Best Homemade Gift Ideas

We are sharing some of our best homemade gift ideas from food to artwork and so much in between. Handmade gifts are a truly wonderful way to give others something they will treasure. Whether it is Christmas or a birthday, consider making homemade gifts for friends and family.

We love to make homemade food gifts and package them in creative ways to surprise and delight those receiving our handmade efforts. Creative homemade gifts do not have to be elaborate or take days to put together. Do not be afraid to make up a batch of your favorite cookies or mix up your favorite snack mix and package them in a festive manner and give them away!

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When it comes to the best homemade Christmas gifts, we ALWAYS lean towards food whether it’s candy, cookies, bread or other special items. Growing up our mom made dozens of cookies of all shapes, sizes and flavors at Christmas. We would have an assembly line to build plates and plates of her delicious homemade sweets to give to family, friends, neighbors, and teachers.

One of our most popular homemade gift recipes on this blog is our Friendship Tea mix which features Tang! Our readers love making a batch for themselves and one to give to others.

We give bags and bags of this White Chocolate Candy Mix away every Christmas. Also known as White Trash Mix, this candy-coated snack mix is easy to make and customize to your tastes.

Here are some of our favorite Christmas cookies ideas. You can make a few different types of cookies and mix them on your tray to give a variety of sweets on the same tray!

Homemade Christmas Cookies

These Old Fashioned Peanut Blossoms are always a crowd pleaser. A soft peanut butter cookies topped with a perfect Hershey’s Kiss.

My husband loves molasses cookies and he gives these two thumbs up. These Old-Fashioned Cinnamon Snaps are a great addition to any holiday cookie tray.

While decorated sugar cookies are a classic to make during the holidays, they often take quite a bit of time that we don’t always have. We love making these simple French Buttercream cookies and then decorating them with festive red and green sugars!

These Iced Thumbprint cookies are a perfect homemade gift idea because you can customize the icing color to fit the occasion. These are also small bite-sized cookies so they are a perfect sweet treat.

Here are some of our other favorite Christmas cookies:

Homemade Christmas Candy

Homemade candy is always a popular Christmas gift and we have some really easy options for you! Our grandma always made her Fantasy Fudge each December and you can add your favorite nuts or leave them out – it’s up to you!

These Cream Cheese Mints are also a fun holiday treat because you can color them red or green or leave them white.

Peanut Brittle is a classic candy to give and be given at the holidays. This 10-minute microwave version is easy to make and delicious to eat!

These Pop Tart Cake Balls are a great recipe to get the kids to help you with so they get in the giving spirit! Decorate them with some fun, festive sprinkles and they are a fun addition to any cookie or candy gift tin.

Here are a few of our other simple Christmas candy recipes:

Christmas Popcorn and Nuts

We love packaging up our favorite caramel corn or glazed pecans in a festive bag or box, adding a bow and gifting it to loved ones. Be sure to make a double batch of this Caramel Puff Corn because you will want to keep all of it for yourself. So, so good!

One of our all-time favorite homemade gifts are these Cinnamon Glazed Nuts. They taste JUST like those mall kiosk, German roasted nuts!

Here are a couple of our other yummy recipes featuring popcorn or nuts!

Favorite Homemade Gift Ideas

The great thing about making your own homemade gifts is that you can really customize them to the individual. Have someone who enjoys a good martini…or just a good olive? Make them a batch of these easy Homemade Martini Olives!

Have an ice cream lover in your life? Make them a batch of this Hot Fudge Sauce and they will be begging you for another batch or at least the recipe!

One of our family’s go-to homemade Christmas food gifts is our mom’s Poppy Seed Bread. This quick bread with an orange juice glaze is simple to put together and looks festive wrapped in a Christmas dish towel or ribbons.

We also love giving these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins or our Grandma’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake as a gift for our friends and family to enjoy on Christmas morning.

Not a baker? These Red Hot Cinnamon Apples would be a great homemade gift to package in a pretty dish with a bow on top.

Have someone who isn’t a fan of sweets on your list? This Texas two-set soup mix from Leah at Beyer Beware is a great gift option.

DIY Homemade Christmas Gifts

Christmas is a perfect time to think about handmade gift ideas for friends and family. The holidays can often feel overwhelming AND get quite expensive but you can create some impressive and cheap homemade gifts quite easily.

If you have a lot of kids to buy for, consider making them some homemade play dough in a variety of fun colors. You can find some fun containers and label them with creative color names or the child’s name! Check out our edible versions – peanut butter play dough and play dough made with Kool Aid.

Get your kids involved in making the gifts to not only keep them busy but also show them it’s fun to make things for others. Sarah from The Farmwife Crafts has SO many great handmade gift giving ideas on her site, including these great DIY Snow Globes!

If you are handy with a hammer and nails, consider trying some DIY String Art from Jennifer over at The Farmwife Feeds!

32 Best Homemade Gift Ideas

Hopefully this list of our choices for the best options for homemade gifts sparks an idea or two for you. Remember handmade gifts are always a hit because they show the effort and time you put in thinking about what to give others.

Be sure to pin this post so you can easily find it when you need the perfect homemade gift idea!