DIY Gifts for Best Friend: 16 Handmade Christmas Ideas That Feel Like a Pricey Boutique Find
DIY Gifts for Best Friend ideas are the sweetest way to thank the person who knows every story, every song and every bad haircut you ever had. A best friend does not need a big box from the mall. She needs something that shows you paid attention all year. This Christmas, skip the gift card and make one thing just for her. The ideas below are simple, cheap and easy to finish on a free weekend, yet each one looks like a find from a small boutique on a pretty side street. Many use a little decoupage, a few use a needle or a paintbrush, and all of them come straight from the heart. Pick one project, or pick three and pack them together in one beautiful box. Here is where to start..
DIY Gifts for Best Friend That Look Boutique Bought
Picture this on her table on Christmas morning: a soft knit hat in her color, a jar of cookies you baked yourself, and a small floral box you covered with paper and a brush. Nothing here came from a store shelf, yet together it looks like a gift set from a little shop on Main Street. That is the magic of handmade. These DIY gifts for best friend moments do not take special talent, only a free afternoon and a little care. If you need ideas for the rest of your group, our list of handmade gifts for friends has plenty more. Start with one project below and build from there..
You will need: Kraft paper, red satin ribbon, blank kraft tags, a few pine sprigs, and one or more of the handmade gifts below
How to make it: 1. Choose two or three projects from this list that fit her style. 2. Wrap each boxed item in kraft paper and tie it with ribbon. 3. Tuck a pine sprig under each bow and write a short note on every tag.
Tea Sampler Box With Handmade Tags
If your best friend is the one who always puts the kettle on, a tea sampler box is the perfect pick. Buy a few single tea bags in flavors she has never tried, like chai, rooibos, peppermint and jasmine, then sort them into a wooden box with small sections. The fun part is the tags. Cut little labels from cardstock, stamp a tiny leaf on each one, and write the flavor and steep time by hand. Our guide to homemade gift tags shows easy shapes you can cut in seconds. It is one of the most budget friendly DIY gifts for best friend lists can offer, and it looks expensive.
You will need: Wooden box with dividers, 12 to 20 tea bags in mixed flavors, cardstock, a small leaf stamp, an ink pad, and a fine tip marker
How to make it: 1. Sand and wipe the box, then paint or stain it if you like. 2. Sort the teas by color so each row looks neat. 3. Cut, stamp and write a tag for each row and tuck it in front.
DIY Gifts for Best Friend: A Decoupage Jewelry Box
A plain wooden box from the craft store turns into a keepsake with a few floral paper napkins. Decoupage is an old craft that grew popular in Europe as a way to copy hand painted furniture, and you can read its history on Wikipedia. For this box, separate the top printed layer of each napkin, lay it on wet decoupage medium and smooth it gently with a foam brush. Our napkin decoupage ideas walk you through tearing and smoothing without wrinkles. Line the inside with soft felt for a true boutique finish.
You will need: Unfinished wooden box with a lid, floral paper napkins, matte decoupage medium, a foam brush, soft felt, and a small metal clasp
How to make it: 1. Paint the box white and let it dry. 2. Separate the napkin layers, tear pieces, and seal them onto the box with decoupage medium. 3. Add two top coats, then cut felt to fit the inside and attach the clasp.
Knit Hat in Her Favorite Color
A hat knit just for her will get worn all winter long. Choose a soft, washable yarn in the exact shade she loves, whether that is deep teal, cream or cherry red. A simple ribbed band and a plain stockinette body make a great first project, and bulky yarn makes it go fast, often in one evening of TV. Add a fluffy pom on top if she likes a playful look. If you love working with big yarn, our chunky knit blankets are the natural next step. Tuck a care card inside so she knows how to wash it.
You will need: 1 skein of bulky washable yarn, size 10 circular knitting needles, a ring marker, a yarn needle, and a pom maker
How to make it: 1. Cast on 64 and work a 2 inch ribbed band. 2. Knit plain rounds until the hat is 7 inches tall, then decrease to close the top. 3. Weave in the ends and sew on the pom.
DIY Gifts for Best Friend: Matching Painted Ornaments
Make two of the same ornament, keep one and give her the other. Every year when you both hang them on your trees, you will think of each other, even if you live far apart. Plain white ceramic discs are cheap at craft stores, and tiny pine trees are easy to paint with a fine brush and three shades of green. Add a sprinkle of gold stars with a dotting tool. Our hand painted ornaments gallery has more simple designs if trees are not her style. Sign and date the back with a paint pen.
