Christmas DIY gift ideas!

Show off your Santa workshop skills with these DIY gift ideas!

Jingle bells are going to start ringing soon, so it's time to unleash your inner elf and show off how creative you are with DIY presents! 'Tis the season to be jolly with paint, scissors, art supplies and craft goods as you whip up goodies that are just as wonderful as if they were made in Santa's workshop.

These DIY gift ideas are ideal for anyone keen to be budget-friendly with Christmas shopping while also adding a unique personal touch to the presents that can't be store bought.

Personalised cork or wooden coasters

Many homeware stores will stock basic, plain cork or wood coasters. Grab a pack (or several!) and re-design these as statement coasters. For best results, think about how the person you will be gifting the coasters to has decorated their home. Is it more modern and minimalist? Or is their preferred style more ornate and antique?

For the former, use tape to create stripes on the coasters and alternate painting the surfaces with metallic gold and silver paint such as Resene Gold Dust or Resene Allusive. These sparkly tones are on trend in an industrial-chic modern home. To get a more rustic look to match vintage decor, you can paint the coasters with Resene Colorwood Whitewash for a beachy, whitewashed wooden look.

Bonus idea: Make some red-and-white Christmas coasters for your own dinner parties or backyard barbecue sessions. First, whitewash all of them as the base. Next, cut out some stencils of Xmas trees, reindeer, snowflakes and other seasonal symbols. Use Resene Glitterbug to paint around the stencils, so the whitewashed tones pop through once you lift the stencil. For a more organic, subtle look, substitute the red with dark green Resene Kaitoke Green – this will look ideal in a summery Christmas garden party.

Chalkboard potted plants and spice racks

Succulents are all the rage lately! Browse through any interior design magazine or website, and you'll spot succulents arranged artfully in chalkboard pots. Some high-end stores sell these pots for considerable sums of money, but you can make them right at home. Get any regular terracotta or clay pots from your local plant store, then paint it entirely with Resene Blackboard Paint.

For a more elegant look, dip the pot's bottom into rose-gold, bronze-toned metallic paint such as Resene Copper Fire. Don't worry about getting a clean line, as the wigglier the better. Turn the pot upside down so drips of metallic paint fall down toward the rim. Once it is dry, flip it back the right way up – voila! You have an abstract, attractive planter. Fill in soil, plant food, and a variety of succulents and cacti plants.

Is there a green-fingered vegetable grower or gardener on your gift list? Stay on their nice list for months to come by making them a tiny herb-planting kit of chalkboard pots. Write the name of the herb onto the pot with chalk, and keep a packet of it on top. You can even create smaller versions as spice racks to gift to cooking enthusiasts – they'll think of you every time they open the pantry to whip up a culinary masterpiece!

Wallpaper art frames

Rummage through your local goodwill store to grab a handful of picture frames. Try and find different shapes, sizes and materials – wood, metal, steel. Fill the frames with scraps of wallpapers, and arrange them to create a salon-hang style gallery wall.

You can pick a theme, such as travel, using the Resene Passport collection. This is an ideal gift for someone with wanderlust in their veins or a person you took trips with. Frame some photographs from your travels and keep them as part of the frame collage beside the wallpapers.

Ho ho hope you have a Merry Christmas!