Fun and Easy Homemade Gifts for Parents

The Christmas season sure has snuck up on many of us. While we are buy scrambling around with last minute preparations for the holiday season, our children are also wondering about gifts that they can give. There are many fun and easy homemade gifts for parents that are great to give and to receive. 

Homemade Gifts for Parents

In this day and age and a plethora of creative websites, the sky is the limit when it comes to finding ideas for homemade Christmas gifts. And these are not your old grade school gifts.

Gone are the days of gifts made with dried macaroni noodles and rubber cement that gets a mess everywhere. No more Christmas tree ornaments printable with thick glitter that gets on everything and everyone who touches it.

Now, there are actually useful gift ideas that won’t waste space and they look great too. The DIY trend has created some easy, beautiful and practical gifts that anyone would love to receive.

Handmade gifts are a lot of fun to create and give away as well. Do your kids enjoy crafting and making things? They are going to love these different ideas.

Gifts Made With Love 

The perfect Christmas gift is always one that is made with love and a personal touch. If you are giving a gift to a parent, they are going to love it no matter what. It is easy to give our kids a wish list and have them pick something out online or at a store. 

It isn’t always easy to have our kids shop for those items, so sometimes, homemade is best. It is nice if they are useful gifts such as decorative jars that can hold items, picture frames, a homemade piece of art, hand painted items etc.

When a child makes a gift themselves it is extra special. The kids will take pride in what they are making and put a lot of love and personality into the gift. 

What are the best homemade Christmas gifts?

Parents love Christmas gifts kids can make. Kids loving making them because they get to be creative. 

Home decoration items

These are some of the most favorite Christmas gifts. These can easily be made with pallet wood, or craft boards, stencil and paint. They are actually a pretty easy DIY gift to make and most kids can create them without much help.

The finished product of a home decor style craft is always pretty impressive and they have a nice, rustic, boutique feel to them. 

Simpler homemade gift ideas could be a popsicle stick ornament, tin foil ornaments, a salt dough craft ornament, or painted wooden craft ornaments.

Homemade picture frames, bath and beauty products, and painted wood coasters are also some nice and useful ideas. 

Custom art pieces on canvases, or painted wood make nice gifts to put on display.

Kitchen Gifts and Homemade Treats

These are a great gift for a family member that likes to cook. You can make homemade spice mixes, BBQ rubs or dry ranch powder in little jars. 

Homemade treats, baking mixes in a jar, and drink mixes are fun ideas for those that like sweet things.

Create kitchen tool caddies with old mason jars, or canisters.

Homemade Bath and Beauty Products 

Bath and beauty products are surprisingly easy to make. These products don’t have any chemicals or preservatives in them so they can be made in small batches and they are safe for people with sensitive skin.

Homemade bath products are very inexpensive. You can find many of the ingredients in your very own kitchen and can reuse old baby food jars and jelly jars to put them in.

Why are DIY Christmas gifts so popular?

• They are inexpensive and frugal. Many items you can put together with some hot glue and items found from a dollar store or around your own home.
• Creativity is unlimited with a DIY gift. The designer can use this opportunity to express their creativity by making a one of a kind item.
• They are thoughtful. Handmade gifts let the receiver know that they are loved and thought of. That the person creating it took time out of their day to create something unique just for them.
• Homemade gifts can be personalized with a name, a favorite quote or animal or design you know the receiver will love.
• They are unique. No two gifts will be alike and no one else will have that same gift. This gift will be unlike any that you will see in a store.

DIY Gifts for Parents

If you are looking for some great ideas that you can use to help kids make homemade gifts for parents, then you will love this list! You’ll find easy homemade gifts to give to your parents for Christmas, starting with mom.

DIY Gifts for Moms

These gift ideas are not only good for Christmas time, but can be useful for a Mother’s Day gift or birthday gift as well. There are gifts to pamper mom, gifts for moms that enjoy cooking and baking, and more. These gifts are great for teachers, friends and aunts or Grandmas too. 

Want to keep it simple? Use a heart coloring page to show Mom how much you love her!

Gifts to Pamper Mom

Handmade bath and beauty products are some of our family’s favorite gifts to make and give. What is so special about these is that they are handcrafted. They can be completely customizable for the receiver. 

