25 Unique and Thoughtful DIY Christmas Gifts
Create a personalized gift in less time than it takes Mariah Carey to belt out “All I Want for Christmas!”
Sure, everyone could use a new pair of socks for Christmas, but if your goal is to give all the warm and fuzzy feels, socks just aren’t gonna cut it. (Neither will those coupon books your kids give you for a “back rub” every year.) If you want to impress with a heartfelt and homemade gift, creating a photo book is the perfect solution. Here are 25 unique DIY Christmas gifts guaranteed to warm the hearts of your family and friends. Plus, these DIY Xmas present ideas are beyond easy to make, it almost feels like cheating!
You can make a photo book right from your phone’s camera roll or from your computer with Chatbooks. It takes less than 10 minutes and is a surefire way to put smiles on your family’s faces. Photo books make such easy DIY Christmas gifts! You can add a flashy designer cover, collage and text pages, and captions to remember it all. What’s better than snuggling up and reliving your best memories together?! Plus, you can use a photo book as a blank canvas and create a book about anything you want! Below are some ideas to help you get started.
Create a Chatbook summarizing the highlights of the past year for friends or family. When you select the Yearbook photo book option, your photos are automatically organized by month, so it’s super easy to go through and pick your favorite ones. This is one of those unique holiday gifts with a meaningful twist, sure to impress.
Have a new parent in your life? Gift them a subscription to monthly photo books! This way they can document their baby’s growth month by month and capture all of those adorable milestones and sweet little moments. It’s so much better than having all of those photos trapped on a phone and they’ll love you for it. Plus, you can even gift them a mini-hands-approved version of monthly photo books with Monthly Minis. Their small size and rounded edges make them 100% toddler-friendly. This idea definitely tops the list of unique Christmas gifts that are also really useful.
Compile family recipes and food photos in a Chatbook for the family chef! It’s never been easier to turn that chaotic, dusty old binder filled with food-splattered recipes into a beautiful and polished cookbook. Plus, when you select the Layflat photo book option, your pages will lay completely flat on the counter, making it easy to read the recipes while you cook.
If you’re looking for DIY Xmas present ideas for your little artist, we’ve got you covered. Monthly photo books are one of the best DIY Christmas gifts for your budding artist! Celebrate them by organizing and safekeeping their masterpieces with photo books. You can sign up for the monthly photo book option to keep this as an ongoing series throughout the school year, and they can serve as cool Xmas gifts that keep on giving. Plus, keeping photo books of your kid’s memories and artwork has been proven to boost confidence. You get to organize and declutter, and they get higher self-esteem. Sounds like a win-win!
Use a photo book to craft a travelogue Chatbook, documenting a memorable trip. Had a recent fun-filled girls' trip with your besties recently? Surprise them with a book of your best memories together from that trip. You can easily duplicate and send copies of your photo book once it is created, so no need to create it twice. Homemade Christmas gifts just got a lot easier!
Have a friend or family member who is absolutely crazy about their furry kids? Make an adorable photo book celebrating their pets for a pet lover’s dream gift. If they’re absolute fanatics about their pet and are always posting the cutest pics of them to social media, consider gifting them a monthly photo book subscription. This way they can keep all of their happy, wagging-tail memories safe and organized.
Create a Chatbook showcasing your family's genealogy and heritage. If you’re lucky enough to have access to old photos and documents from the past, snap pictures of them and add them to your photo book gift. A family history photo book definitely tops the list as one of the most interesting Christmas gifts. It’s a great and easy way to preserve these important family heirlooms. Plus, by turning these gems into a photo book, you’re safekeeping your family’s history for future generations to learn from.
Help your closest newlywed friends or family members document their first year of wedded bliss by gifting them their own monthly photo book journal. DIY Xmas present ideas should always be this easy! This way, they can enjoy reliving the magic of their memories together each month. If only all DIY Christmas gifts were this effortless! Plus, they will enjoy it for years to come. This is one of those different Christmas gifts that is personalized, thoughtful, and easy to give.
Do you have that one person in your life who is always posting their beautiful garden creations to social media? Or that one friend who is just obsessed with her house plant collection? Give them their very own gardening journal. As the seasons change and their beautiful garden changes with it, what better way to remember it all than with a photo book?! You can create a Classic Photo Book of their gardening photos, or you can gift them Monthly Photo Books so they can capture it all themselves. Either way, this is among the most unique Xmas gifts.
Have you ever thought of creating your very own fictional storybook by creating a photo book? We’ve made it possible! It’s guaranteed to be the most requested bedtime story by your littles, especially if you make them one of the main characters. Add photos from your camera roll and get those creative juices flowing. With text pages, collages, captions, and designer covers, you can tell your story however you want.
