While this may seem early to some to start thinking about Christmas already, it's not if you plan to make gifts for anyone.  My rule of thumb is to try to finish gifts you are making by the first week of Dec if you haven't finished yet by that time I usually will buy a gift instead and just save that gift to give for next year instead or for a birthday.  No since in stressing yourself for the holidays!  With that said making a gift is a great option for anyone on your list.  It's personal and unique.  No need to worry if they have what you are giving them already!


When I look at gifts you can make or simple first projects in sewing or yarn crafts they are quite honestly lame and not anything I would need or desire for myself, but there are a few gems I find sometimes.  My criteria in this list was that it had to be relatively simple (fast and easy for a beginner to do) and the project had to be an item most people would be excited to get.  An extra bonus is if the project is either highly personalized or incredibly unique.  In other words the wowsa gifts with minimial effort and skill.

These gifts are super easy and geared towards the beginner so if your new to sewing don't worry just get started on your new project.  If you have never sewed before check out our free online sewing class. 

Here is a round up of my favourite DIY gifts.

Check out the full tutorial at Tatertots and Jello

1.  Turn your Photos into Coasters
This is a simple craft project that works for just about any adult.  Talk about personalized!  Just simply take your photos and simply mod podge your photo to tiles and cover to protect with Mod Podge dimension.  Don't have Mod Podge?  No problem you can make your own. 

Get the tutorial at The Princess and her Cowboys

2. Mustache Disguise Kit
If only my nephew wasn't 11 years old I would so make him this.  How cute, fun, and easy is this?  Even though the edges were sewn in most of these examples, You could easily make this with almost no sewing just a little hand sewing in a few places as long as you use felt and fake fur.  You could just sewn the ends of the elastic together and then to the mustache itself an easy thing to do while watching TV.  This gift was originally inspired by MMMM Crafts who was inspired by a set they found in London.

Learn how to make this baby snuggie at Make it And Love it

3.  Baby Snuggie!
I don't know anyone with a baby, but if I did I would so make this wearable baby blanket.  Who wouldn't love this for there baby?  Also it's a pretty easy sewing project.  Check it out at Make it and Love it.

Super Easy DIY Felt Mug or cup Coffee Cozy from Purl Bee

4.  Felt Mug or Cup Cozy
Anyone you know who drinks tea or coffee would love this insanely easy mug or cup cozy.  There is barely any sewing in this project from Purl Bee, because it's made with felt and you could even hand sew it with a cute blanket stitch in a contrasting thread if you don't have a sewing machine.

Free tutorial felt fingerless gloves at the Purl Bee

5. Fingerless Felt Gloves
Here is another great project from the Purl Bee, who also has a ton of great free knitting patterns by the way.  As much as I love to knit, I gotta admit it's way faster and easier to sew fingerless gloves than to knit or crochet them.  To turn this project into a quicker one I'd suggest using a decorative stitch on your sewing machine instead of hand embroidering it or you could sew on lace or trim in place of it for a fun detail. long as you skip the embroidery part of this project).  This is a great gift for men, women, teens, or kids! 

Get the recipe at Minneapolis Homestead image via Cut out and Keep

6. Honey Cinnamon Brown Sugar Scrub 
 I posted last year on my other blog Minneapolis Homestead about some of the gifts I made for Christmas last year.  My fav was a sugar scrub I made.  It seriously as easy as mixing a few ingredients in your pantry and putting it in a pretty package.  You will find it hard to believe that upscale sugar scrubs can cost $20-50 when you see how easy it is to make.  What's great about this gift is you can make a huge batch and make one for everyone on your list plus yourself!

Get this free pattern for a cute fox scarf from Prudent Baby

7. Fox Scarf
This fox scarf from Prudent Baby would be a great gift for a kid or an adult.  It's surprisingly easy to make and definitely unique! This would surely get many compliments.

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Check out this tutorial for how to turn kids art to a towel from Setting for Four

8. Turn Children's Art Into Towel 
 I think this would be such a great gift to give to a grandparent from their grandkids.  You could tell the child to make a piece of art for them and then use this technique (which is basically transfering their art with a permanent black marker) to transfer this to a towel.  You could transfer it to other items as well like a blanket.  This would be fun to show your kids when they grow up!  

Baby Sewing Patterns has the full tutorial on how to make this cute gift

9. Origami Hair Clip 
Who wouldn't love this origami hair clip. It's a very simple sewing project.  This would be a great way to use scraps of pretty fabric.   This would be cute for a girl, teen, or women.  Check out the full tutorial at Baby Sewing Patterns.


10. Tutus For Little Girls 
A couple of years ago I made my niece a tutu for Christmas.  I didn't make a tutorial for it, but luckily there are plenty of great tutorials online some are even no sew.  A Sewing Journal did a great round up of tutorials on tutus.