Do you have a mom or friend that is allergic to certain ingredients? You can omit those ingredients and add their favorite scents and essential oils. This is a great way to make the gift extra special. When you make your own beauty products you know what is inside them and there are no extra chemicals or stuff that is bad for you.

Mint Sugar Scrub – This sugar scrub is super easy to make and has a great minty smell perfect for the holidays.

The Best Homemade Bath Salts – This recipe takes less than 10 minutes to put together. talk about mixing ingredients etc…

Lavender Lotion Bars – Great recipe for those that suffer from dry skin. Not only is it soothing and moisturizing, it is calming and relaxing and smells wonderful.

Basic Bath Bomb Recipe – Bath bombs make great gifts. They are pretty easy to put together, but you do have to work pretty fast so they don’t activate. This is something that would be great for older teens to make. If a younger child chooses this to make, they may need a little help.

10 Lip Balm Recipes – Lip balm is a nice thing to make as a gift. There are 10 recipes here to choose from, that are sure to please. This is an easy homemade gift with detailed instructions on how to make each recipe.

Melt and Pour Soap Making DIY and Tips – Melt and pour soap is a very easy gift that kids can make. An older child should supervise the hot liquid, but it can be melted in the microwave then extra scents can be added. You can use different bases and molds and they are a very easy craft gift to put together.

Christmas Room Spray – These room sprays only take 3 ingredients and are very simple to make. You can customize the scents too.

Tea Cup Candles – Repurpose old thrift store tea cups into beautiful candles that will look great in a bathroom or on a counter. This is a unique gift idea that is easy to make with old candles or candle wax melts from the craft store.

DIY Perfume with Essential Oils – Did you know that you can make your own perfume that doesn’t have chemicals in it? This is a great DIY that teens will enjoy putting together and creating custom scents. They can be put into roller balls which is very convenient to stash in a purse or bag for a busy mom on the go.

Homemade Milk Bath – Create a pretty homemade bath milk mix for a relaxing and luxurious bath.

DIY Lavender Eye Pillow – This is a simple beginners hand sewing project to create a sweet little lavender eye pillow. 

Kitchen and Home Décor Gifts

We all know that moms spend a lot of time at home, and in the kitchen. This is especially true for homeschool moms. These kitchen and home decor gifts are useful and your kids will love seeing them on display in their own home. 

Christmas Tree Tea Gift – Create a Christmas tea with packages of tea bags. This would be an adorable centerpiece for a Christmas tea and looks great on a kitchen counter during the holidays. 

Painted Wine Bottles – These hand painted wine bottles look adorable on a shelf in a kitchen. I love how nice wine bottles look as decorations. They also work great to water indoor plants. 

Wine Bottle Candle Holder – . Your kids will have fun using tissue paper to decoupage a wine bottle and reuse it as a candle holder for the dining room.

Popsicle Stick Coasters – These popsicle stick coasters are great for toddlers to make. They will have a lot of fun coloring the sticks with markers and lining them all up to put together. 

Pencil Holder from Twigs – Do you have nature lovers in your house? These twig pencil holders will look adorable on a desk or school table. 

Stamped Clay Trinket Dishes – Air dry clay is a great way to make a piece of pottery without using an oven, so it is an easy craft for children to do. Use stamps to stamp words or names onto the dish for a customized piece. 

Spice Mixes and Herb Blends – Spice mixes make lovely gifts for moms that enjoy cooking. Older kids will have fun creating custom mixes. This post has lots of different recipes and ideas to choose from.

Hand Painted Dish Towel or Tea Towel – Plain white tea towels, dish towels or flour sack towels are an inexpensive gift that you can customize. All you need is fabric paint, and stamps or stencils. Make sure to use mom’s favorite color to make it extra special.

Gifts for Dads

We all know that guys are very hard to shop for. These gift ideas are great for any man in your life. They can also double as gifts for Father’s Day or a birthday gift. 

Men’s grooming products

Dad’s can use some pampering too. There are some wonderful ideas for men’s grooming products that only require a few ingredients to put together. You can even find free printable labels and gift tags to accompany the gift, or your kids can make their own.

Chamomile Aftershave Recipe – This is a calming and moisturizing aftershave lotion that does not sting or burn. 

