A Touch of Personal; Handmade Gifts for Children.
If you are looking for something unique, personalised, not too expensive and more eco friendly, then making a gift yourself may be the best answer. You don’t have to be super creative either, some of these gifts are very simple to make! Check out my ideas below for children’s handmade birthday presents.
Fairy Garden
You could build a beautiful fairy garden. All you need is an old flower pot or tray and then you can use things you can find around the garden or at your local park.
Fancy Dress Costumes
Children love dressing up and they can never have too many costumes. It’s really easy to upcycle items and make props out of cardboard etc. You don’t need to have a sewing machine to make some fun outfits. See my blog on Handmade Fancy Dress Costumes for Children for some ideas.
Crochet Food
These are super popular and are a great addition if your little one has a toy kitchen.
Painting Smock
Made from a mans old office shirt and an old pair of sport socks, which were used to create the cuffs and the pockets. This cost me nothing but a little time and was delighted to have given a new life to an old shirt and pair of socks that would have gone to landfill.
Mud Kitchen
If you are handy with a few simple tools, you could knock up a mud kitchen for your little one out of left over pallets.
Crochet Animals
Crochet or knitted animals. Pattern books I like: Crocheted Sea Creatures, Animal Heads and Crocheted Wild Animals, all by Vanessa Mooncie. Knitted Farm Animals by Sarah Keen and Edward’s Menagerie by Kerry Lord.
Photo Gifts
You could create a photo book with lots of fun photos or perhaps make a calendar, a mug or even a puzzle. There are lots of online companies offering these services.
Paint a Mural
If you are feeling creative, you could paint a mural for your child’s bedroom or playroom. I painted a jungle scene for Lily’s room – you can see more of her room and my other murals on my Lilypad Designs website.
Funky Hats
Pattern books I like; Crocheted Animal Hats and Monster Hats, both by Vanessa Mooncie
Flash Cards
I made these cards for my daughter and she loves playing with them. There are lots of nature cards of things we can see in our garden or out on local walks, so they are great for taking outdoors with us and using as scavenger hunt cards. I bought a laminating machine and small guillotine from Amazon for about £25.
Personalised Dolls
My mum made these beautiful knitted dolls. These are lovely to personalise and make them look like the birthday child. My mum used a pattern to make these dolls from ak traditions.
Wendy House
Create a personalised little house for your little human. Paint, plant and create a beautiful space. This is the Eco Chad Valley house, which I painted and planted and added a mud kitchen sink.
Crochet Baby Booties
Unique little shoes for unique little people.
Mini Cloth Nappies
I used some of our failed nappies to make mini cloth nappies for Lily’s dolls. She loves getting her dolls in and out of their nappies, especially as they match the ones she used to wear.
Hat and Booties Sets
I made these little hat and bootie sets and put them in individual boxes with a little footprint on top – lovely for a newborn gift.
Dolls Clothes
Children love dressing up their dolls and teddies, taking their clothes on and off, and they can never have too many outfits. Lily’s doll, Daisy, has a great selection of clothes lovingly made by her Zaza (granny).
Up-cycling Wine Boxes
Lily’s Zaza (granny) has been very creative and has made Lily’s doll her own wardrobe for all her outfits, out of an old wine box. She has also made Lily some additional cupboards for her little kitchen, also out of some old wine boxes.
I hope this has given you loads of ideas and inspiration to start making some handmade birthday presents.
