Everyone loves receiving a gift, no matter the occasion. And imagine their surprise when they find out you actually put your love into it by making it yourself – something that isn’t an everyday occurrence nowadays.

Gift making is not only a thoughtful way to show you care; but it is cost effective too. So before you run out to the store and purchase something you are unsure of, why not brainstorm something special up and make it at home instead?

Made with love

Virtually any person loves a homemade gift – especially the thought behind the action. It isn’t only for loved ones or church members either – you can easily make a gift for anyone you know. All you have to do is put some thought behind it.

So, try it out for your next special occasion that a gift is suitable for. First decide what is the occasion? The most common gift giving situations are for birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, Christmas, parties hosted by someone other than you, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Choose your occasion and move on to the next step.

What is the gender and age of the gift recipient? While there are several unisex gifts you can make, sometimes gender and age play an important role in suitable gift giving.

After you have the above information, time to brainstorm.

What exactly do you know about this person? Do they enjoy a hobby, have a favorite color or have specific tastes? If you know the person well, then your job is much easier – but if you are just acquaintances, you will want to stick with a more generic gift that almost anyone would enjoy.

Or, if you want to find out more about what the person likes and dislikes, ask someone who knows this person better. Find out what they do in their spare time or for a career. This can help you make a better decision of what to make for that person.

Once you have it all figured out, you are ready to let your creative juices flow. Whatever the gift making process entails, you will surely have fun doing it, and enjoy the look on their face when they unwrap your “made especially for you” surprise.

Handmade gift guide

If you are having problems trying to decide what to make, or how to go about making it, here are some fun suggestions for a few gift giving situations:

Graduation gifts

Graduation is a special time for an up and coming adult – whether it be high school or college. Graduates tend to receive cold hard cash, and while they enjoy the money, it is always nice to have a few thoughtful and helpful gifts to make their transition into the new world an easy one.

If the person is graduating from high school and is college bound, figure out what college he or she plans on attending. Once you figure that out, you can find the college mascot and school colors.

Once you have the school colors, you can choose from a myriad of gift ideas. You could make a college-themed decorative pillow or quilt for the dorm room or off campus apartment. Just pick up a generic pillow or quilt template at your local sewing shop along with as much fabric and embroidery floss you will need.

For the pillow, you can make each side a different college color, and then design an iron-on by downloading the mascot and printing it on special iron-on material. Embroider around the iron-on and the seams of the pillow – you can even get carried away and make tassels on each corner – it all depends on your creative vision.

For the quilt, get several different fabric pieces to work with – all in different shades and fabrics of the college colors – such as corduroy, silk, cotton, chenille and so on. Alternate the colors and fabrics, or do a random design. You may even be able to find the mascot printed on some fabric at a local sewing shop – pick it up and add it to your design.

You can do this college-themed gift idea in several other options – make mugs with the logo and color and the person’s name on the back of it, sew some college-themed felt flags for the person’s car that they can whip out during sporting events or find a great hooded sweatshirt and place the logo on the front and their last name on the back.

College graduates, on the other hand, will need a different sort of gift since they will be joining the workforce. There are several thoughtful ideas that aren’t only special but practical.

One thing all college graduates need is a great resume. If you are well versed in how to design a resume, you can ask their parent for all the information that the person’s resume calls for – education (don’t forget to ask about the GPA – if you don’t feel comfortable doing so, put a place for it on the resume), honors, awards and achievements, internships or work experience and career objectives. If you don’t have all the information, just leave a place for it and once you are finished designing the resume, save it on a disk so the person can update it and make changes as necessary.

Now, if you aren’t that savvy when it comes to resumes, go ahead and find a resume book, or research resumes online. You will find a wealth of knowledge and locate the exact style and information that the workforce requires today.

Since this is ultimately a “free” gift, go ahead and spend a couple of bucks at your local office store – purchase the graduate some nice resume paper and a portfolio for their sample work. This gift will definitely be a nice surprise, and meet a very important need – landing a job.

