Ideas for Homemade Christmas and Birthday Gifts – Homemade Gifts for Girls and Women

Even though the economy is getting back on its feet, many people are still trying to find ways to save some money. Homemade Christmas or birthday gifts can be a good money saver and an excellent way to recycle things you may already have around. Homemade gifts are also more unique and interesting than store-bought gifts.

If you are tired of hearing the same suggestions over and over again – scrap books, picture frames, CDs, home backed cookies, photo calendars and quilts – then check out these ideas for practical and cost-effective homemade gifts for teenage girls and women.

What is a beautiful and cheap homemade gift for mom on Mother’s Day or Easter? Flowers! These adorable blooms are crafted from colorful plastic spoons and some pipe cleaners. These can be made easily by small kids and are also a nice way to recycle plastic cutlery. You can find the spoon-flower tutorial here.

These stunning homemade vases look like expensive porcelain pieces but are actually made form old bottles and cans, decorated with puffy paint and spray paint. You can achieve the same effect also with old vases, empty jars and containers.

This one-of-a-kind pottery is an appropriate homemade gift for birthdays, anniversaries, housewarmings and holiday gift for women and families. Remember, even empty, they can be a great decorative element for home and office.

This crafty idea was found on Psimadethis.com

Pop tab bracelets are very popular not only with teenagers but also with adults and celebrities in Hollywood (like Kristen Stewart). This means that they can be an awesome homemade gift that a teenage girl can give to her friends and even to her mom.

The earth-friendly pop tab bracelets are made from aluminum can tabs that are threaded with colorful satin ribbons, elastic cords or leather lines. With a little imagination you can come up with hundreds of unique designs that will suit the tastes of everyone. You can add charms, beads, and mix different pop tab colors. You can even create other fashion accessories from pop tabs like cool belts, rings, necklaces, headbands and earrings.

How to make a pop tab bracelet? Check out this Tutorial or watch the video below.

Cute and elegant, homemade headbands are sure to be hit with little girls and teenagers. They are usually easy to make, and you can have a lot of fun with choosing colors, styles and trims to suit the occasion or the outfit.

You can make, for example, a very stylish leather headband from an old leather purse and decorate it with pearl beads. This idea and the step-by-step tutorial was found on Bubbly Nature Creations. This particular headband will make a cool homemade birthday or holiday gift for a teenage girl.

Another great gift option, perfect for party girls, is a fashionable jeweled headband. There are many ways to make one of these, and here is one of them from InStyle.com.

A set of inexpensive, plain cutlery can be transformed into a pretty unique gift by decorating the handles with polymer clay. This is a useful homemade gift that would be appreciated by your mother, sister, aunt, mother-in-law, or sister-in-law.

Polymer clay is one of the most versatile craft materials available right now, and even people that don’t have any special artistic skills can achieve great results with it. It is very easy to work with (just like modeling clay), comes in many different colors and is cheap. This material is not earth clay, though. It’s a PVC based synthetic modeling material that stays soft during work and has to be baked to harden.

You can decorate cutlery handles with festive holiday designs, tie them together with beautiful ribbons, and given them as Christmas gifts. You can also create a unique set that matches your recipient’s dining room color scheme. Just be creative!

Pens are often given as gifts to teachers, school friends, office co-workers and graduating high school and college students. They are very handy, but usually not very exciting gifts.

One way to make your present look like million bucks is to add your personal touch to it. Cheap pens can be covered with polymer clay and embellished with hand sculpted floral motifs and all kinds of artistic designs.

Handmade jewelry are personal, affordable, and highly unique pieces that almost any girl or woman would be happy to receive for Christmas or her birthday. Handmade jewelry is also the one fashion accessory that will never go out of style.

There are many techniques you can use to make jewelry, but probably the most versatile one is the polymer clay technique. You can find hundreds of tutorials on-line on how to work with this material and if you need inspiration for your designs, just check Flickr Hive Mind Group.

This elegant clutch purse can be made for about an hour from anyone with basic sewing skills. All it takes is cutting out fabric, making about 8 seams and gluing the metal frame. You can use any nice fabric you have around the house and a metal frame from an old clutch. This adorable homemade gift can even be personalized with a custom label on the interior. It is an affordable and unique homemade gift for any fashionable women. Perfect for Mother’s Day, Christmas and birthdays. This clutch was a project featured on the Martha Stewart show (see tutorial and video here).

Candles are always popular gifts for women during the holidays and are very simple to make at home. If you want your gift to be a little bit more special, you can opt for making teacup candles. Homemade teacup candles are an interesting project that involves transforming a wonderful vintage cup and saucer into a colorful candle. These very feminine holiday gifts can also be personalized with the scent and color of your choice. They are a useful gift too; once the candle melts away, the recipient will still have the cups.

These pretty homemade storage containers can make unique Christmas or birthday gifts for a mom or grandma who likes crafts and recycling. They are actually empty wipe containers, embellished with coordinating colorful fabric. They can be used for organizing little craft supplies or for storing grocery bags. You can recycle any empty plastic container and piece of cloth for this project and the gift will cost you almost nothing.

The tutorial can be found on Tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com.