We have the perfect DIY Christmas gift idea: DIY Christmas gifts your friends and family will actually love! For a unique holiday gift, personalize an ornament by using items found during your vacations or travel. The great thing about this craft is that it’s a custom ornament gift that will give back every year when they put it on the Christmas tree or set it out at the holidays!
What are the best homemade gifts?
The best homemade gifts are those that mean something to the person receiving it! And, this DIY Christmas gift ornament is one of the most thoughtful and creative diy christmas gifts I’ve ever made. It’s one of those simple homemade gifts craft that you can tailor to each person receiving it!
Here’s how it started . . .
Wherever we go — vacations, nature walks, shopping, breakfast, the bathroom (OK, maybe not the bathroom. Whatever.) — daughter has to gather some mementos of the trip.
She calls them her “collections.”
And, her collections quickly start to take over . . . everywhere.
So, when she gathered collections during our summer beach vacation one year, I decided I was finally going to do something with them.
(We bring back sand, shells, driftwood and more every year!)
So, I bought some clear glass ornaments and made homemade keepsake ornaments with the sand, shells, pebbles and driftwood (all things we found on our vacation) — and they turned out really cool!
They were so amazing that we even made some as gifts for our friends who were on the trip with us.
The great thing about this craft is that you don’t have to do it just at the holidays.
Buy the clear glass ornaments when you see them clearanced after the holidays and make them throughout the year from different collections from your vacations, travel, and even your nature hikes.
Then, when you’re ready to decorate your tree, you have a whole new set of ornaments (or DIY Christmas gift) that really mean something to the family and you will have fun reminiscing.
Don’t Do a Christmas Tree?
Try a fun ornament tree display stand that you can use to display all your keepsake ornaments (even year-round!).
If you’re wondering, “What can you make for Christmas gifts?” this is definitely something you should put on your list!
DIY for Christmas Gifts: Homemade Keepsake Ornaments
How to Make Christmas Ornaments From Vacation and Travel Keepsakes
DIY Christmas Gift Ornament
This DIY Christmas gift ornament is perfect for holding travel souvenirs and vacation keepsakes.
Materials
- Clear Ornaments with Removable Tops
- Paper (Color of Choice)–cut into 1/2-inch wide slips (if using your computer and printer, cut them into 1/2-inch slips after printing)
- Ribbon (assorted colors of choice)
- Pencil with Eraser
- Scissors
- Hot Glue or Super Glue
Instructions
- Print (from your computer printer) or write the name of the event and year on a slip of paper. On a separate slip, write the location or any other information you want to include.
- Curl only the ends of the paper. (I used the scissor edge to gently curl it the same way that you curl ribbon.)
- Gently remove the top of the ornament. Place (or pour) sand, crushed leaves, pieces of wood, rocks or whatever else you gathered into the ornament.
- Loosely roll the slips of paper and then place them, one at a time, into the ornament. Use the pencil (eraser side) to help unroll the paper and position the slip of paper inside the ornament.
- Add the additional slips of paper and repeat Step #4 until they are all in and in place.
- Glue top of ornament on using hot glue or super glue. If you have sand in your ornament, you may want to glue a small, round piece of paper on the opening before you glue the top of the ornament back on. This will prevent the sand from accidentally pouring out. (Yes, I’m telling you this from personal experience.)
- Tie with ribbon and hang on tree or wrap as a gift!
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