Other gift ideas can made based on their field of study, and ultimately, the job they choose. Some generic gifts include paperweights – find interesting rocks or solid materials and either emboss, paint or carve their initials into the paperweight; picture holders – find or make a base out of wood or any other interesting material, drill a hole in it and stick a wire (you choose the gage, but be sure not to go too big) into the base, and then, with wire cutters, shape the other side of the wire into a spiral, which will hold the pictures or you can even make coasters or cup holders for their office. This can be done by picking a material – slate (easy to chip), cork, leather or glass – and then carving, embossing or burning their name onto the surface.

Host/Hostess gifts

Host/hostess gifts are fun gifts to make – they really allow you to get creative and fun. There are so many ideas you can turn into the perfect gift, but here are just a few to inspire even more ideas:

Usually at parties, guests consume beverages, specifically wine, before, during or after the meal. Instead of spending too much for those cute little wine glass trinkets that help people remember which drink is theirs, make them yourself. Find a very thin gage wire (it has to be easily bendable and very slight in size – go with a 22 or 24 or lighter gage) for the actual piece, and then pick up some interesting beads – maybe hand blown or different shapes. Cut some wire off – no more than an inch to an inch and a half – and place the bead(s) or special charm on the wire. Then, take the wire cutter with it, form the wire into a circle. On one side of the circle, make a tight loop – this is where the circle will be secured to prevent the trinket from falling off the glass – and at the other side bend the wire back a bit so it can easily fit into the loop. This may take some practice, but you will certainly get it after a few tries. If you have excess wire, just trim it off. You should make at least four wine glass trinkets, but eight-twelve would be a great set for any host/hostess.

Another great host/hostess gift is home-brewed liquor. This is great because you can make several at a time, and many of the home liquors do not go bad with time, they only get better. Some favorites include Kailua and blueberry or muscadine wine. You may have a family recipe, or you can find one online. Purchase some bottles – there are several wholesale bottle companies that allow you to purchase a case at a great cost – and get to brewing. Make a fun label on your computer, print it out and place it on the bottle before visiting. Your host/hostess will love the new home-brewed liquor experience, and many of the guests will more than likely inquire about your great recipe.

One more great gift you can make for a host/hostess is soap. Most bathrooms are set up to be functional for guests, but they also like to add some fun to the functionality.

Purchase some glycerin (either clear or the creamy white available today) in bulk (so you will have some around for later) and either find some molds around the house (cookie cutters in neat shapes, different candle holders or tins) or buy some specifically for soap making. Melt the glycerin in a double boiler, pour into your mold and let sit overnight – you may even want to place the soap mold into the refrigerator to make sure it forms right. Then, presto – you have soap.

If you want to spice it up a bit, place some instant maple sugar or other flavored oatmeal in the glycerin when it is melting in the double boiler, or add some potpourri and liquid scent to the mix.

Once you have your soap, you can easily package it using clear saran wrap and some pretty ribbon.

Birthdays or Christmas

Again, there are so many gift ideas you can come up with for someone’s birthday or Christmas present, but here are a few tried and true ideas:

For outdoor lovers or those people who love to have outdoor decorations, there are two great ideas that are low in cost but high in quality.

The first idea is sun catchers. You may have seen these in specialty shops or in gardens around the neighborhood – but why spend $20 when you can make them for so much cheaper? All you need is small mirrors cut into squares, triangles or circles (either purchase a cheap full length mirror and take to your local hardware store to cut, purchase glass cutting supplies and do it yourself or you can even purchase already cut mirrors in the craft section of your local craft or large grocery store), colored glass stones (make sure they have a flat surface on one side), fishing string and swivel interlock snaps (found in the fishing section of any store) and some high strength epoxy.

Cut your fishing line at the right length (usually 1 and a half the length of your arm) and then tightly secure one side of the line on the circle end of the swivel interlock snap. Once secured, take the other side of the fishing line (the one with nothing attached to it) and bring it through the interlock portion of the swivel (the odd-shaped portion of the swivel snap which is locked into place). This should create a loop which your sun catcher will hang from.