Create a yearly Christmas photo book by adding photos from each Christmas. Turn it into a tradition so you and your family can look back on the joy of every Christmas spent together. This gift idea gives a whole new meaning to homemade Christmas gifts, as it is literally a gift made at home for Christmas.
Have that one family member who always has their eyes on some kind of game? Make them a photo book of their favorite teams’ highlights from that year! Bonus if you have any pics at the actual games you can add in there too.
If you’re stumped on what to get that wise friend who always has the perfect quotes for any occasion, consider creating a personal quote book just for them. This is totally considered within the category of Christmas handmade crafts. Gather inspirational or funny quotes in a Chatbook along with some photos they’ll love. Don’t forget to add a flashy cover too!
Did you know you can create your very own luxury coffee table art book? Books like this are typically pretty pricey but by creating your own, not only are you saving a few bucks, you can customize it to your heart’s desire. Websites like the National Art Gallery offer free open access to masterpieces you can download. Simply save them and easily upload them to your photo book. Have fun playing museum curator for a day while you create your very own art book and watch your cool Christmas gift ideas come to life.
Put all of the best photos nature has to offer in a beautiful photo book. Similarly to the art book, you can create a coffee table book showcasing nature’s stunning art. You can create from the pictures on your camera roll of all those beautiful sunsets or you can source some free photos online too.
Monthly photo books are the perfect gift for any teacher. They can collect the memories from the school year and print them monthly to remember forever. Plus, it’s super easy to gift, you can send your gift electronically with just a few taps. If you’re looking for unique Christmas presents for your kids’ teacher, this is it!
Know someone who’s always hard at work on a home improvement project? This may be the perfect gift! Easily create a photo book showcasing the before and after photos of all of their projects. Or, you can gift them monthly photo books so they can document all of their hard work as they go. Either way, it’s a winning gift idea!
Have someone in your life who gets excited about the words ‘iambic pentameter?’ Make them a custom photo book of poetry! You can add poems as text pages in your photo book and add stunning photos to go along with the poems to win when it comes to cool Christmas gifts. You can add poems from famous poets or create your own.
Make a photo book of all of the places you’ve hit the trail for the avid hiker in your life. Who wouldn’t want a photo book filled with gorgeous mountain peaks and stunning vistas?! Bonus: Add in a few aspirational hike photos and locations to hint at potential hiking trips to come.
Are they a Cancer? Are they a Pisces? Whatever their star sign, you know they’ll love receiving a photo book with all things related to their star sign. Add in your fave photos of them and with them along with fun facts about the day they were born and famous happenings on that date. This is one of those handmade Christmas gifts anyone would love to receive.
This is perfect for that one friend who always has their house smelling like the most delicious, coziest chocolate chip cookies. Create a photo book of all of their baking creations. Or, if they’re an aspiring baker, do some research and come up with some recipes to add in for them to make. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up getting a piece of that cake!
It’s true, one can never have enough smoothie recipes. Create a photo book of the best smoothie recipes you can find along with enticing photos of them. A photo book is the perfect place to store recipes in a polished and organized manner. This one tops the list of the most unique DIY Xmas gifts.
Perfect for all music lovers, create a photo book of all of their favorite concerts they’ve been to. Add photos from the day leading up to it, to the performers, and of course the selfie under the marquee. It’s a great way to remember the joy of each night and the best part is there are no earplugs required!
If you’re feeling extra creative and know someone who will never say no to a challenge, create a daily challenge book just for them! You can add prompts for each day along with pictures of anything you’d like! There aren’t a lot of homemade Christmas gift ideas as thoughtful and unique as this one.
For that one friend that you always talk about skydiving with one day and then they actually do it…yeah, this one’s for them. Create a photo book with potential bucket list ideas for them, since they’ll probably take you up on the offer if they haven’t done everything already. Make it fun by adding in bucket list destinations, adrenaline adrenaline-pumping activities, and don’t forget to sprinkle in some inside jokes as well. Bonus: get them a subscription to monthly photo books so they can capture their fun-filled life as it happens.
And there you have it! With these 25 unique DIY Christmas gifts, you are sure to strike gold when it comes to DIY Xmas present ideas. Creating your own DIY Christmas presents isn’t always easy, but with the Chatbooks app, it’s really never been easier. Whether you decide to give them their very own photo book subscription so they can stay on top of their memories, or you go above and beyond and create their very own custom photo book, you simply can’t go wrong!
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