You will need: 2 white ceramic disc ornaments, acrylic paint in three greens and gold, a fine detail brush, a dotting tool, a paint pen, and red velvet ribbon
How to make it: 1. Pencil a low line of tree shapes across each disc. 2. Paint the trees in layers, dark green first, then lighter tips. 3. Dot on gold stars, let dry, seal, and thread ribbon through the top.
Handmade Soap Bars With a Stamped Heart
Melt and pour soap is the easiest way to make soap at home, with no lye to handle. Melt the base, stir in a few drops of scent and pour it into silicone molds. When the bars are firm, press a small heart stamp into the top for that artisan look you see at farmers markets. Pick a scent that matches her, like rose, oatmeal or fresh pine. Our Christmas soap ideas show more colors and shapes. Stack three bars, wrap them with a paper band and ribbon, and you have DIY gifts for best friend and coworkers in one batch.
You will need: 2 pounds melt and pour soap base, soap safe fragrance oil, silicone bar molds, a small heart stamp, a paper band, and ribbon
How to make it: 1. Cut the base into cubes and melt it in short bursts in the microwave. 2. Stir in the scent and pour into the molds. 3. Unmold once set, press the stamp into each bar, and wrap.
Patchwork Friendship Journal
This is a journal you trade back and forth. She writes a page, then hands it to you, and you write the next one. Over the years it becomes a record of your friendship, full of inside jokes, plans and little drawings. Cover a plain notebook with a patchwork of cotton squares in holiday prints, then add a wooden toggle and loop so it closes neatly. If you are new to the sewing machine, our easy Christmas sewing projects start with the same simple straight seams. Write the very first entry before you wrap it.
You will need: A hardcover notebook, 12 cotton fabric squares, fusible fleece, matching thread, one wooden toggle, elastic cord, and satin ribbon
How to make it: 1. Sew the squares into a panel big enough to wrap the notebook with flaps. 2. Iron fleece to the back, fold the flaps, and sew the sides. 3. Sew on the toggle and a loop of elastic cord, then add a ribbon bookmark.
Lavender Sachets for Her Drawers
Lavender sachets make every drawer smell like a day at the spa. Sew small linen squares, fill them with dried lavender buds and close the top with a tiny ribbon. You can make a stack of six in one afternoon. Stamp or embroider her initial on the front for a personal touch. Place them in a cloth pouch, much like our fabric gift bags, and you have one of those DIY gifts for best friend favorites she will use every single day. A drop of lavender oil wakes up the scent months later.
You will need: Linen or cotton fabric, 2 cups dried lavender buds, thread, a small funnel, thin ribbon, a letter stamp, and fabric ink
How to make it: 1. Cut 5 inch squares and sew three sides with right sides together. 2. Turn them out and fill each one halfway with lavender using the funnel. 3. Sew or tie the top closed and stamp her initial.
DIY Gifts for Best Friend: A Floral Mirror Vanity Tray
A thrifted round mirror becomes a pretty tray for perfume, rings and hair clips. Attach a thin wood rim around the edge, paint it gold, then seal pressed flowers along the rim with decoupage medium. It looks like a vanity tray from a fancy home shop, but it costs only a few dollars. Our thrifted mirror makeovers show more ways to give an old mirror new life. Choose flowers in her favorite colors, or press blooms from a day you spent together.
You will need: A round mirror about 12 inches across, flexible wood edging, gold acrylic paint, pressed flowers, decoupage medium, and felt pads
How to make it: 1. Attach the rim around the mirror with strong craft adhesive and let it cure. 2. Paint the rim gold. 3. Lay pressed flowers along the band, seal them with two coats, and add felt pads underneath.
Homemade Jam With Fabric Lids
Homemade jam never goes out of style. Pick her favorite fruit, like strawberry, raspberry or apricot, and cook a small batch on a weekend morning. Pour it into small jars, top each lid with a circle of cotton fabric and tie it with string. Line them up in a little crate and you have a gift that tastes like summer in December. For more food gifts that travel well, see our Christmas gifts in a jar. Add a card with a serving idea, like jam on warm scones or swirled into yogurt.
You will need: 4 cups fruit, 2 cups sugar, 1 lemon, pectin, 6 small jars with lids, cotton fabric circles, and kitchen string
How to make it: 1. Cook the fruit, sugar, lemon juice and pectin until thick. 2. Ladle into clean jars and process them in a water bath as your pectin box directs. 3. Cover each lid with fabric and tie it with string.