Healing Cuticle Balm Recipe – A cuticle balm is great for men who work with their hands, it is healing and helps soothe cracked and sore hands.

DIY Aftershave Spray Recipe – Easy to put together nice smelling aftershave spray recipe with no alcohol. 

Beard Oil Recipes and Instructions – Beard oil has amazing benefits for men with beards. This is a simple oil to mix together and makes a great gift for a dad with a big beard.

Homemade All Natural Deodorant for Men – Homemade all natural deodorant that is healthy and aluminum free.

Manly Hand Scrub – This sugar hand scrub is a great alternative to that orange scrubby soap that takes off grease and oil. It works well for craft paint too. 

Frugal Gifts for Dad

Many of these gifts can be made from items found around the house, or picked up very cheaply. Dads will appreciate these simple, yet thoughtful and useful gifts.

DIY Map Coasters – Many dads like maps and going on road trips. You can get any plain tiles or cheap coasters and use old maps to mod podge on to them for a fun look. Bonus points if you use maps from a fun family trip somewhere or to your dad’s favorite place or even state or national park.

Painted Wood Slice Coasters – Wood slices are a lot of fun to work with because all you need to do is paint them, then seal them. These coasters are great for the outdoorsman and have fun winter designs perfect for Christmas.

Rocky Picture Frame – This picture frame uses polished rocks that you can find at a craft store, home improvement store and even the dollar store. If you have a gravel walkway or stones in your yard, the kids may have fun collecting those to use as well. This is a nice gift with a rugged, outdoorsy feel to it. 

Santa Belly Ornament from golf balls – Create a cute painted Santa ornament from one of dad’s golf balls. This is such a cute idea that uses things from around the house.

Sweet Rub for Grilled Pork and Chicken – Do you have a dad that enjoys cooking and BBQ? This sweet rub recipe is fun to put together and great gift idea for a dad that enjoys cooking.

Photo Cube Remote Control Caddy – Does your dad need a place to store his remotes so that they don’t get lost in the couch cushions? This personalized photo cube is a very thoughtful and useful gift. 

Sharpie Mug Craft – Little ones will have a lot of fun coloring this coffee mug for dad and decorating it all by themselves.

Mason Jar Gifts

Mason jars don’t ever go out of style. They have been around since our grandparents and pop up as home décor trends all the time. Mason jars make fantastic gift for moms, dads and even grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends.

Dog Treat Mason Jar – This painted dog treat jar will be the perfect gift for dog lover in your life. It does double duty holding treats and looking cute on a counter.

Painted Daisy Mason Jars – These mason jars have a sweet country feel to them. If you have a mom that loves daisies these are sure to delight! They are so simple and easy to make.

Tea Time Mason Jar Gift – Create a little tea time in a jar for the tea lover in your life. This is such a thoughtful gift and very cute.

Hot Chocolate Mix in a Jar – This hot chocolate recipe is creamy and delicious. It is easy to mix up and layer together and looks so pretty in the jar.

Andes Mint Cookie Mix in a Jar – These cake mix cookies are very easy to put together with just a box cake mix and some Andes mints. 

Mason Jar Tiki Torches – If you have a family that spends a lot of time out doors they will love these small tiki torches made from mason jars. 

Leather Covered Mason Jar Mug – Do you have kids that enjoy handicrafts and hand sewing? This is a creative gift that turns a mason jar into a mug with a simple hand sewn leather sleeve and handle.

DIY Lace Mason Jar – This is a beautiful mason jar craft that you glue pretty lace onto. Kids will have fun brushing the mod podge on to the lace to make a beautiful luminary. Just put a candle inside it for a nice glow.

Mason Jar Tissue Holder – Turn an old mason jar into a beautiful tissue holder with this unique country craft that will look amazing in a bathroom. 

Spa Pedicure Gift in a Jar – What a fun and thoughtful gift to pamper a parent with this pedicure in a jar. Pick out a favorite nail polish color and match it to a nail file and some other fun goodies. 

Snow Globe Mason Jar – This is such a cute idea to create a mini Christmas diorama scene in a small Mason Jar. Once you glue the items down you can shake it like a mini snow globe.