When gift giving rolls around I find that I have a hard time shopping for people. What I am good at though is making things so it just makes sense for me to give handmade gifts. Overall I think it’s more fun and it’s more meaningful since you took a little more time creating something just for them. Here are a few handmade holiday gift ideas:

1. Embroidered Table Runner.
I used this tutorial for the basic idea but then I used linen fabric instead and I added a seam all around the edges. I also used thread instead of yarn. Once I had all the math figured out it was quite calming to embroider all the crosses. Overall, even with the modifications, it took less than 2 hours to complete.

2. Bath Tea. I made this a while back but it’s a great last minute gift because once you have all the ingredients it takes about 5 minutes to mix up and bag. Click on the link above to see how it’s made and get a batch mixed up for any last minute or unexpected gifts.

3. Balms! Lip Balm. Hand Balm. Body Balm.
Walker mixed up a batch of hand balm recently and I put it on after grabbing a hot curling iron and you cannot even tell! It’s kind of awesome. Anyhow this time of year everyone is getting dry hands or cuticles or arms or legs, basically everything is dry and balms work so well. I would suggest heading to your local natural food store for the ingredients and little containers to put your balm in for gift giving. I’ve used tins, lip tubes, and mason jars-all work equally well. Here are a couple of links to get you started:

–Lip Balm Recipe
–Hand Balm Recipe

Happy gift giving!