It is always a big struggle to figure out what your going to give your family and friends for Christmas every year. You want to give them something special they will cherish forever, but also want to make it heartfelt and personal. Store bought gifts are good but handmade also shows you spent a lot of time on it.  Here are a few ideas on some handmade options for the special people in your life. 

One thing you can make that they will use every year is Christmas ornaments. Christmas ornaments are super easy to make. You probably already have these things in your house. With 4 cups of all purpose flour, 1 cup of salt, and 1 ½ cups of warm water you can make DIY Salt Dough Christmas ornaments. With this dough you can use christmas cookie cutters and make the dough into any shape. You can use a straw to poke a hole for hanging. You bake these at 300 degrees fahrenheit for approximately 1 hour(until dry). You can paint them too if you want them to be colorful. 

If you are not good with the oven you can also make no bake Christmas ornaments. With 1 cup of flour, ½  cup of salt, ½ cup of cinnamon, and ¾ cup of very warm water you can make no bake cinnamon ornaments. With this dough you can also use christmas cookie cutters to make them any shape. They take roughly 24 hours to dry. 

If your more on the crafty side you can make ornaments with colorful paper or DIY embroidery hoop holiday ornaments. You can sew decorative christmas pillows or you can decorate a picture frame with a picture inside

If you are looking to create something more food based, how about Christmas desserts? Whether it is themed cookies, or even a hot chocolate mix. My personal favorite is breakfast, and that always offers many options for that special pre or post gift opening meal. 

Some suggestions are waffles, pancakes, and cinnamon rolls. My grandma has an amazing waffle recipe that is simple and yet can be as creatively edible as you wish. Mix two cups of flour, two tablespoons sugar, one teaspoon salt, three teaspoon baking powder, one third cup oil, two eggs, and two cups of milk. Cook it on a greased griddle or greased waffle iron. You can add butter and syrup,  but if you are more adventurous you can add toppings like fresh fruit or whipped cream. No matter what you choose to do with your holiday gift giving, enjoy the process and know that if it is from the heart, it is a gift worth giving.