Decoupage Hair Clip Set
Hair clips are tiny, so they are fast to make and fun to give in a set of six. Cover plain snap clips with small pieces of fabric or floral paper, then seal them with a glossy coat. Mount them on a kraft card inside a small white box with tissue, and they look like a set from a gift boutique. Our handmade jewelry gifts pair nicely if you want to add earrings to the box. Make one set for her and a matching set for you, so you can wear them on your next coffee date.
You will need: 6 metal snap clips, fabric or paper remnants, glossy decoupage medium, a small brush, a kraft card, a small white box, and tissue
How to make it: 1. Trace each clip on the fabric and cut a slightly larger shape. 2. Brush medium on the clip, press the fabric on and trim the edges. 3. Add two glossy coats, let dry, and mount the clips on the card.
Dried Orange and Cinnamon Ornament Kit
Dried orange slices smell like Christmas and look gorgeous on a tree or a garland. Slice oranges thin, bake them low and slow until dry, and pack them with cinnamon sticks, cloves and a spool of cotton string. She can make her own garland on a cozy afternoon at home. Our guide to dried orange slices covers oven time and how to keep them bright. Add a little card with the steps so the kit is ready to use. Kits like this are DIY gifts for best friend types who love to make things too.
You will need: 4 oranges, cinnamon sticks, a handful of cloves, a baking sheet, parchment, cotton string, and a small kraft bag
How to make it: 1. Slice the oranges about a quarter inch thick and pat them dry. 2. Bake at 200 F for about 3 hours, flipping once. 3. Cool fully and pack with cinnamon, cloves and string.
DIY Gifts for Best Friend: A Shared Recipe Binder
Collect the recipes you two always make together, from the pasta you cooked in your first apartment to her mom’s famous banana bread. Cover a plain binder with vintage kitchen print paper using decoupage medium, then fill it with recipe cards in your own writing. Leave half the cards blank so she can add her own over the years. Keepsakes like this mean the most, and our sentimental Christmas gifts have more heartfelt ideas. Tuck a wooden spoon tied with ribbon inside the front cover.
You will need: A 1 inch ring binder, vintage kitchen print paper, decoupage medium, a foam brush, recipe cards, sheet protectors, and a wooden spoon
How to make it: 1. Cut the paper to fit the front, spine and back. 2. Seal it on with medium and smooth out any bubbles. 3. Add two top coats, then fill the binder with cards in sheet protectors.
Jar of Homemade Cookies With Lace Ribbon
Bake a batch of her favorite cookies, whether that is chocolate chip, oatmeal or ginger, and stack them in a clear jar. Tie a lace ribbon around the neck and add a little wooden heart charm. It is simple, but it tells her you remembered exactly what she loves. For more pretty ways to fill a jar, see our Christmas treat jars. Include the recipe on a card so she can bake them again in January when the jar is empty. Cookie jars are DIY gifts for best friend swaps that never fail.
You will need: 1 batch of cookies, a large clear jar with a lid, lace ribbon, a small wooden heart charm, and a recipe card
How to make it: 1. Bake and fully cool the cookies. 2. Stack them in the jar with a round of parchment between layers. 3. Tie the ribbon and charm around the lid and attach the card.
Map Paper Picture Frame of Her Hometown
Print or buy an old road map of the town where you met, or the town where she grew up, and use it to cover a plain wooden frame. Cut a heart shaped window in a mat board and set more map behind it so the spot that matters most shows through. It is a gift that tells your story without a single word. Our picture frame ideas gallery has more ways to dress up a frame. Add a photo of you two to the back so she finds a second surprise later.
You will need: A wooden frame, road map paper, mat board, a craft knife, decoupage medium, and a foam brush
How to make it: 1. Tear the map into pieces and seal them all over the frame. 2. Cut a heart window in the mat board. 3. Place a map section behind the heart and put the frame back together.
DIY Gifts for Best Friend Packed in One Pretty Box
Once you have made one or two of these, pack them together in a strong gift box. Line the box with tissue, nest the items in shredded paper, and tie it with a wide ribbon. A dark box with a bright bow looks especially rich under the tree. Our DIY Christmas gift boxes show how to make your own box from cardboard. Slip a handwritten letter on top, because the note is often the part she keeps the longest. That letter turns DIY gifts for best friend projects into memories.
You will need: A strong gift box, tissue paper, shredded paper filler, wide satin ribbon, and a handwritten letter
How to make it: 1. Line the box and add a bed of filler. 2. Place the largest gift in the center and fill in around it. 3. Close the lid, tie the ribbon, and tuck the letter under the bow.
