Pickles, plant hangers and a hotel for bees: seven homemade Christmas gifts anyone can make

The best presents don’t always come from a shop. From DIY decorations to gifts for the garden, here’s how to craft something special in 2026

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It’s never too early for Christmas if you are making the presents you plan to give to your loved ones. Perhaps you’ve been the grateful recipient of a delicious homemade jam or a hand-knitted scarf in the past and have decided that now is the time to give it a go yourself. Here are seven easy makes you still have time to prepare for the big day.

Char Legge, founder of Duxmore Botanics, says it’s easier than you think to make a DIY scented room spray. You’ll need some specific items, such as a specialist room-mist base (which you can buy online), and a few drops of essential oils. Legge suggests fir needle, cedarwood, juniper berry and eucalyptus for the scent of “a freshly cut Christmas tree. Fir needle creates the fresh, green heart of the fragrance, cedarwood adds warmth and woodiness, while juniper berry and a touch of eucalyptus give it that wonderful crisp, outdoorsy quality.”

The fragrance can be adjusted to suit your taste, she says. “If you love the smell of the tree itself, make the fir needle more dominant; for something warmer and woodier, increase the cedarwood. When experimenting, start with small quantities – you can always add another drop, but you can’t take one away!” It’s a pretty easy DIY project. Pop it in an amber-coloured glass bottle with a fancy label for a luxe finish.

Find instructions on how to make your own scented room mist at Duxmore Botanics

“Bee hotels are a great way to support some solitary bees,” says RSPB wildlife expert Mey Duek. “By providing a cosy accommodation for the bee eggs and larvae, you and your loved ones can help these important pollinators.”

In fact, the RSPB rates bee conservation so highly that it has a simple guide to making one on its website; no carpentry experience required. A friend and his seven-year-old daughter made me one as a house-warming gift from scrap wood and bamboo canes, and it’s had plenty of guests over the years.

Fancy popping some extra gifts in with your hotel that your giftee’s new resident bees will enjoy pollinating? “Bird’s-foot-trefoil, Viper’s Bugloss, Corn Marigold and cornflowers are among some of the wildflowers that bees love,” says Duek, adding that you can also pick up wildflower seed packs from the RSPB website.

Find instructions on how to build a bee hotel at the RSPB

RSPB best for bees wildflower seed pack, 5g

Sara Thomson, head chef at Little Duck in Dalston, east London, really appreciates the magic of pickles. “Crunchy, briney, sour; you’ll find us snacking on them throughout the day on a wedge of bread and butter,” she says. “Quick and easy to make, they’re without a doubt a foolproof way to impress your friends and family.”

Thomson’s fuss-free, festive and delicious recipe for spiced beetroot pickled turnips takes just a week to pickle in the fridge and results in a brilliant pink jar of goodness. I made half of this recipe, and it filled three jars. As a first-time pickler, I found it easy. You could buy new containers, but I like to reuse the Bonne Maman jam jars with gingham lids, as they always look chic.

I am mildly obsessed with collaging after attending a workshop, perhaps because I feel it doesn’t require much artistic flair. “Any paper will work,” says Saskia Norris, who runs a monthly collage cafe club. “Coloured paper, magazines and newspapers are a good place to start, as well as greetings cards or old gift wrap.” The only other essential items are scissors and a glue stick or tape.

Norris suggests using collage to personalise items like bookmarks, journal covers and even board games. “Try collecting imagery that reminds you of the recipient,” she says, “whether that’s things that they like, that remind you of them, or a shared memory.” She recommends laying out your collage before gluing it down, moving the pieces around until you are happy with the composition. Try Pinterest and other social media for inspiration; Norris recently saved ideas from @mimik.tattoos and @katesemple and @zhekoro.

I have been the happy recipient of many bulb lasagnes. You’ll need a fairly large pot (so not a gift for someone you’re visiting by train!), and a selection of spring flowering bulbs, which are easy to find in your local garden centre. They’ll flower in succession over the spring, giving months of colour and interest for a garden, patio or terrace. “Use large pots for bulb lasagnes. I recommend long toms that are 36cm wide and 57cm deep,” says expert gardener and author Sarah Raven. “If the bulbs get wet, the lasagne will fail, so cover the container’s drainage holes with broken crockery, pots, or gravel.”

Simply plant them in layers, with the latest flowering bulbs like tulips further down in the pot, followed by middle flowering, such as narcissus, and the earlier flowering ones like iris towards the top. “Plant the deepest layer of bulbs 11-12 inches deep, spacing them slightly further apart than usual, about 1 to 1½ inches is perfect,” says Raven. “Add a few inches of compost before planting the next layer about 8 inches deep and the top layer 4-5 inches below the soil’s surface.” Finish with a good watering and water regularly in the first few weeks: don’t let the compost dry out. If squirrels are an issue, pop some chicken wire over the top to prevent them from digging up all your hard work.

Watch master gardener Sarah Raven at work on a bulb lasagne

My mum and I have been buying each other Christmas decorations for years, but this year I think I may make her one. Felt is the perfect beginner material for embroidery as it is affordable as well as “strong and stable, doesn’t fray and if you need to unpick your stitches it won’t mark”, says Christine Leech, the crafter and founder of the Sewyeah Social Club. She suggests using old fabric scraps like socks or cotton tea towels for the stuffing and preloved beads and sequins sewn on for a bit of sparkle. “Of course there are also the bragging rights and satisfaction of handing over a unique handmade gift,” she says.

Also, adds Leech, “getting together with a group of friends and making elf portraits of each other with mulled wine and mince pies is a lovely alternative Christmas party.” The Elf portrait pattern below is versatile and suitable for all levels of crafters.

Christmas Elf portrait felt embroidery ornament pattern

Since I first ordered a macrame plant hanger kit from Heather Orr during lockdown, I’ve made dozens as gifts. I was a novice, but I found it surprisingly straightforward, and Orr agrees that you don’t need to be especially skilful to make one. “It takes a bit of repetition and a few attempts at tying the knots to get it all looking just right, but this is a project almost anyone can master,” she says.

The kit comes with a video that has lots of handy hints on how to get your knots looking just right and takes about two hours for a complete beginner to do.

Macrame recycled cotton plant hanger online workshop and kit

Christmas shopping can be tough, but the Filter is here to help. We’ve been testing Christmas presents all year to help you find thoughtful, creative and genuinely brilliant gifts for everyone on your list. Browse our other gift guides for hundreds more tried-and-tested ideas, from gifts you can make yourself to toys for every age group.