10 Favorite Homemade Christmas Gifts

This year most of my Christmas gifts for friends and family are homemade. It's the first time that ever happened. I used to spend a fortune for Christmas gifts. For a student's budget of course. I'm not satisfied with getting just "something" for everyone. It has to be something personal, something special for them. I hate it to give just money or these "I didn't even use my brain to think of something special"-gifts that everyone gets and everyone buys occasionally... like bathing sets (nothing against special handpicked bathing sets, you know...).
This year I'm a little short on money. Maybe this is the reason for my homemade-gifts mood. Or it's because I finally realized how much great gifts I really can make myself and for less money. Fact is: I love creating something special for everyone I love! It kept me quite busy the last few weekends but it was worth it. Totally.
So here are some of my favorite Christmas gifts this year that you can make yourself and which are beautiful, too! I didn't make all of them, and I also made some gifts that I didn't show here, simply because I don't want certain readers of this blog to know what they will get.

one - Embellished notebooks. Cheap, easy and fast. And as personal as you want it to be. Can you ask for more? Read more about it on Grossstadtprinzessin's blog.
two - Design a set of nesting dolls! So cute but easy to make with the tutorial on Say Yes To Hoboken.
three - Cotton tote bags are a must-have. Make special ones for all of your friends! The possibilities are endless! You can stamp on them, sew on them, dye them or everything at once. And if you have just no idea find a great variety of cotton tote bags to buy on Idiopix.
four - Mug Cosies are one of my favorite things to have. A mug cozy makes the event of tea-drinking a little extra special. Believe me. Bubblegirl Knit And Crochet offers a free pattern for a cute crochet mug cozy and you can make a bunch of them in a short time!
five - Everyone wants to have hand painted mugs like these in their kitchen! And all you need is a porcelain pen (cheap!), plain white mugs (also cheap!) and an idea for a design. See the full tutorial here on Curious and Catcat.
six - I love those jars with cookie ingredients in them and all you have to do is mix it all together in a bowl, add maybe some butter and an egg or two, make balls, bake them and you have the most delicious fresh warm cookies! How great is that!? Bakerella offers a great tutorial for Cowboy/girl Cookies in jars with great pictures and free printables!
seven - Infinity/circle/cowl/loop scarves don't only look good, they're also easy to sew or to knit and the perfect gift for boys and girls in the cold season. There's an easy sewing tutorial on Jule for unique people and for a beautiful knitted one on People Webs.
eight - Turn photographs into canvas portraits in a few steps. The result is stunning, I made some myself (see here). Find the full tutorial over at A Beautiful Mess.
nine - Dip dyed spoons. I swear I thought of buying a bunch of new wooden kitchen utensils and paint them just to have them. Just because they are adooorable. Just because. See how it's done at House of Earnest.
ten - I love this DIY bracelet for Christmas. I found the tutorial on Simply Allis and I will definitely make one for myself soon.

I hope I could inspire you to try and create some personal and unique handmade gifts for your loved ones! Merry Christmas season everyone!