Add a personal touch with easy homemade gifts for friends and neighbors this holiday season.
The best part of Christmas time is letting friends, neighbors and family know how much you appreciate them. But with a whole family to shop for, sometimes giving homemade gifts or inexpensive gifts are the best options for your budget. So what exceptional perfect gift do you give to the people who mean the most?
Our favorite neighbor Christmas deliveries that we have both received and given are handmade gifts. And sometimes the best ones are the most simple gifts. What a fun way to show kindness to those around us! So don't overthink it and let me help you come up with a thoughtful gift this Christmas season.
Favorite DIY Neighbor Christmas Gifts
Dropping off a special treat to your neighbors this time of year is one way to spread some Christmas cheer. It's also a great idea to share small gifts with your co-workers or friends at church. Take a look at some of these inexpensive gift ideas you can make yourself.
Homemade Candy Ornaments
You'll love these handmade candy ornaments for their simplicity and ability to customize!
Supplies:
- Clear ornament
- Black twine
- Velvet ribbon
- Candy - we used freeze dried Skittles
- Clear tape to keep it closed
- Tag
Making candy filled ornaments is an easy neighbor gift and very budget-friendly. First, order some clear ornaments that you can fill up. Put whatever treat inside that your friends or co-workers will love.
We love to fill up our ornaments with a homemade treat like freeze dried Skittles. So colorful and fun!
Close your ornament and seal it with a small piece of tape. Then embellish with twine, ribbon and a gift tag. Super easy and affordable and something that the whole family can put together.
Homemade Vanilla Extract or Almond Extract
A practical gift that can be used in your kitchen is always a popular choice for gifting. Learn how to make a simple DIY extract here.
Why You'll Love This Favorite Recipe
- It's so easy
- Only two ingredients plus containers for storing
- Lasts a long time
- Minimal effort required to assemble
Christmas Bath Salt Jars
Find a fun jar, add some bath salts and cute figurines or ornaments. You'll have one of the cutest Christmas gifts for neighbors or friends. Full tutorial here
Vintage Christmas Candy
Dress up a traditional treat with unique wrapping paper. After all, it's all about the presentation! These creative gifts are super simple and classy wrapped in vintage sheet music. Scroll to the end of this page to learn how to make these vintage edible gifts.
Sweet Treat Filled Lightbulbs
These light bulbs filled with chocolates are a great way to present a fun gift. Include the cute tag for the "Merry and Bright" inspired treat. This idea is by Landeelu!
Baked Goodies with Homemade Packaging
Do you have a tight budget this year for Christmas? You can still make cute neighbor gifts. Bake something at home and make it look fancy with a few classic decorations like this by InMyOwnStyle.
Get other packaging and wrapping tips here.
Dressed Up Baking Kit
Check out this cute sugar cookie baking kit by Uncommon designs. Dress up your baking gift with cute gift bags, twine, and sprinkles in these mini light bulbs!
Gift Some Greenery
Food items aren't your thing? It's the perfect time to gift some greenery like these succulents that can last indoors with little maintenance. What an awesome gift idea by Not Just a House Wife.
Apples and Homemade Caramel
Who doesn't love caramel dip and apples? This is the perfect teacher or neighbor gift by Smart School House.
Other Fun Ideas for Frugal-Minded Gifts
- Bath bombs - can also be homemade!
- Hand soap
- Cookie dough balls or a cookie mix with instructions
- Homemade muffin mix
- Hot cocoa mix in mason jars
- Traditional plate of cookies
- Cookie cutter with a recipe attached
- Kitchen utensils
- Handmade sugar scrubs
- Candy cane popcorn balls
How to Make Vintage Christmas Candy Treats
These easy Christmas gifts are a cinch to make with only a few needed supplies.
Supplies You'll Need:
- Bagged Hershey nuggets
- Vintage sheet music or vintage book pages (You can find these at a local thrift store)
- Cellophane paper
- Twine or ribbon
- Christmas tags
- Tape
- Scissors
Making Vintage Christmas Treats
Collect all of your supplies
First, make sure you have all your supplies. There is nothing like having to go back to the store 5 times during holiday crazy season because you forgot something. Bagged Hershey nuggets can be found at the local grocery store in the holiday section or regular candy section.
Wrap your candy in vintage paper
Then wrap each piece of candy with vintage sheet music or holiday Christmas music. If you can't find sheet music you can also use vintage book pages. Find these at a local thrift store.
Wrap in cellophane paper
Once your chocolate is covered with sheet music, then use cellophane to wrap them up in bunches.
Tie with twine and label
Tie some twine or colorful ribbon around each package and add a cute tag, homemade or otherwise! Finding a printable Christmas gift tag likes these awesome tags at Shanty 2 Chic are perfect for the final touch!
You can also use slightly larger sizes of Hershey bars like these ones. To dress them up a bit I went with gold glittered ribbon instead of twine. They look so elegant!
These are the perfect little Christmas gifts to let someone know you care about them. Super budget-friendly and still fun for the holidays!
Looking for more kitchen gift ideas? Take a peek here at some of my favorite gifts for chefs.
Cindy Whitlock says
Cliff makes homemade vanilla and it is a favorite to everyone he gives it to. Haven't tried Almond extract. . . that may be next on the list. Thanks, Brooke!