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8 Creative Handmade Gift Ideas
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This Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, try giving a handmade gift! You’ll enjoy making it, and your recipient will appreciate the effort and affection that went into its creation. This article will give you eight gift ideas that serve to inspire!
Both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are coming up, and no one loves handmade gifts more than moms and dads. In this post, you’ll find eight handmade gift ideas that are artistic, thoughtful, and will be cherished for years to come! All of the suggestions below are wonderful to give to any loved one, parent or not.
1. Set of Floral Watercolor Cards
Anyone can use a greeting card, and hand-painted greeting cards are the best! Try making a set of cards from the floral watercolor tutorial, and gift the set — plus some envelopes, if you’d like — to someone who appreciates flowers.
I recommend making your floral masterpieces on blank watercolor cards! 2. Calligraphy Ampersand
I’ve seen so many cool TPK reader-created variations of the calligraphy ampersand concept ever since I posted the tutorial two years ago! Instead of ampersands, some artists have used treble clefs for music-loving friends. Others have used a loved one’s first initial or a significant number. The idea remains the same, though: fill in a certain shape with words that mean something to you and your loved one.
You can frame the ampersand art and give it to your loved one for an impressive, personalized gift. 3. Watercolor Map
If you’ve got a fair amount of time to set aside, a watercolor map is a fantastic handmade gift! Include a few areas that are significant to you and a loved one, and maybe write a little bit of text about why those areas are important.
Once you create your watercolor map, read How to Frame Artwork on the Cheap to learn how to frame the map in a professional-looking way. 4. Rubber Stamps
Strictly speaking, rubber stamps aren’t a handmade gift (the way that I make them, anyway). However, they’re too cool not to include on this list! You can learn how to use your original design to make a custom rubber stamp in this tutorial.
Rubber stamps are a fun and unique gift! You might include an ink pad in your gift presentation as well. 5. Herbal Watercolor
On Mother’s Day 2015, I gave my mother a set of handmade herbal watercolor paintings. She absolutely loved them, and they still enjoy prominent display in her home. I’m not going to lie and say that paintings like these don’t take a fair time investment to make, but the creation process is approachable — especially if you have a light box! You can find out how to make your own herbal watercolor paintings in this tutorial.
I went to the local thrift store to find these fun mismatched frames! 6. Handmade Stationery Set
If your gift recipient enjoys sending notes, make them a handmade and personalized stationery set! You can fold the envelopes out of interesting paper, like a vintage art magazine (which is what I used below). Cut weighty light-colored paper — like 32# laserjet paper — to fit in the envelopes. Then, if you want to, you can include some postage stamps and/or a wax seal.
You can include whatever you want in your handmade stationery set! Paper and envelopes are a must, while sealing wax, rubber stamps, and postage stamps make for fun bonuses. 7. Watercolor Cactus
This is another piece that looks awesome when it’s framed! Don’t be intimidated by the watercolor cactus tutorial if you’re new to watercolors: it’s quite beginner-friendly.
Feel free to change the message on the cactus to reflect your personal style! 8. Galaxy Effect Watercolor Art
The Galaxy Effect Watercolor Art is imaginative and magical — the perfect handmade gift for someone who appreciates some whimsy! It utilizes rubbing alcohol and Q-tips to make eye-catching bursts of color.
Try personalizing this artwork with a cityscape that’s inspired by your own town!
If some of these gift suggestions seem intimidating to you, take heart. If your family/loved ones are anything like mine, the skill used to create a handmade gift matters much less than the fact that you put your time, energy, and affection into making it. I encourage you to give one of these projects a try, and be proud when you give it! If you’d like to share the results of your effort, I’d love to see. You can tag me on Instagram (@thepostmansknock), or, if you prefer to share privately, email me at [email protected].
Thanks very, very much for reading TPK! I appreciate that you’re here, and I hope that you gained some inspiration from this list.
Warmly,
