9 easy, awesome ideas to DIY a Christmas gift for neighbors, teachers or friends. Easy and affordable homemade Christmas gifts.
Not surprisingly, I’m a pretty big fan of DIY when the holiday season hits.
I’ve documented plenty homemade Christmas gift ideas for my family on this blog over the years, but many of them are pretty – erm – niche (I’m talking to you Star Trek Christmas gifts!).
However, my DIY embrace of the holiday season doesn’t stop at my own family. Nope! I do my best to come up with thoughtful DIY gift ideas for my extended community.
Whether I’m dreaming up gifts for friends or neighbor gifts, I do my best to come up with affordable ideas that are truly special and unique, and go beyond the run of the mill hot cocoa kit in a mason jar (no offence).
You see, I love dreaming up holiday gifts, and I want to help make a fun Christmas for everyone in my life, whether it’s my neighbor, my kid’s teacher, or my mail carrier!
9 Awesome DIY Christmas Neighbor Gifts
This year, I thought it’d be fun to look back at some of my favorite Christmas DIYs. These would all make great Christmas gifts for neighbors or friends or teachers.
While this certainly isn’t an exhaustive list, I think there are some pretty great friend, mail carrier and neighbor gift ideas in here. I hope you’re as inspired as I am!
You’re Gettin’ Muffin for Christmas
I pretty much live for puns. They make me giggle and snort my drink and make everybody else around me roll their eyes. Happily, friends and family and neighbors seem to tolerate my sense of humor, if not revel in it.
This Christmas Muffin gift is one of my favorite Christmas gifts for neighbors, teachers, etc, because it combines two things I love: baking and puns! I end up doing it every couple of years, and try to package it up with free printable tags and a nice box or basket each time.
It always gets a few giggles and is a fun alternative to cookies or my Christmas Cherry pie.
Holiday Chalkboard Sugar Cookies
These chalkboard sugar cookies are a bit more elaborate, but are a really fun project if you want to try your hand at using fondant without committing to anything too complicated. Even though they’re not particularly hard to make, they make a knock-out Christmas gift for neighbors because they look so darn cool!
Black fondant on sugar cookies forms the chalkboard, and a combo of cornstarch, white food coloring, and a few drops of vodka creates the chalk effect. Use a paint brush to hand paint holiday sayings or personal greetings for your neighbors!
Edible Christmas Tree Garland
While I love decorating my house for Christmas, I realize it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Which is why I think this is such a cute Christmas gift for neighbors, teachers, etc. Even better – it’s a super affordable option!
Using Hershey’s Kisses and Rolos stacked on top of one another, with bakers twine in between the layers, you can make a super cute edible garland to give as a neighbor gift!
Cut some pennant shapes from black construction paper to glue to the ends to add a personalized message!
Christmas Candle Centerpiece Gift
Another decorative neighbor gift, these make nice Christmas gifts for friends and neighbors, and are also great hostess gifts if you’re heading to a party.
While you can use your creative juices to make any sort of centerpiece you want, this centerpiece is one of my favorites that I’ve made. It uses a simple base of white epson salts, topped with a white candle and a combination of natural and gold nuts.
Simple and stunning!
Front Porch Address Pillow
If you’d like to create a neighbor gift that’s less seasonal and will be useful around the year, my front porch address pillow is a cute, easy idea that’s also super affordable.
When I made this project, it cost me around $3 to get the Dollar Store placemats, some hand-cut fabric letters, and Polyfill filling to stuff the pillow. While I made mine with year-round colors, you could also make them out of Christmas placemats for a seasonal theme!
These make for especially great neighbor Christmas gifts if you gift them to a few neighbors, as you’ll all have a coordinated look from house to house!
Have a Merry Christmas Cookie Tray
This is one of my favorite Christmas craft projects I’ve made with my Cricut over the years, and would make great gifts for neighbors (stacked with some home baked cookies, of course!).
Grab some cookie trays from the Dollar Store and this custom cookie tray project can be a simple and affordable way to dress up home baked goodies as a Christmas gift.
Time Capsule Ornaments
This is one of our family Christmas traditions, but would also make great neighbor gifts if you have some fun memories from the year.
Grab some empty Christmas ornaments, and fill them up with whatever you can think of that will remind your neighbors of the year that was.
Hand Lettered Holiday Scroll
I love this hand lettered holiday scroll project, because it’s so simple, so elegant, and so cheap to make!
While I’ve made these using common holiday sayings, you could also customize the scrolls to add your neighbors’ family names (i.e. “A Turtle Family Christmas”).
All the Baked Things
When ideas elude you, you can always bake up a storm! My Chocolate Pecan Cookie with Hershey Kisses on top is a good starting point.
But it’s also hard to go wrong with my Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies, Easy Microwave Caramels….I could go on and on!
Final Thoughts
I hope you’re as inspired looking at these Christmas neighbor gift ideas as I am!
And if you like this post, please share it!