How to Make Your DIY Christmas Gifts in Time for the Holidays

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that your bank accounts survived the chaos that is Black Friday and Cyber Monday! I don’t know about you, but our refrigerator is overflowing with enough leftover turkey to last a month!

We hosted Thanksgiving dinner here for the first time, and it went pretty smoothly. There might have been one little hiccup when we were draining the potatoes and half of them ended up down the drain. Whoops! Luckily we had enough left to make a smaller dish, and we had PLENTY of other food to make up for it.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, Christmas preparations are in full swing, and that means in addition to the decorating, cooking, baking, and cleaning, you’ve got to find the perfect gift for everyone on your list in time for Christmas!

I don’t know about you, but I just love to give handmade DIY Christmas gifts. There’s just something so special about giving gifts that you’ve made yourself… they’re unique, one-of-a-kind gifts that nobody else will give or receive. You can completely personalize the gift according to the recipient’s preferences and tastes, and there are so many easy DIY Christmas gifts you can make! Not to mention, DIY gifts often cost much less money than buying the same item at a store.

That being said, making your own DIY Christmas gifts can often take a bit of time, which is something in short supply around the holidays. I always try to start my holiday crafting early enough so that I’ll be finished well before Christmas, but then things happen, like life, and it gets pushed to the back burner until all of a sudden it’s December! (And holy cow when did that happen?!)

So I’ve created this list of steps that should help us all stay on track and hopefully get our DIY Christmas presents finished in time for Christmas! And you know that I love to spoil my readers, so of course I’ve included a FREE printable just for you guys! The printable follows along with the steps in this post to really help you plan your DIY gifts and stay on track to ensure you finish them by Christmas!

How to Make Your DIY Christmas Gifts in Time (and Keep Your Sanity)!

1. Download your free DIY Christmas gift planning printable below and print it out! It’s perfect for planning your Christmas crafting and ensuring you stay on track so that all of your gifts will be finished before Christmas! We’ll fill out the different sections of the printable in the following steps.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE DIY CHRISTMAS GIFT PLANNER

2. Gather ideas and decide what gifts you want to make and who you want to make them for. The internet is filled with craft tutorials and DIY projects, so you should have no problem finding the perfect DIY gift for everyone on your list. I find Pinterest particularly helpful for finding great, easy DIY gift ideas. And did you know that you can even create a secret Pinterest board and pin your projects to the board to ensure your gift ideas stay top secret until the big day? (I’ll also be posting some DIY gift guides soon, so stay tuned for those!) Once you’ve decided what gifts you’re making and who they’re for, fill out the first section of your DIY Christmas gift planner so you can keep everything straight! Having everything all in one place will make life so much easier!

3. Take inventory of your craft supplies and make a list of everything you’ll need to buy. Review what you’ll need to make each gift, and check to see what supplies you already have and what ones you’ll need to purchase. Don’t just assume that you do or don’t have the supplies you need, actually check! That way you don’t end up wasting money on supplies you don’t need, and you can ensure you’re not missing supplies you do need. Write down what supplies you’ll need to buy in the second section of your DIY Christmas gift planner!

4. Go to the store or shop online for the supplies you need to craft your DIY Christmas gifts. I try to buy everything at once so that I don’t have to make multiple trips to the store. This is also helpful if you’re shopping online so that you can get free shipping for a large order. (Although if you have something like Amazon Prime, you don’t need to buy in bulk. Which is how you end up with a new box on your doorstep every day of the week. Not that I would know anything about that.)

5. Set aside time to make your gifts. It may be helpful to just pick a weekend and get your crafting done all at once. Or if you don’t have an entire weekend to block off, commit to one hour a night, or whatever your schedule will allow so that everything will be finished by Christmas. Write down when you’ll be doing your crafting in the last section of your DIY Christmas gift planner.

6. Make your Christmas gifts, and have fun while doing it! Put on some music, enjoy some Christmas goodies, and get to work creating your Christmas gifts! This is the fun part! Use your DIY Christmas gift planner to help stay on track and make sure you don’t forget anyone on your list!

7. Wrap the gifts. And don’t forget about the gift tags! This collection of free printable “made with love” gift tags will help you add the perfect finishing touch to your handmade gifts!

8. Give your gifts to your family and friends! The best part of making DIY gifts is seeing how much the recipient loves and appreciates all of your hard work and creativity! DIY gifts are so personal and fun!

I hope you found these steps and the printable helpful for getting your crafting done before Christmas. I always find that being organized and creating a schedule is one of the best ways to ensure I keep my sanity and get everything done in time for the holidays! Of course, a little wine and chocolate never hurts on that end, either.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE DIY CHRISTMAS GIFT PLANNER

Don’t let the thought of not having enough time stop you from creating those special DIY Christmas gifts! Trust me, you can make time, and your DIY gifts will be treasured far longer than something mass produced from a department store! If you need more ideas for setting aside some craft time, check out my post on making time to craft. (It also features a free printable, if you can’t get enough!)

Do you have any tips to add to the list? What things have you found help you get everything done before the holidays? Let me know in the comments!