Then, the creativity begins. Decide how you want your sun catcher to look – you can either have a specific design – mirror, glass stone, mirror, glass stone and so on, or all mirrors or stones – or a completely random design. Once you decide how you want it to look, take the mirror or glass stone and apply some epoxy to it. Place it on your work surface (an old board or other area that you don’t mind epoxy getting on) face down so the flat non-mirrored side is facing up. Stick your string on top of it at the location you desire, and work it into the epoxy. Then, pick the exact same colored glass stone or mirror shape and apply epoxy to the flat or non-mirrored side and place it on top of the other stone or mirror and string. This created a double-sided effect. Hold the two stones or mirrors together for one minute, and then move on to your next portion of the sun catcher.

It is important to create the sun catcher while it is in an immobile state. You must keep it on the work surface the entire time, or you can ruin your design. Be sure to allow at least 24 hours for drying time once your sun catcher design is complete.

After it dries, look over your sun catcher – check to see if there is any epoxy residue on the mirror or stone and gently rub it off. Once that is complete, you are ready to deliver it to your gift recipient.

Another great outdoor decoration option is a stepping stone mosaic. You can purchase stepping stones at a very affordable price at your local hardware or home improvement store. While there, pick up some mortar as well.

Then, get the hammer out and have fun destroying old china, colored bottles or colored glass. You can find these materials at garage sales or even around the house. Make sure you keep your broken materials contained (either in a bucket or on some plastic) and remove any small pieces that could become lodged in someone’s foot or hand.

Once you have your materials ready, draw a design on your stone. There are several stained glass designs on the web, or just pictures that you may like. Print them out and draw it on your stone. Then, lay out your design on the stone with the mosaic pieces. Once you have the design how you like, mix the mortar, and pick up each piece, placing mortar on its back side, and then firmly set it on the stepping stone.

After you have mortared each mosaic piece, allow to dry per the mortar’s instructions. After it has dried, use the mortar to grout the stepping stone – making sure all crevices are filled. While grouting the stepping stone, be sure to wipe the mortar off the actual mosaic pieces so it won’t dry on and cloud the design. Do this very carefully with a damp sponge, avoiding the crevices as best you can.

Once it dries, you are ready to pack it up and give it to that special someone. Be careful lifting it, as it will be heavy.

Other gift ideas for birthdays or Christmas include:

• Fancy liquid soap spouts – purchase some clear square-sided bottles and liquor spouts (can be found at a kitchen specialty store or in the kitchen/housewares isle in your local grocery store), 14-gage wire, small glass stones (with one side flat for gluing) and high strength epoxy. Take your wire cutters and make different shapes with the wire – spirals, stars, squares, etc – just make sure that it is coiled rather than open in the middle for easy gluing) and then glue on the bottle. When gluing, be sure to lay your bottle down, with the design side facing up. To spice up the design, add stones to the bottle as well. Then, let dry for at least 24 hours. You can also use this method to make snazzy salt and pepper shakers, candle dishes or any other decoration you desire.

• Homemade candles are quite easy and versatile. Purchase a few cylindrical or other shaped candle molds, or you may find that you can make molds out of household items (tins, cardboard, etc.). Purchase wax and wicks – which can be found in the crafts section at a large grocery store or specialty craft store. Melt the wax in a double boiler, pour into the mold, over the wick (make sure the top of your wick is above the wax that you pour in) and let it cool. Once cool, you can add different designs – for coffee lovers, you can place coffee beans all over the candle (if they don’t easily stay, use a lighter to melt the wax a bit, then press the beans on the candle), sand dip the candle for a beachy feel or stick on decorative brads for a finished look.

• Shadow boxes are also a nice decoration for any room. Construct a box (the size depends on what you plan on placing in the box), then add a piece of glass that fits over the box and frame it with pretty molding. Fill the box with special items that mean something to the gift recipient – this is usually easier if the gift recipient is very close to you – a family member, best friend or lover.

• Allow the artist in you to come out over a canvas. Paint pictures for gifts. It is a great way to express yourself, and you may just find that you are more talented then you give yourself credit for.

Buyer beware, make it instead

Why run to the store when all you need is a creative mind, able hands and the willingness to make somebody the apple of your eye? Making gifts are much more thoughtful than buying a generic gift. You will be proud to offer your homemade treasure to that special someone and they will be impressed by your creativity and motivation. All you need is a plan, the right tools and the patience to make something to your standards. And, who knows, you may just inspire others to take time out and make their own gifts as well.