60 DIY Christmas Gifts Your Friends and Family Will Love

These colorful creations add wow factor to humble brown paper packages.

Honeycomb Ornaments: Cut 1 ½" and 2 ½" half circles from honeycomb paper. Hot-glue one side of folded half circle to package; unfold and glue other side of sphere to box. Use a silver paint pen to draw ornament hangers.

Paper Straw Christmas Tree: Use a pencil to draw a triangle on the top of package. Cut paper straws in graduated lengths to fit horizontally within triangle. Adhere with hot-glue. Cut two 1" pieces of straw and glue vertically at base to form a trunk. Weave a piece of string down the length of tree, adhering with dots of hot-glue along the way. Glue small buttons along length of string.

Yarn Pom-Pom: Twirl yarn around four fingers 50 times. Cut excess yarn and slide loop off fingers, making sure that it doesn't unravel. Cinch at middle with yarn. Use scissors to cut loops and fluff with fingers. Wrap package with coordinating yarn, using ends to tie on pom-pom.

These creamy cleansers aren't just beautiful, they also pamper your skin: Marigold soothes, honey moisturizes, and oatmeal gently exfoliates. A pound of melt-and-pour Castile base yields about six 3-ounce soaps. After drying marigolds, follow these steps:

Step 1: In a large pot, melt the soap base according to the package instructions. Meanwhile, in a small, microwave-safe bowl, microwave three tablespoons honey for 15 seconds on low, until the honey is slightly runny. Stir into the melted soap base.

Step 2: Add five tablespoons dried marigold petals, four tablespoons coarse oatmeal, and 10 drops mandarin essential oil. Stir to combine, then remove from heat.

Step 3: Grease a six-cavity metal tartlet tin with sweet almond oil. Evenly divide the soap mixture among the cavities, then gently tap the tin against your work surface to release any air bubbles. Let the soaps set at room temperature for four hours; carefully run a knife around the edges to release.

Fashion a brilliant ombré necklace for less than $12! We spied this homespun jewelry on Etsy and convinced the seller, Cristina Liliana (elfinadesign.etsy.com), to tell us how she crafted it. Her recipe calls for 1/2 yard of lightweight black rayon cord and 1 1/2 yards of two-millimeter satin cord in each of the following colors: white, peach, coral bisque, light coral, and red. You'll also need forty-five 8mm x 3mm brass foldover crimp ends, two 8mm x 2 1/2mm brass foldover crimp ends, two 4-millimeter copper beads, 46 brass jump rings, and a 12-millimeter brass lobster clasp.

Step 1: Cut each color of satin cord into nine 5 1/2-inch lengths. Turn each length into a closed loop by fastening its two ends together with an 8mm x 3mm crimp end and pliers.

Step 2: String one copper bead onto the black cord. Follow it with a crimped white loop, then a brass jump ring. Continue, alternating between white loops and jump rings. Repeat for the other loops in this order: peach, coral bisque, light coral, and red. Slide on the second copper bead.

Step 3: Use pliers to fasten an 8mm x 2 1/2mm crimp end over each end of the black rayon cord. Loop a jump ring through the opening of each crimp end with pliers. To finish, connect the lobster clasp to one of the jump rings.

Use a stencil and a washable Sharpie to create this cute tea towel for a friend who loves her morning cup of joe.

Get the tutorial at Cherished Bliss.

Let the ladies of Shanty2Chic walk you through a tutorial for this easy-to-make chalkboard serving tray,the perfect gift for a friend who is always entertaining.

Get the tutorial at Shanty2Chic.

Our readers went positively bananas for blogger Olivia Silk's cozy, oversized knit blanket. The technique, created by blogger Laura Birek, is easy to pick up, and the blanket itself can be completed in just a few hours.

Get the tutorial at Laura Birek's YouTube page.

Stretched out or shrunken sweaters get a new purpose as a cozy way to wrap up a bottle of wine.

Get the tutorial at That's What Che Said.

Wild flowers can easily be preserved and made into a beautiful glass framed display for a flower-loving friend.

Get the tutorial at Country Living UK.

Perfect for a hostess gift, these sweet-smelling soaps will be your new favorite cleaning product.

Get the tutorial at A House in the Hills.

This blogger used Jo-Ann Fabrics' Luxe Fleece material to make these cozy blankets for her friends and family. 

Get the tutorial at It's Always Autumn. 

Have a friend or family member who is always cold? (Come on, there's one in every group!) Help keep them warm by giving them these easy-to-make, colorful handwarmers.

Get the tutorial at Rae Ann Kelly.

Invest in a jewelers' hole punch, and you can churn out these wildly fashionable danglers in seconds. Use the punch to create an opening in each brass arrow's feathered end, as shown. Then loop an earring wire through the hole and bend the wire 

Postcards, matchbooks, and coins tell the stories of our travels, but back home these trinkets tend to get lost in a junk drawer. Instead, give vacation souvenirs—as well as snapshots—a more fitting home with this project adapted from Paper + Craft.

To source the geographical shape of your travel destination, type its name (Hawaii, Africa, Manhattan, etc.) and the word silhouette into Google, or download the labels pictured at chroniclebooks.com/papercraft. Print out a resulting image and use a copier to resize it to fit on the lid of a small white box. Cut out the silhouette, then trace it onto the prettiest section of a colorful map of your destination. Next, cut the shape out of the map and use a glue stick to paste it onto the box's lid. Finish by affixing a label on the lid and writing in the location and dates of your journey.

Teacups offer elegant vessels for hand-poured candles. Repurpose china from old place settings, mixing and matching pieces. Or single out a favorite new find, such as this one from Etsy.com.

Get the tutorial.

Instead of letting vintage brooches gather dust in your jewelry box, turn them into refrigerator magnets: Use a pair of needle-nose pliers to remove the pin hardware from the back of each brooch (most fittings will come off easily); then affix a superstrong magnet with a small bead of glue—we used Gorilla Super Glue. Let dry overnight. Your grocery list has never looked more glam!

Save these DIY Christmas gift ideas by pinning this image, and follow Country Living on Pinterest for more holiday inspiration. 

Repurpose an old cutting board by using screws to attach small wooden cheese boxes to a rectangular cutting board. Then add a leather strap for hanging. 

Old license plates also make a one-of-a-kind roof for your favorite birdhouse. Simply use hot glue or a screw to attach them to the little home.

To create your own signature scent, first take two perfume compacts and place a liner in each. Then, mix 1½ teaspoons of jojoba oil and 25 drops of essential oil—rose, lavender, your choice!—in a glass; set aside. Melt ¾ teaspoon of grated beeswax on low heat in a glass bowl over a double boiler for 5 to 10 seconds. Remove beeswax from heat and stir in the oil mixture. Reheat for 10 seconds. Pour the mixture into the compacts, then let cool completely.

Skip the same-old tin and give cookies in a festive (airtight!) jar instead. Use a fine-tipped brush to paint small white dots on the outside of a 1.6-quart Hermetic Storage Jar. Fill bottom of jar with snowball cookies (for the recipe, click here). Place small plastic trinkets inside for a snow globe-inspired vignette. Tie gift tag to jar with ribbon.

What you'll need: plastic deer ( $6.50 for dozen, etsy.com); Christmas sisal forest trees ($12 for 24, amazon.com); red grosgrain ribbon ($9 for 50 yards, amazon.com); metal circle tags (10 for $5, amazon.com)

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