DIY gifts are a great way to express thoughtfulness and caring with some personal touch and creativity. We can create impressive gifts with low budget and low effort that will be appreciated as much as the most expensive gifts.
Inexpensive and creative gift ideas:
Japanese Herbarium Gift
Japanese herbarium is a thoughtful and elegant gift that can bring a touch of nature and beauty into someone’s home. It can also serve as a reminder of the importance of preserving and appreciating the natural world.
A Japanese herbarium would be a wonderful and unique gift for someone who appreciates nature and Japanese culture. When giving a Japanese herbarium as a gift, you can consider adding a personal touch by selecting plants that have special meaning or significance to the recipient or plants that symbolize what we want to express with the present – love, affection, thankfulness, and so on.
How to make Japanese herbarium gift:
- Gather plant materials – they can be freshly pressed or dried flowers.
- Press the plants: To preserve the plants, place each specimen between sheets of absorbent paper (such as newspaper or blotting paper) and stack heavy books on top to press them flat. Leave the plants pressed for at least a few days.
- Choose a container – put the plants in glass jars or bottles
- Place the plants in the container – you can adjust them using a skewer stick.
- Fill the container with oil to preserve them for longer time between one and even a few years. You can use baby oil for example.
- Close the container with cork lid or a candle.
Photo collage DIY gift
Creating a photo collage as a DIY gift is a meaningful and personalized way to show someone how much you care. Creative and thoughtful gifts like photo collages are sure to be treasured for years to come.
Depending on how much creative you can get you can do digital photo collage and then printing it or dig deeper into your creativity and make everything from scratch – preparing the frame, sticking real photos, adding personal touch with some decoration.
Tips for making a digital photo collage as a gift:
- Select the photos: Gather the photos you want to include in the collage. You can choose a mix of old and new photos, candid shots, posed photos, and special moments to create a visually interesting collage.
- Choose a collage making tool: There are many online tools and apps available that make it easy to create professional-looking collages. Some popular options include Canva, PicCollage, and Adobe Spark.
- Upload and arrange the photos: Upload the photos to the collage making tool and start arranging them in a visually appealing layout. Play around with different arrangements, sizes, and orientations until you find a layout that you like.
- Add text or embellishments: To personalize the collage even further, consider adding text, stickers, or embellishments. You can include a special message, a date, or other meaningful details to enhance the overall design.
- Print and frame: Once you are satisfied with the collage design, print it out on high-quality photo paper. You can then frame the collage in a beautiful frame and wrap it up as a gift for your loved one.
Tips for making a hand-made photo collage as a gift:
- You will need a board, a bunch of photos, a glue, and some painting / drawing materials.
- For the board there are variety of materials you can use – cardboard, plastic, wood, or anything else that is stable enough.
- You can decorate the board with some art work and meaningful messages.
- Choose photos that best represent the idea and the meaning of the collage. If you don’t have paper photos you can choose some digital and print them.
- Use your imagination and creativity to place the photos around the board and glue them.
Grass head for children and grown-ups
Taking care of a grass head can be fun and educational activity for children. It can also spark an interest about nature and plant growing.
All you need to make a grass head gift is a container for the grass creature, some fabric or other material for the head, and grass seeds.
How to make a grass head:
- Make the head first – you can use old stockings or socks – put some soil inside
- Use fabrics to decorate the face – make eyes, mouth, nose
- Sprinkle the seeds evenly on the top layer of the soil and tie the fabric to make sure the seeds will not fall.
- Place the head in a container – mug, or a pot, or any other suitable container.
- Water the seeds and make sure the soil is constantly moistened but not too much.
- Keep in a sunny place so the seeds can grow.
Once the grass is grown the gift is ready to be nurtured by its recipient – the grass hair can be cut and, it should be watered regularly.