You can make your own gifts for Christmas

 If you’re on a budget or you just want to show a little more personal touch with your presents, making your own gifts for Christmas is one way to do it. When you DIY Christmas gifts, it lets you take some time to think about what the recipient of the gift will appreciate. Does your sibling love all things kawaii? Does your office bestie think of himself as a plantito? 

From Common Room’s YT channel and webshop, we get a few homemade Christmas gifts ideas to help you get started on brainstorming for some special presents.

1. Make a dish garden.

This isn’t just a wonderful gift idea for plant parents. Condo dwellers without a lot of space for a full-blown garden should appreciate having some greenery in their space with a lovely little dish garden. 

Create your own after watching Common Room’s Roma and Selia challenge themselves to make a dish garden with succulent plants. One important thing to remember: the plants used should be the same in a dish garden (because they would have the same needs when it comes to water and nutrients). 

After you choose the type of plants you want to put, have a bowl or any shallow open dish (Common Room used a terracotta dish), your gardening tools (trowel and gloves), potting mix, rocks, and to decorate it, some twigs and pebbles.

 

2. Lettering…on everything.

Make all your gifts festive and fancy when you add a little lettering to them. You can make digital lettering, print it out, and use it as your gift wrapper. You can also do handwritten calligraphy, use your recipient’s favorite quote and frame it. 

If you want to take the digital lettering route, watch the step-by-step of artist Ella Lama on how she does it with Procreate. If you want to do calligraphy, check some of the brush lettering workbooks and basic calligraphy kit in the webshop to get you started.

3. Give plush doll cuteness.

DIY a plush doll for your beloved inaanak or any kid-at-heart grown-up (there are lots of us, right?). Check how to make felt plushies with Roma and Maan and get a plush doll kit from Popjunklove.

No need to scrounge for materials, everything you need to make one is in the kit—katsa fabric, sewing materials needed, glue stick, fabric paint and brush, and upcycled felt scraps.

4. Share the gift of relaxation.

Or at least help make it. You can make a natural skin balm on your own. Simoy ng Haraya’s Lala de Leon shows us how to make an all-around lavender balm that’s “pain relieving, anti-spasmodic…and skin-healing.” Simoy ng Haraya sells all the materials in a DIY All-Around Skin Balm Kit at Common Room. 

If you want to make a relaxation starter kit, get a box, put the skin balm you just made, add some fragrance and essential oils, a Simoy ng Haraya candle (available in the store), and other items for some feel-good vibes for the lucky person you want to give it to.

5. Upcycle some Christmas decorations.

How about giving a friend or family member who just moved into their own place a bit of holiday cheer with a box of Christmas decorations. If you want to make it eco-friendly (and flex your crafting skills while you’re at it), think of upcycling items you already have on hand.

Watch how Common Room’s Roma and Selia used upcycled plastic bottles (from “Kuya Father, known in the Poblacion neighborhood for recycling discarded plastic bottles into decorative items) and added their own spin to it. They made wreaths using upcycled plastic decor and some dried flowers.

 

Whatever gift you decide to give the people on your Christmas gift list—DIY or  ready made and store bought, putting some thought into it is always appreciated. Happy Christmas gift making!