press on duct tape, making sure you have enough to wrap around to the other side of the cover. Once you have enough, carefully cut it and remove the removable tape. Flip it over to the other side and smooth the duct tape to complete the spine. Use your thumbnail to smooth the creases along the board.
The next step is to mark and pierce your pages. Take one page out of the pile and, starting at the middle, make a mark at each ½” mark. Next, stack that sheet and nineteen others together, making sure that the marked one is on the outside. Lay them flat on the table so that the marked sheet is on top. Using your awl or pin, make punctures through all the sheets and repeat with the other pages and the cover. For the cover, make sure you center the marked page in the middle of the spine before you begin poking holes. After you put all the pages back together, it’s time to begin sewing.
Thread your needle with about two feet of thread, tying a double knot at the end. Starting with the top hole on the inside of your signature, poke your needle through. Once the thread is taught, meaning tight, poke the needle through the top hole on the cover, and pull it flush. Then put your needle back through the same hole, but leave a small loop on the outside. Thread your needle through the next hole of both the signature and the cover. Once you’ve done that, thread it through the small loop you made and back through the hole you came through. Continue this pattern, wrapping the thread around the previous stitch each time. When you get to the last stitch, tie a triple knot on the inside of the signature and cut it off. You now have a lovely hand bound book to give to a loved one! (Credit: SeaLemon)
- Kitchen Seed Kit
This project is a great gift to give to the gardener in your life. There are two parts to this one: making the mini envelopes and making the seed kit itself. For the envelopes, you will need three 4” by 4” squares of coloured paper and some glue.
Turn the first square so that it is the shape of a diamond. Cut out small triangles two inches long on the top two sides, and two triangles, each one inch long, on the bottom two sides. Fold two opposite sides into the middle where their folds are in the center of the little triangles you cut out. Put glue on the bottom two edges and fold up the bottom, smoothing out the glue. Repeat with the other two squares. Once they dry, you have your envelopes!
Now to the main event: the seed starter kit. For this you will need an empty six-egg carton, a plastic bag, soil, seeds of your choice (I used tomato, basil, and oregano), colored paper, popsicle sticks, glue, cardstock, butcher’s paper (or brown paper), ribbon or twine, duct tape, scissors, Sharpie, and colored pencils.
First, put a couple of spoonfuls of dirt into the plastic bag. Seal and place inside the carton. Next, write the names of the seeds on their respective envelopes in Sharpie. Put your seeds in the envelopes and the envelopes in the carton. Cut out three small circles from the coloured paper, and write the first letter of each kind of seed on them. Cut three popsicle sticks in half, and glue one circle to each half stick. Once these have dried, place them in the carton as well.
Now, we are going to make directions. On a piece of 4” by 3” cardstock, write out directions along the lines of this: “Add soil into each pod. Poke a hole into the soil and place in a couple seeds. Cover the seeds with soil. Water the soil and let it sprout for 1-2 weeks inside, by a window. Once a little guy has sprouted, transfer pods into a planter or your garden. Please try not to kill them this time. Love you.”
Place these instructions inside the carton and close it. Now, cut a 4” wide strip of butcher or brown paper that is long enough to wrap around the whole box and duct tape it closed at the bottom. On the top, you can write something witty and draw a picture with sharpie and colored pencils. When you have finished that, wrap the whole thing with a twine or ribbon bow. You’re all done! (Credit: BuzzFeed Nifty)
- Harry Potter Ornaments
This one is for all the nerds that you have in your life. For this Harry Potter Trunk ornament, you will need a 1” by 2” by 4” piece of styrofoam, dark and light brown paper, scissors or exacto knife, hot glue, and a black and a gold sharpie.
To start, sand down the edges of the styrofoam until they are rounded. Next, cut a 4” by 11’’ piece of the dark brown paper and wrap it around the styrofoam allowing some overlap, starting in the middle of the bottom, hot gluing it in place. Next, cut out two 1” by 2” pieces with rounded corners to glue onto the edges of your trunk. Then cut out two ¼” by 11” strips of the dark brown paper and four ⅛” by 11” strips of the light brown paper. Wrap the dark brown strips around the edges to neaten up the seams, and two of the light brown ones directly on top of them, again gluing on the middle of the bottom. Then glue the other two light brown strips at the 2” and 3” marks.
Use a black marker all the way around to show where the trunk opens, then use the gold sharpie to add the initials, clasp, and hinges. Then glue some twine on the back side so that it will hang nicely from a tree. All finished! (Credit: Karen Kavett DIY)
- Sweet Treat Box
Almost everyone has memories of baking cookies with their family around the holidays, so why not share that joy with your friends? This classic gift was first recorded in the US in the early seventeenth century. For this one, you will need a holiday themed tupperware or box, some kind of sweet that you or your family have made, and some ribbon. Arrange the treats in the box nicely. Put on the lid, and tie a bow around the box with a ribbon. You could even add the recipe if you want to prolong the joy, and you’re finished!
I hope all of you enjoyed this DIY tutorial article. Have a wonderful holiday season, IHS!