A creative way to get in the mood for the holidays can be to make gifts for your beloved ones with your own hands. To do this, we’ve brought you three ideas that you can easily make at home, even together with the kids, and without any special crafting skills. Make a nice cup of tea, put on some cosy music and let the DIY Christmas elf workshop begin.
Love Box
Get a natural box with an inner divider (look for tea boxes in home decor and hobby shops) and place some indulgent treats inside: small chocolates, tea bags, coffee capsules. In one of the compartments, put handwritten “coupons” that the recipient can redeem with you. The little cards should be about a kind gesture, e.g. “Give me a hug”, “Let’s have a movie afternoon”, “I could do with a massage”.
You can even paint the box or add a personalised gift card.
Christmas elves - no sewing required
The Christmas elves, which appeared a few years ago and have been growing in popularity ever since, can cost up to several thousand forints from ingenious traders. But what many people don’t know is that you can make your own figures for around 500 forints with just 10 minutes’ work and materials. All you need is a sock, a glue gun, felt, polystyrene beads (or cotton wool), a wooden ball and fake fur. Fill the sock with the polystyrene beads/wadding as much as you feel right, and knot the top. Attach the faux fur beard to the sock with a glue gun. Make a funnel from the felt material for the cap and attach it too to the elf with a glue gun, so that it covers the knot that closes the sock. Glue the wood beed for nose between the cap and the beard. The decoration is only limited by your imagination. It’s worth buying enough material for several elves, because you won’t be able to stop at just one.
Classic snow globe, unique solutions
Homemade snow globes are inexpensive to make and can be varied to taste. Mix glycerine and distilled water in a clean, pretty jar in a 1:2 ratio to create a medium in which the snowflakes will float slowly and beautifully. The lid of the jar will be the base, so you will need to fix the figures of the composition to it with a strong glue. This can be made up of tiny winter figurines, artificial plants, tiny pine trees or even a laminated family photo. Sprinkle silver glitter or fake snow over the glycerine liquid, then screw the top (which will now be the bottom) onto the jar and you have your unique snow globe, which can be decorated with colourful ribbons, gold paint, beads and more, personalised for the recipient.
Have a creative Christmas!