7 Thoughtful DIY Christmas Gift Ideas

Ingredients

1 cup pecans (chopped)

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Start by prepping a 9-inch square baking dish with cooking spray. Then, line a piece of parchment paper inside.
2. Take your chopped pecans and place them on top of the parchment paper. Make sure to spread them out so it’s a single layer. Set aside.
3. Next, get a 3 quart pot. Pour in the butter, sugar, and salt. Bring the mixture to boil on medium low heat. Make sure to keep stirring it until the sugar is dissolved.
4. Once it comes to a boil, continue to slowly stir. You want to keep the mixture on the heat until it reaches 290 degrees to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
5. When the correct temperature is reached, remove the pot from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
6. Evenly pour the hot mixture on top of the pecans in the baking dish. Let it sit for a few minutes.
7. Then, evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the mixture. Cover the dish with tinfoil and leave it for about 5 minutes.
8. Once you let it rest for 5 minutes, take the foil off and use a spatula to spread the chocolate around. You’ll want to get a nice even layer.
9. Let the candy cool in the fridge for about 2 hours.
10. Once cooled, take the toffee out of the dish and cut into small pieces.

Supplies Needed

Soy candle wax (1 1/2 cups)

Peppermint essential oil

Mason jar (1 half pint)

Candle wick

Christmas ribbon

Directions

1. You’ll start by gluing the candlewick inside the center of the mason jar. A hot glue gun will work best for this.
2. Next, melt your soy candle wax according to the directions on the package. Each wax may vary in melting times so make sure to read carefully.
3. Once the wax is fully melted, carefully stir in the peppermint oil. You’ll want to use about 15-20 drops to get a strong scent.
4. Next, carefully pour the wax into the mason jar. Make sure to hold the candlewick up by wrapping it around a pencil.
5. Let the candle harden overnight.
6. Once the candle is hardened, unwrap the pencil and trim the wick.
7. Decorate with ribbon and any other accents you’d like!

Supplies Needed

Wide-mouth half pint mason jars (3)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 tablespoon peppermint extract

1 drop green food coloring

Directions

1. Start by heating up the coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl on high for 15-25 seconds, or until softened.
2. Gradually mix the sugar into the bowl, followed by the peppermint extract and green food coloring.
3. Mix together until everything is fully combined and mixture is green.
4. Note: if the scrub mixture is too wet, add in some extra sugar until you reach the correct consistency.
5. Place the scrub inside of mason jars and accent the jars with Christmas ribbon.

Supplies Needed

Clear plastic ball ornament

Faux snow

Mini Christmas tree (the same height as your ball ornament)

Mini gifts/other Christmas accents

Directions

1. Start by pouring the faux snow into the ornament. You’ll want to fill it up only about 1/3 of the way.
2. Next, put in your mini gifts or other mini Christmas decor. You can leave out this step if you just want the tree.
3. Carefully place the Christmas tree into the ornament. The tree should match the height of the ball so that way it doesn’t shift around.
4. Optionally, you can add some mini lights inside. Although, keep in mind that there’s no easy way to turn these on and off so they’ll need to be left on until they eventually burn out.
5. Close the top of the ornament and tie on a ribbon for hanging.

Supplies Needed

Foam wreath

Wine corks

Pine cones and greenery

Christmas ribbon

Hot glue gun

Twine

Directions

1. Hot glue the wine corks around the foam wreath. Make sure to carefully place each cork so that the wreath is completely covered and looks full.
2. After the glued on corks have dried, you can glue on other accents such as pine cones, greenery, and ribbons.
3. Finally, tie some twine or ribbon at the top for hanging.

Supplies Needed

Goats milk soap base (about 1 pound)

Lavender oil

Purple soap colorant

Rectangle soap molds

Directions

1. Cut the goats milk soap into cubes. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, mixing in between, until fully melted.
2. Next, add in a few drop of lavender extract and purple colorant.
3. Pour the mixture evenly into the soap molds (this mixture will make about 3 bars of soap).
4. Leave it for at least 1 hour to harden and then remove from mold.

Supplies Needed

3 large egg whites

2 cups powdered sugar

3 1/4 cups non-blanched almond meal or hazelnut meal

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

3-inch star cookie cutter

Directions

1. Start by preheating the oven to 300 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites. Make sure that you don’t over-beat the eggs; stop when you see peaks form. Stir in powdered sugar until fully mixed.
3. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the mixture to use later for the glaze.
4. In the same medium bowl, pour in the nuts, cinnamon, and salt. Beat together until a dough forms.
5. Sprinkle some powdered sugar onto a flat surface and roll out the dough until it’s about 1/3 inch thick.
6. Cut out the cookies with the star cutters and place them on a lined cookie sheet.
7. Once you cut out all the cookies from the sheet of dough, put the dough scraps into a ball, roll out again, and cut more.
8. Brush the remaining tablespoons of the egg mixture onto each cookie. Make sure you put a thin layer onto each one.
9. Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Let them cool completely before placing them into a gift box.